Spawning Cycles of the Bluegill

 

As I was fishing one of the bluegill spawning beds the other day on Walker County Lake, I wondered if these beds would be used during the next spawning phase of the full moon in June. After doing a little research, I discovered that the bluegill will sometimes use the same beds from one full moon to the next during the spring and summer. I know this is true in some Smith Lake and Walker County Lake areas. I have fished Smith Lake and Walker Lake for years now and found that the fish are often not in the same area bedding each year. Several factors affect their location from year to year, such as changes in water level, vegetation growth, temperature range, and fishing pressure, which can influence their choice of spawning sites. 

As for the depth, I have found bluegill spawning in water as shallow as a couple of feet or less. If they are pressured from spawning cycling to spawning cycle, then they will move to deeper water to avoid spawning beds from being seen. This is especially true in small lakes where there is heavy fishing pressure. The 15-acre lake my son lives on is a prime example of what I am talking about. The bluegill in this lake always spawns in shallow water and always in the same area of the lake each year. They choose the same bedding areas in this lake each year because of less fishing pressure on the lake. The lake is there mostly for the beautiful scenery around the lake, and the walking trails next to the water's edge. In other words no one is interfering with the spawning process of the bluegill here but me and my son. 

The bluegill was probably the first fish a small child landed while using live bait, such as a cricket or redworm. That is how I got interested in fishing years ago as a youngster fishing our small farm pond. The fish was easy to catch, even with cane poles and live bait. Once my dad taught me how to land the fish using a fly rod, there was no turning back, I was hooked for life, and will be until the day I retire from fly fishing, and I hope that is years from now. For me, landing a large bull bluegill or an average-sized bluegill on a lightweight fly rod is the ultimate in warm-water fly fishing!

Some Attention for the Bluegill

 My Bluegill quest officially kicked off two weeks ago on Walker County Lake. I was trying to fish the lake before it was fertilized, and I made the deadline by one day. I know that fertilization has its function of making a lake more suitable for landing quality fish. Still, once the water is fertilized, it takes weeks to regain its productive fishing. So, I will not make any more trips to the lake for at least a month. During June is when the second spawn takes place. I will be watching and waiting. 

I landed a dozen quality-size bulls like these that were placed in the cooler to dress later that afternoon. I enjoy everything about fishing, but I do not like dressing the catch! I was using my Boogle Bug poppers to get their attention. I have just about used all these poppers I ordered last year. I will use a different popper once these are gone for this year. The hackle on the Boggle Bug doesn't stay together like it used to. Most of the time, the popper is only suitable for a few fish before the hackle unravels. I expect more from an eight-dollar popper. Today's fish were taken using my 2/3 weight, 7 1/2 ft Redington fly rods. They are the perfect fly rods for a small lake; you should try them!

Catfish on the Flyrod

 

This past Friday was another epic day fishing for bluegill using my 7 1/2 ft. 3 wt. Flyrod fishing Walker County Lake. While fishing for the big bull bluegills, I landed the largest catfish ever on the flyrod. The fish hit a size 8 orange popper fishing near weed pads on the lake's levee. I knew it was big as soon as the fish made its first run. Little did I know it was a little over 8 lbs 26 inches. This catfish didn't top my carp last year, but it came close. Who knows, I may land one of their elusive Walleye next year. I never fish this lake with anything above a 2 and 3 wt. Flyrod. Let's say I like the challenge. 

Looking closely, you can see the popper hooked into the catfish's whisker. It's a miracle I landed it, considering the 15-minute fight he put up. I gave the catfish to the gentleman in the background fishing near the lake's edge. He was as excited as I was landing the fish. 

My New Fish Attractor

I've broken a promise I made at the beginning of this fishing season not to buy any more warm water poppers, and trout flies this year. I've got enough poppers and trout flies to last me years. One of the reasons I have so many poppers is me using them until they litterly come apart, meaning no hackle. Trout flies are much cheaper than poppers. I can buy trout flies for as little as .84 each. Compare that price to your cheapest popper starting at 3.00 to an expensive 8.00; then it causes me to make that popper last as long as it catches fish. 

