Two Mornings of Bluegill Madness

I always look forward to the spring of the year because that's when I get to fish for one of my favorite species: the bluegill. This past week, I spent my time exploring Walker County Lake for early bluegills, searching for potential spawning areas. I usually start fishing the lake in the last week of March when the water temperatures begin to warm up, encouraging the fish to become active. 

Wednesday and Thursday were the best days to fish this week due to the warm temperatures in the high 70s. The water temperatures on both days were close to 78 degrees, with overcast skies, which is excellent for surface action. The only downside was the wind, which at times made it impossible to make a decent cast. Because of this, I left the lake both days as soon as it began white-capping, which was around 10 AM. I started each day at 6 AM, giving me roughly 3.5 hours to explore.

On Wednesday morning, both of my 7.5-foot fly rod combos were rigged with size 10 surface poppers. I prefer these very small poppers for early spring fishing because they spook the fish less in the clear water and make a lighter landing on the surface than larger poppers. 

I managed to land numbers of bluegill this size using a size 10 Boogle Bug and a Betts popper, which produced consistent action all morning. However,the bite was’t fast and furious; I had to work for every hit. Don’t expect the bluegill to be near the shore this early in the season; almost all the fish I landed were caught about 10 to 12 feet from the bank in deeper water. The key to getting a bite was to let the popper sit motionless for a few seconds and then barely move it to capture their attention. I also tried a tiny beadhead Wooly Bugger in the deep water, but it didn’t produce any interest.

On my way home Wednesday morning, I was really fired up for Thrusday's trip because I knew I would have the same poppers tied on my 2 and 3-weight fly rods. I arrived again at 6 AM, and by the time I got my Pelican boat in the water and trolled to my starting spot, it was 6:15 AM. I began with the same routine as the previous day, casting both the Boogle Bug and the Betts popper. 

After about 20 minutes, I noticed that the fish weren’t coming to the surface to hit either popper. It was time to experiment, so I tried the beadhead Wooly Bugger and the black gnat, but neither produced any results. As the morning went on and I fished different areas of the lake with no bluegill landed, I remembered a few years ago when I faced a similar situation. At that time, tying on a blue size 10 Boogle Bullet had saved my trip, so I decided to give it a shot. I had one left in my fly box, so I tied it on my 2-weight rod. 

It proved to be the winner of the morning showing a few of the two day catch. What amazed me was how the fish were hitting it. They would swirl at the popper and gently nudge it. The hits were so soft that I had to watch the popper closely to ensure I had a fish on. This popper is designed to go underwater when moved, which made it enticing to fish that weren’t interested in surface action, as they would perceive it as wounded and inhale it. 

The two morning trips brought my total to 32 that I dressed for future meals. I did notice during both trips that these bluegill are not the monsters I use to catch in this lake. I think fishing pressure is taking a toll on the lake. In other words, all the bluegill that spawn in this lake this year won’t be here next year. The live bait fishermen will likely catch all that are on the beds between now and the end of the spawning cycle. This is one reason I always fish the lake early; the other reason is that the fertilizing cycle will begin at the end of this month.

Looking back on these two days, I feel like I got my season off to a good start. In the coming weeks, I will be posting about my trips to Smith Lake, where I’ll be fishing for spotted bass and, yes, those huge bluegills there!