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 7th 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??