Now to the heart of this post; The Surface Seducer Double Barrel Popper. This popper is different from your ordinary surface popper. What makes the popper stand out from all the poppers I have used over the years is its unique body design. The Double Barrel has a soft foam epoxy body that will not chip or break loose from the hook. It also has all the hackle buried deep inside the body of the popper, keeping it in place. The hackle on cork poppers will usually come unraveled over time because of savage hits or removing the popper from the mouth of the fish. The Double Barrel will stand up to both the hits and hook removal. 

Double Barrel poppers come in various colors, but the cream color is the best. The color imitates the shad that the bass feed on. It resembles another popper I've told you about over the years. Regarding design and durability, it is a step above all cork material poppers I have ever used fly fishing.  

I didn't discover this popper. Jeff, one of my fly fishing buddies, started fishing this popper for the spotted bass with me on Smith Lake in April. He was landing bass working the popper with off-and-on aggressive jerks; bass was nailing it!! He couldn't remember where he purchased the popper, and as luck would have it, he had only one of the poppers. So I decided to fish something else that morning in the form of the closure minnow. I landed numerous bass using the closure, but the majority of the bass was taken on the Double Barrel by Jeff. After that trip, you would think I would order a few, but I decided the poppers I was fishing would land fish like his new popper. So I continued to fish my overstocked supply of cork poppers. It took a few more trips to convince me to purchase the Double Barrel for eight bucks each. I hate to pay that much for a popper, but I knew it was worth the price so promise broken. I ordered four before Jason returned home to fish with me for a few weeks this month. To make the rest of this post short; Jason made good use of the poppers I ordered, as you can see in the images below. 

Even the bluegill would hit the popper. One quality largemouth and spotted bass were the morning winners, along with numerous twelve-inch and under bass. This popper is fantastic but couldn't muster hits as the sun overtook the shaded areas we were fishing. Now if someone could create a fly or popper that would attract hits in the sun and wind all day, they could make a bundle. They would need a patent on their discovery for sure! Rest assured; you will see more posts concerning the success of the Double Barrel!

A Challenge Landing a Carp

 Guys, I had to share a catch of a lifetime regarding landing Carp. I was fishing for bluegill on Walker County Lake this morning using my 7 1/2 ft. two weiight flyrod rigged with a tiny Bream Bug. I was casting the small popper next to the weed beds when this Carp just sucked the fly under like all the bluegill had been hitting all morning. The minute I set the hook, I knew the fish was enormous from the feel of the headshakes. I thought it was a largemouth bass, but after noticing how it raced to deep water, I knew it was a giant catfish. I was wrong guessing on both accounts; it was the largest Carp I had ever landed on any lake. 

What transpired next was the fish pulling my Pelican boat a hundred yards across the lake---which was actually in my favor. I knew if I could get the fish near shallow water, I would have a chance to land it. My little shorthanded bluegill net would never encompass the length of this fish. So I headed out with my little two weight in hand, bent to a U-shape for the entire ride across the lake, thinking my 6X tippet would pop any minute, but to my surprise, it completed the fight. So for the next 35 minutes, the Carp and I were having fond, at least I was, don't know about the Carp. Once we reached the launch, I knew I could get someone with a long handle net to net the fish. The caretaker's grandson was the help I needed. He was as excited as me when he finally laid it on the grass. He said he had never netted a fish. It was quite a thrill for the fly fishermen and grandson!

Moments like this morning make me thankful my Dad taught me how to use a fly rod all those years. The Carp weighed 8 1/2 lbs and was 27" long -----Tight-line guys!!

This little bluegill popper got the Carp's attention and stayed hooked in the upper part of its mouth for the duration of the fight. Tiny flies or poppers do catch big fish!

The Redworm and the Fly Rod

 Most fly fishermen will tell you they don't use live bait when fishing with a fly rod. I've never seen anyone using live bait fishing with the flyrod on the Sipsey. I have seen many individuals on the Sipsey using a spin cast fishing with redworms, corn, or crappie nibbles.  

