Missing my Goal to Land 100 Super Size Bream

Sorry to say I missed my quest again this year to land 100 supersize bluegills during the spawning period. I ended the quest at 78. I thought I would make it this year but there were other fishermen going after the gills especially when they went on the beds. I landed the majority of my big bluegills really early before they ever went on the beds. I found during the months of March and early April the bigger bluegills are cursing the banks to select areas they are going to fan out for beds. This is a prime time to catch them because no one else is actually fishing for bluegills during this time. Once they go on the beds you better get there early or else you lose out on the best size fish. Walker County Lake is the one place I landed some monsters this past year early. I did catch some counters on Smith, but the really bigger bluegills are going to be in lakes that are managed properly to grow that size fish, and Walker is really blessed with the big fish. So I would say I was lucky to have landed the 78 I brought to hand and I am going to look forward to next year’s quest.

What Would be Your Top Five Fly Patterns to Use Nationwide

After Tuesday’s outing, I was wondering on the way home; what would be the top five flies that most trout fishermen would pick to fish anywhere in the United States, regardless of the hatch? My top five would be  a mixture starting with: 

My number one choice for going down under would have to be the tungsten bead head Zebra Midge in sizes 18 and smaller.

The Pheasant Tail is my second choice in size 14 and 16, again tungsten bead head

My third fly would have to be the Griffiths Gnat, this little jewel works for me when nothing else is happening on top---size 18 and smaller

 The famous Mayfly in size 14 and 16 is an awesome dry for me on the Caney Fork in Tennessee and has also produced on the Sipsey tailrace

My last is another awesome dry pattern called the Bomber. This fly resembles the Parachute Adams, but has more hackle and stays afloat longer. This fly is tied by Alan at Small Stream Reflections, he has landed lots of brook trout with this one pattern.