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.

Revisiting my Big Bluegill Site

I know many of you save your favorite sites especially those that deal with fishing. I have numerous fishing sites that I have saved over the years. Every so often usually once a year I update the sites and discard the ones I don’t visit anymore and revisit a few that catches my attention. While organizing yesterday, I found my old bluegill site that I created back in 2010 on Big Bluegill Website. I noticed while visiting the site they had given it a new look but still keep the same format. The site now shows the number of individuals who are visiting while you are logged in which I like.

I decided I would reacquaint myself with the group so I did a short post on my Pelican Boat I purchased in 2014. I also updated all of my images. The website is similar to a fishing forum and the closest I will ever get to a Face book type page. One can just post an image with a comment similar to Face book and get a quick comment.

I hope to post a few of my bluegill outings there this season which begins in a few weeks.

Fishing The Sink Tip Line for Spotted Bass

I have to admit that this hasn’t been a bumper year for popper action on Smith Lake for me. I realize a number of factors have affected the top action, such as dropping water levels, cold fronts, and of course the angler himself. Every time I go on the water I wonder if I’m using the right fly pattern or am I working that pattern well enough to get a hit. Sometimes anglers including me want the fish to hit what they perceive as the best fly for them to take at a particular time, place, and season.  I think that is one of the reasons why my catch ratio has gone down this year on Smith. I assume every time I launch the boat on Smith at daylight that the fish are going to nail the popper, why because I love to see the fish blow up on the popper. If the fish are chasing shad a cream-colored popper will get their attention, but if there is no surface activity at all then the best option is working a pattern down under. That pattern could be something that resembles the actual shad that the bass is feeding on. The slow top action on Smith this season has driven me to work harder at analyzing what the fish really want. Could it be a bead head nymph, streamer, or a variation of a popper? To fish all these different patterns and poppers, one really needs an extra fly rod aboard; 5 to 6 weight for poppers and nymphs and a 7 weight for streamers. Keep in mind most of the time on Smith, if one is using the fly rod to fish for bass the spot is the fish that is going to nail their offering. This fish is a ferocious fighter and the heavier the fly rod the better, so two fly rods one in 6 weight and the other being a 7 weight. I seldom fish the lake without a 3 or 4 weight to handle the light patterns that will produce when nothing else is working. In fact, I am always armed with 3 fly rods every time I fish Smith Lake. My latest daylight trip on Smith a few days ago enabled me to apply all the above tactics.

A mouth full of beadhead nymph, which this spot just couldn’t resist.

Posing for a side view image; this spot put up quite a fight on the 5 weight. I usually fish the sink tip either with my 5 or 6 weight 9 ft. fly rod. This size spot can make you think he is much bigger as he makes numerous runs to try to break free. I have started fishing the sink tip with a 5 ft. piece of mono usually 8 lb. test. I get a fairly quick sink with the light line and bead-head nymph attached.

This was one greedy spot, with his belly full of shad he just had to have one more, which was his undoing. The cream bugger got his attention.

I couldn’t leave the lake without trying to land a few bull gills on the popper which is always a blast. My bluegill goal is lost for this season,  but there is always another season to give it a try.

A lot of residents on the lake like to use platform decks to view all the activity; this is one of many that can be found up and down the waterway.

No need for the gym, working your way up these steps to the top of the rock wall is exercise enough

 

Fishing the Tail end of May’s Bluegill Spawn

I am falling behind on my bluegill fishing this year, mainly because of the weather and the fertilizing of Walker County Lake. Heavy rains and cold fronts have put a damper on the bluegill fishing as well at Smith Lake. I will continue my quest, but I have to admit it will be tuff to reach my 50 fish limit for this year. If I do make the limit all the fish will come from Smith Lake. I found out yesterday they have dumped another two tons of fertilize in Walker County Lake, so that will ruin my chances there for the rest of the summer. They fertilize every six weeks.

With all said I did manage to land some nice gills at the end of this full moon spawn on Smith recently. Most all the beds I found in the coves were vacant with the exception of one or two bluegills at times still guarding beds. Those were the ones I targeted with my popper. 

I spent very little time in one area, because I was looking for as many productive bedding areas as I could find. This particular place was kind of unique in that the bluegills had selected a small area between these two boulders to spawn. There were only 5 beds here with only one big bull still guarding a bed. I could see the fish in the super clear water, but getting him to take the popper proved a challenge. The fish would swim up to the popper for a few seconds and then back to guarding his bed. I finally decided to just let the popper sit for a while, which I assume annoyed him enough until he finally nailed it. I wish I had this one on film; he put up an epic fight on the 3 weight.

It was like him saying “get the hell out of my space”!!!!

Under the tree limbs and next to the rock wall is a favorite bedding place for bluegills on this lake. I picked up one nice bluegill here with only 3 beds showing. I have found it very strange that only a few bedding bluegills will occupy areas in this lake. Usually when one finds bluegills bedding you can bet there are lot of beds with numerous fish guarding them, but not on Smith.