Live bait works when artificial flies and lures will not produce. Just ask my daughter about the success of live bait fishing when she would go with me years ago and fish the many nooks on Smith for bluegill, catfish, and bass. She was more into live bait fishing than my son.

So many memories here, Jenny was a junior in high school when she landed the largest bluegill she ever caught fishing with me on Smith. She was using a cricket fishing with her 7 1/2 ft. micro-light combo. I've never been able to convert her to fly fishing. She still loves to fish the cricket for the bluegill when she has the time to go. Three children and another little girl on the way keep her occupied these days. 

At some point in one's fishing career, they usually land a fish they never forget. This was the case a couple of weeks ago when l landed this supersize Shellcraker or Redear as some would call this fish. What got the big females' attention along with the two quality size bulls was live bait. The live bait thing is something I've never tried using the fly rod on Smith. You might say that anything I try new when it comes to fishing is always a plan in advance for me and this type of fishing was no exception. First, I wanted to get as deep as possible using a sink-tip line and a tiny bb shot crimped onto my 5X tippet about 6" above the hook. I found it is best to tie a knot in the tippet 6 inches above the hook to keep the bb shot from slipping to the eye of the hook when casting a small redworm. The bigger worm was difficult to stay on the long shank hook. The long shank hook is best as opposed to the short shank because you can thread more of the worm onto the long shank hook. I found even with false casting the worm would stay in place. So, in reality, if you want to think of the live worm as a nymph you can, which gives you the feeling of fishing a soft nymph with a scent. On this particular morning, nothing was happening even a nymph fish slow wouldn't produce. The poppers never got any attention from the bass or bluegill. This time of year on Smtih the fishing is extremely slow due to the fast pull-down on the lake. Receding water on any body of water is not the ideal situation to catch fish!

The Versatile Caddis Fly

 When one thinks of the Caddis Fly they relate it to fly fishing for trout. I have fished this fly numerous times on the Sipsey mainly using it as an indicator fly. There were times when I would get a trout to inhale the Caddis while slow drifting a nymph under it. Which was a plus because I was trying to get the trout to take a smaller nymph drifting below. I use the traditional dry-dropper combo more now on the Sipsey because of the fishing pressure. I remember previous years fishing the Sipsey I never used the dry-dropper combo. I only fished a nymph using the various strike indicator on the market. 

On my last trip to the Sipsey, which was a bust for me, no trout touched; started me thinking of using this fly to fish for the giant bluegill on Smith Lake. So two weeks ago, I gave the fly a try casting it near the rock walls in Ryan Creek.

I was impressed with how the bluegills reacted to this fly. At times they would pull it under, and other times they would explode on it. I have written in a past post about how wary these fish can be in hitting a particular color or size popper. So when they are not hitting a popper consistently, it is good to have a backup fly that will get their attention. Enter the Caddis in size ten, but I think a size eight would be better. The extra body on the size eight wouldn't require me to use as much floatant and give the fish a bigger fly to see. Simple to use just cast it using a 3wt. with a 6X tippet and wait for the take while it sits motionless on the surface. I seldom ever move it after it touches the surface. Having success with the Caddis makes me want to give the Adams and the Wulff a try!

Weather Past and Present

 Weather conditions have changed drastically since I was a boy growing up in Mississippi years ago. We are seeing many more tornados and hurricanes today compared to what my brother and I used to call the good old days. The good old days are for another post. With tornadoes and hurricanes come heavy rains, wind, and flooding. It seems we have four or five days of great weather then all hell breaks loose for a couple of days with tornadoes in fact, as I type this post we may be under a tornado watch tomorrow. We are in this cycle through all of Spring. 

