Friday, March 18, 2016

Landing Super Size Gills Using Tiny Poppers Fishing with Jason


My son Jason and I spent Friday afternoon fishing size 14 mini poppers on Walker County Lake. That was the norm all afternoon fishing tiny poppers in super clear water landing some nice size gills. All were worthy of keeping for table fare.
Even the Red Eye Bass were into the tiny poppers. I really enjoy landing these fish on a 3 weight. They never stop with the acrobatic stunts
Good size for the fillet knife; Jason’s 3 weight got quite a workout for the afternoon landing numbers in this size. He will be leaving Sunday morning flying back to Sacramento for work Monday. Tomorrow will be his trip to the Sipsey. He won’t make it back to Jasper again until Christmas. What a joy it is for me to get to fish with one of our children when they are home; brings back so many fond memories.
 
The little chartreuse popper was perfect in the clear water, because of its delicate landing on the water surface. We tried larger poppers, but they would scare the fish as soon as they landed on the surface. The fishing pressure on this lake is heavy, making the fish extremely weary.
Spring is here for sure as this pine tree can attest to!!!
Guys believe it or not but there is an Eagle in that mass of pine needles; we tried to get closer but as we did it when airborne.
What a thrill to see our first Eagle on Walker County Lake; a great way to end a successful bluegill outing.

18 comments:

  1. Nice to hear you're getting some water time with your son. I'm going to give fishing with some small poppers this year a try.

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  2. Howard
    I don't get to fish with Jason often and when I do we make the most of it. The EAGLE was a bonus. thanks for the comment

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  3. Nice to see you and Jason enjoying some productive fishing.
    Eagles have made an outstanding comeback. I love seeing them. The Farmington has many of them, the love a good trout dinner.

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  4. Alan
    The aerial view of the eagle was great, but I wish we could have got the shot of it resting in the pines. Thanks for the comment

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  5. Glad to see Jason is liking NorCal enough to come back. Keep on popping.

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  6. Mark
    Glad to have him home for a week, he goes back Sunday morning and catches a flight out of Birmingham at 4:30 AM. He is liking it out there more now since he got in with the Kaiser Group, better benefits. Thanks for the comment

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  7. Love fishing with poppers. I don't have bluegill up here but sometimes I take the poppers out to try for trout just to have some fun with it.

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  8. What a wonderful outing, fishing with your son in bluegill pradise in early spring. Perhaps the bald eagle tried to say, it doesn't get much better than this!

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  9. Ben
    So impressed with you blog; the popper thing is my getaway from my trout fishing during the spring, as if I needed a reason to neglect trout fishing. Thanks for the comment

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  10. Walt
    Jason and the EAGLE were an added bonus of the trip. He loves fly fishing as much as I do. Thanks for the comment

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  11. It is always enjoyable to share the water with your son. Makes for fond memories!
    Nice photos.

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  12. Those gills are beauts. Good father son time on the water too.

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  13. Those small poppers are deadly when the weather first warms up. That's what I mainly use to go after the really big ones when they are starting to think about spawning.

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  14. Right on, Bill!!! What a great outing and time spent with family. You're inching closer to your goal. Those are some huge blue gilligans!! Nice eagle sighting, too!

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  15. Trouti
    Wish I had more time these days to spend with Jason---thanks for the comment

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  16. Daniel
    The gills are really colorful during the spring---thanks for the comment

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  17. Kevin
    Yes the small popper works best when the fish are extremely weary on pressured waters. Thanks for the comment

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  18. Justin
    I'm a long way from the goal---thanks for the comment

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