The three big bulls on top were worthy of the count today, with some small fish as an added bonus. Even the smaller fish can make you think you got a counter on for a while using the 3 weight. That is why I love fly fishing so much it gives the angler a chance to experience the thrill of the fight a bit longer. I never overkill when fly fishing, I always try to match my tackle to the prey I am pursuing. With today’s catch I am now 42 away from my quest.



Enjoying the Grandchildren This Past Week

Good times were had this past week with the grandchildren and our daughter. The zoo, pool activities and of course a trip to the lake for some live bait fishing was on the schedule. When my wife and I have the grandchildren to visit, everything is centered on them having a good time, which is the way it is supposed to be. Very little blogging, chores, and gym time were all put on the whole for four days. For all you guys who have grandchildren, just remember they are only little once, enjoy every minute you are given to enjoy them.



Bryson reeling in the largest sunfish I’ve ever seen landed from Smith Lake

One proud little Man!!

Bryson had a time landing this catfish using the microlight; 4lb test line, strip drag a few times, which really got him pumped.

Look out boaters Bryson is on the water; got to add a little learning to drive the boat into this trip

It won’t be long before Laelyn will be making some fishing trips with Pops. She didn’t like getting left behind on this trip; both found out that frozen fish are easier to handle than live ones.

Jenny and Bryson doubled out with two nice gills. Glad Jenny got to go with me again; I can remember taking her on numerous fishing trips when she was little.
  

Cathey and I Fishing With The Grandchildren

Cathey and I have spent three days with two of our grandchildren this past week and really got a good workout. In other words, we didn’t need to go to the gym at all this past week. There is nothing like having grandchildren and enjoying spending time with them especially when they are young. They are only little once so make the most of that precious time. Friday afternoon Cathey and I carried Bryson and Laelyn to a local pond for some fishing. The images below sum up the trip!!

Bryson landing his largest bass to date

Quite an accomplishment for this young guy!!!

His sister Laelyn was excited about Bryson’s catch

This bluegill was in full spawning mode

Laelyn finally gets brave enough to touch one of the bluegill

After touching the bluegill she decides to land one, I think Bryson may have found him a fishing partner.

Fishing a Fertilized Lake can be a Challenge

I was back on Walker County Lake last week to see if the bluegills have started their spawn? I arrived later in the day and saw numerous boat and bank fishermen scattered around the lake. The lake itself had been fertilized four days earlier so the fish should be a little more active. The fertilize can cause the fish to become somewhat dormant two or three days after the fertilization. I started my journey on the east side of the lake to avoid the bank fishermen who had the west side well occupied.

 I had tied on a white Bar Nunn popper using my 4 weight 8 ½ ft. Redington. The white and light chartreuse have always been a great early spring popper for me on this lake. The long rubber legs on these poppers drive the bluegill nuts. I was fishing closer to the bank today because the fertilize had turned the water cloudy.

My first of the day on the white Bar Nunn put a bend in the 4 weight. This one will become a counter.

Nice Shellcracker on the light Chartreuse Bar Nunn popper; if you want a fight on the fly rod land a Shellcracker!!!

This brush pile gave up the Shellcracker, at its edge where I think more will show up for the spawn.

 

As the sun stated hitting the banks the top action stopped so I went subsurface the rest of the trip. No big bluegills after the sun hit the banks but numerous small gills using the bead head grub subsurface. I had a limited amount of time today because of yard work I had been putting off, but rest assure I will return closer to the spawn.

Some of you have asked me about my Pelican boat. This is actually my newer version of the boat, meaning I replaced my 8 ft. with this 10 ft. to have more room for the Grandchildren. Two individuals can fish out of this boat with ease. I can even stand and cast from it. It is extremely stable. I did replace the seats that came with the boat with thick cushion seats which are much more comfortable.

 

Post Note: I am now 45 away with a long way to go to reach the 50 mark.  

First Video Using the Contour Roam 2 Camera

It has been a month since I mentioned my Contour video camera. Just to get you up to speed on what I’ve been doing with camera is learning the mechanics of the filming and working with the editing software. I will go into detail more on the camera and the software later in an upcoming post. but today I wanted to let you guys see some footage that looks presentable. Some of my earlier attempts at filming didn’t work out so well.

I wish I had this nice bluegill on film, she put up a strong fight on the 3 weight. All the rest of the bluegill were small but fun on the light combo. The morning was slow due to lots of fresh water and numerous cold fronts, which is typical this time of the year. No counters on this outing.

This lake supports a great population of Mallard Ducks and most all raise their young in these duck houses. The Game and Fish had to add covers below the houses to keep the raccoons from robbing the nest.

The Gnat, Beadhead and the Popper

Tuesday’s trip involved using numerous flies to attract some hits from some early spring bluegills. I only got to fish a couple of hours, so I had to make the most of what was given to me. The fish today were in a sluggish hitting mode, from the results of freshwater, and some cool nights.

I did manage to land my first crappie using my 3 wt. and the black gnat. I always heard where there is one crappie there is more but not today.

My one bass of the morning using the Betts popper, nice fight on the 4 weight.

 The beadhead grub got this female's attention. After a brief pause for the photo she got her freedom.

My one counter of the trip using the Betts popper; got to love landing these gills using the fly rod!!!