The Sipsey Tailrace pictured here is an example of the last tornado we had here a week ago. This tornado produced some damage to homes and businesses but thankfully no deaths. After the aftermath, the areas affected must deal with the clean-up in the form of flooding and the debris left behind. The image above shows the tailrace flowing downstream at 8 ft. above normal flow. When heavy rains occur Smith Lake above the dam rises above full pool quickly and last year overflowed into the parking lot at the launch. This year we are seeing it rise again 11 ft. above full pool as I type this post. The Alabama Power Company which manages the lake has to release all the excess water so it flushes through the two generators at the base of the dam. When both generators are pumping at full force you see the results in this image. One can still trout fish using a spinning reel, but no wading using the flyrod will get results with water this high. 

So, what does a weary fly fisherman do when he can't trout fish------the images above show the answer! I fillet 14 of these pre-spawn beauties and threw back a bunch of future bull gills fishing Walker Lake yesterday. 

I have started wearing Orvis fishing gloves. I had two sunspots removed from the top of my hands in the winter months and one sun growth from the top of my head. My Dermatologist told me I needed to start protecting myself much more from the sunray when I'm on the water. 

A lot of tree pollen covered the surface of the water on the lake yesterday causing me at times to use a dark popper to get the attention of the fish. All the bluegills were scattered and not in a spawning mode. The water temps are still well below spawning activity. The 2 and 3 wt. got all the work yesterday one rigged with a popper and the other rigged with a dry fly coated with Orvis Hy-Flote. It was my first time using this product and I have to say I was impressed. It is much better than any floatant I have ever used. Simply drop the dry fly in the bottle shake and remove blow the dust off and you are ready to fish a dry fly that will float high enabling you to land at least three or four fish. It becomes waterlogged once the fish inhaled it numerous times. You can use it again once it dries then repeat the process using the Hy-Flote. 

I checked the lake level when I fished this overhang or cave last year and the lake level at the time was 497 ft. 3 feet below full pool. Today this area is covered with water resting in the trees above this rock wall. I am not a fan of fishing water this high on any lake, especially a lake as large as Smith Lake. 

The Bluegill, Start to Finish

The bluegill is probably the most common warm water fish caught throughout the United States. A lot of us started fishing as youngsters fishing for the bluegill. These fish will hit almost anything that moves in the water. I remember catching this fish as a boy fishing from the bank in our pond near our house. The first fish my grandchildren landed when they started fishing was the bluegill. Any size bluegill will produce a bend in the light fishing rod. The excitement on the face of a small child landing bluegill is priceless. I know I have witnessed that excitement. 

Bluegill and Crappie are the only fish I keep to dress for table fare. Both these fish are excellent to eat if they are dressed and prepared right. I'm not a fan of the so-called tried and true method of cleaning these fish. Scraping the scales off their sides and cutting their heads off is how we prepared them for the skillet years ago. My family and I thought they were delicious to eat at the time. 

It took years for me to discover that a filleted fish has a much better taste than a fish fried whole with the skin and bones. You eliminate the fishy taste when the skin and bones are removed from the fish. I filleted my first bluegill 45 years ago one afternoon on the back porch of my school Principals house, dressing bluegill we had landed that afternoon. The first fish I filleted on my own wasn't perfect but over time I mastered the process. 

This little Rapala 8" fillet knife is all one needs to fillet bluegill and crappie. The knife needs to be razor-sharp. A dull knife will not get the job done properly!

Both these beauties were taken off the rock walls on Smith Lake using the Boogle Bug poppers this past Thursday. A meal for two can be prepared from the meat taken from 5 or 6 bluegills this size.  

I created this video some time ago explaining exactly how to fillet quality-size bluegill. The same technique can be used on the crappie as well. 

The Receipt for delicious bluegill and crappie

Take all fillets and place in a pan with water and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of salt and stir until all the salt is dissolved into the fillets---let sit overnight in the frig--the salt removes all the blood from the fillets

Remove the fillets the next day and wash all the salt off the fillets

Spray a cookie sheet with pam and coat all the fillets with cornmeal mixed with lemon pepper, salt, and black pepper

Bake all the fillets on 450 in the oven and turn the fillets over in about ten minutes and continue to bake until done. The process of baking the fillets takes about 20 minutes or less. You want the fillets to be tender and not overly baked which will make them tuff.

For those of you who like the fillets fried use a fry daddy adding Crisco, or Coconut oil to fry the fillets until they are golden brown--remove the fillets and let set on a paper towel to drain the oil 

French fries, coleslaw, and hushpuppies are all sides dishes that are delicious to eat with the fillets. Don't forget the tartar sauce and catsup---almost forgot a cold beer to top the meal off!!

Enjoy the meal!

Laelyn and Bryson Learning How to use the Fly Rod

 Cathey and I spent a few days this past week visiting B.T. Jenny and the grandchildren in Springhill, Tennessee. I've been carrying a couple of my fly rods along on some of the trips to teach Laelyn and Bryson how to use the fly rod. Both are making progress with their casting and placement of the fly, starting with a short cast and adding distance as they get accustomed to the feel of the reel and rod. I am hoping they will be ready by late Spring to land a few bluegills in a park pond located near our home. We're going to use the pond to learn how to play a fish and land it. Hopefully, by the time they visit in the Summer, they will be ready to fish Smith from the boat. We are looking forward to seeing them land some of the Spotted Bass that roam the waters of Smith, which should merit their fly fishing diploma. I thought I would share some of their progress this past week. Their younger brother, Cash is still a work in progress??

 

I hope Cash can use the fly rod soon as well as he plays flag football. He is their scat-back and the fastest player on his team. No 25

I have given this 2wt. 7 1/2 ft. Redingon Trout Classic fly rod and Orvis 2/3 wt fly reel to Laelyn, but there are rules that come with the gift. She can only use it when she is with her Dad or me and the fly rod stays at Meme and Pops house until I feel she is big enough to take care of the combo. The same rules apply to Bryson as well. 

This is Bryson's 3 wt paired with the older version of the 3wt. Orvis reel. The fly rod is the Redington Trout Classic 7 1/2 ft.-----We're all looking forward to the start of the season, which is getting closer by the day! 

Big Bluegills Scarce Until Next Spring

 The time for landing supersize bluegill is over for this season if you are a fly fisherman. I proved that statement to be true Wednesday when I made an afternoon trip to Walker Lake. I was using my Pelcian boat which is ideal for fishing this particular lake. No one on the water but a few individuals fishing for catfish and me. In other words, I had the place to myself. This time of year one can expect to land lots of hand-size gills and smaller which was exactly what eat my tiny poppers. 

Notice, the fish were hitting a variety of poppers and even one bass joined in on the activity. The 2 wt. is the ideal fly rod when fishing for this size fish. It was s great way to spend a couple of hours on a cloudy day. Next week I start my trout quest on the Sipsey---stay tune for a report.

Landing Quality Size Bluegill

My first trip this year on Smith Lake fishing for early spawning bluegill was memorable. Our first moon of May was 10 days ago. Three days before and three days after a full moon is one the best times in early spring to fish for spawning bluegill. Of course, this will vary in different parts of the country. Not all big bluegill will be found on the first spawn and will wait until the second spawn in June. On Smith Lake, one can expect to land 3 to 5 big bluegills in one area nook in water 10 to 12 ft. deep. Fishing in this depth for bluegill using a popper requires one to let the fly set motionless for a short period of time before the big gill will try to kill it. I've never landed more than 5 in one spawning area on Smith. This was the case this past Thursday, where I fished over a dozen areas in the back of nooks on Ryan Creek to land the 8 big gills I brought home to dress for a meal. I landed a lot of small bluegill in the same areas which were released to fight another day.

I used a couple of poppers today to get the attention of these nice gills. Early the blue Boogle Bug was the popper which got hits and on up in the morning the white Bar Nunn worked much better. Color does make a difference when fishing for the bluegill. I thought a number of times that had some of the spotted bass on when landing these bluegills. The fight was strong and lots of fun fishing with my 9 ft. 4 wt.  

Bluegill Bonanza Fishing the Caddis

I had my phone set for 5 AM Tuesday to make my first bluegill fishing trip on Smith Lake this year. After eating a bowl of cheerios, oatmeal, and some fruit I made it out the door. Tuesday’s forecast was cloudy skies and the chance of rain in the afternoon and through the night; my kind of forecast fishing before a front.

My plan was to search and find bluegill spawning in as many sloughs as I could before the heat and humidity force me to leave. My first slough had numerous gills and one redeye native bass but not the big bulls I was searching for. The bass and female gills were killing the Caddis!!!

After fishing through five more sloughs I finally made a connection on my 7^th slough. Three of kind here using the Caddis; my five weight was the perfect combo to land these bulls.

Unreal fight put forth by this gill, which left a few fibers of the Caddis sticking out of its mouth. During the spawn, the male bluegill will attack anything that comes close to the beds. This bluegill was spawning in super clear water 11 ft. deep. It is unusual to find any more than 5 or 6 bluegills spawning in the back of any of the sloughs on Smith. With over 500 miles of shoreline, the fish are spread thin.

I continued to fish the back of nooks that I thought bluegills would spawn in. I seldom find them in the same sloughs year after year spawning. All the fish I found today were in new spawning waters. A lot of fish brought to hand today will make an excellent meal with hushpuppies, coleslaw, and french fries. By the way, guys have I mention how much fun it is landing these monster bluegills?? 

The Quest Begins

I finally get to fish between the heavy rains, we have been experiencing here in Alabama. What a great day to start my bluegill quest for this season. The temps were in the seventies with the water temp reading 65 which is on the verge of the spawn. Some of the big gills were on the move and staking out areas close to cover in water four to five feet deep just off the shaded banks.

My first nice bull of the morning was taken hugging the shaded bank in the brush pile. The Black Gant got its attention. I’m glad I was using my 9 ft. 4 wt. otherwise I would’ve had trouble landing it.

I felt like the top image could grace the wall of any den, with its lush green canopy of trees lining the banks of this nook. RFD's FlyBox Foam Butt Caddis would get a savage hit on the other side of the sunken tree; again shade and cover was the ally for this nice gill. I thought I had found the honey hole, but again the fish were not bunched to spawn; one fish and keep casting. 

I would end the day landing numerous small bluegills and this fighter on my 3 weight. I feel good about actually accomplishing this year’s quest because I’m back on my home waters; 23 away from the finish.

 

Exploring Another New Lake

The Shellcracker Lake near Columbia was my target lake this past Tuesday to explore. One drawback to this lake is no grass area to slide the Pelican into the water. Lots of concrete including the launch ramp; lucky for me there were a lot of fishermen there to help me get it launched. The polyurethane material this boat is made of will not take concrete slides often.

This is a 75-acre lake nestled in a deep wide valley with a huge dam holding back a flood of water. After getting on the water I counted 16 other boats scattered around the banks. I found out really quick that the majority of fishermen were fishing for the spawning bluegill. The big difference between me and them was the fishing technique. Again I was the only one using the fly rod, while the rest were using the crickets and worms. The live bait fishermen were landing lots of bluegill and catfish. I did manage to find one small spawning group of gills located near the base of some small maple trees that were willing to give the 3 weight a workout. Bluegill will sometimes spawn in very unlikely places and this group was located under the overhanging branches of the trees; presenting a bait of any kind was a challenge for any angler. Using a low side cast help me connect with the fish. I counted four orange corks tangled in the branches that didn’t make the connection.

I landed a couple of small bass holding in the back of this nook. Other boats were waiting in the wings to give the area a try.

Blooming dogwoods signals crappie season in the south!

I worked hard to land this bluegill from under the maple branches. In fact, I was impressed with my placement of the popper to attract a strike. Time after time the Bar Nunn popper hit its mark to hook up with this group of spawning bluegills. This is a good bull bluegill, but I’m still looking for the really big gills. I hope I can land a few before the spawning season is over.