Back on Smith Lake for Some Boogle Bug Action

Guys sorry I am a little behind on posting, but I have been on the water for the past couple of days. Thursday was a wash out for my son and me at Walker County Lake. I forgot when I scheduled our trip for Monday that it is Spring Holidays here in the state and the lake was covered up. When you have 20 plus boats on a 160 acre lake and all the bank fishermen to boot, then you have too many fishermen per area. My son manage to land four small bluegills and a small bass and that was the extent of the trip. Dad didn’t even score. We left after a couple of hours.

Now for today’s trip on Smith; the Boogle Bugs as usual were the choice for the 9 ft. 5 wt Redington. One of my fishing buddies went with me today and we landed some nice Spots and one nice largemouth. The bass were hitting light in water temps around 68. The number 6 Boogle Bugs are the best weapon right now to get the attention of the slow hitters. It was a great morning for both of using the fly rods.

Nice Spot on the Olive Boogle Bug--these fish are awesome on the fly rod--they just don't know when to quite fighting. We ended the morning with 10 Spots and 1 Largemouth.

Charles with the best Spot he ever landed with the fly rod. It is really enjoyable to fish with someone who loves to fish with the same equipment as you---meanng the fly rod.

I am back on the lake again Thursday with more top water action coming your way

Using The Micro Lights Rods and Jigger Poles For Super Size Crappie

In most parts of the country, Dogwoods blooming triggers crappie season. Crappie usually starts the spawn when the water temps reach the upper 60’s. This is when the fish start to move into the shallow areas of a lake. These areas could be the back of nooks or even flats next to the water's edge. They seem to prefer areas with cover such as submerged brush or anything that will hold cover for them to feed on small baitfish while the spawn is occurring.  One of my crappie fishing buddies went with me yesterday on Smith Lake. I had a couple of my microlights in the 7 ½ ft. lengths with 4 lb test line rigged. I also had my long jigger pole in the 11 ft. length with me. This length rod works well when you want to put the jig right in the face of the fish. Another great advantage with this rod is the vertical fishing one can do, meaning raising the jig up and down. Sometime the crappie will hit the jig on the downfall, especially when the bite is really slow. I like to use the microlight rods to search for the fish and once the bite slows using the microlights, then switch to the long rods so you can bring the lure even closer to their mouth. Crappie has a tendency to bite really well for 15 to 20 minutes and then turn off. When this occurs the fish usually retrieved back into the cover where they were holding when you first located them. Placing the jig using the long rods right in their face at this time will continue to help you get hits. I will discuss the types of reels, jig, lures, and rod brands in future post.

First Crappie of the day using a white curly tail jig --a lot of fun on the microlight rod. Notice the dark colors

Different colored jig --we manage to land 6 along with a number of bass and a couple of bluegills--all on curly tail jigs. I kept all the crappie, because they are beyond good when deep-fried. I know it would have been a better day for the crappie if it had not been for the crappie tournament they were having on the lake. It felt like we were picking up the last few in each nook that the tournament fisherman had either overlook or missed.

Adding to my Total in my Quest to Reach 100 Bull Bluegill

Monday was my second fishing trip in my quest to reach the 100 mark for Bull Bluegill. For those of you who are not familiar with my challenge; which is to land 100 super bull bluegill in the spawning period of 6 weeks.  For this trip I decided to rig something a little different. I started with a foam popper in size 6 because I wanted something to land softly and at the same time attract attention on the glass smooth water at 8 AM. First cast of the morning produce a nice bass in the backwater of the launch nook. I knew I only had about an hour before the wind that this lake is famous for got up and would force me into the backs of the small nooks. The foam worked to perfection early landing a couple of huge gills and some smaller females before the wind and sunlight took over. After the wind got up I moved to the back of nooks with what else but the Black Gnat tied on my 4 wt. I continued to land gills some were not the size I was after but still fun on the 4 wt.  After about an hour of fighting wind from every direction; I found a nook with some shade and less wind that I could actually fish with the cork popper. I moved up and down this bank which was about 75 ft. long with depths of 5 to 8 ft. I landed some of the best gills of the day on this one bank. The water temp here was between 68 and 70, which is still too cool for the spawn. The magic number for the spawn is 75 and at the rate the weather is warming here, it won’t be long before these fish are on the beds. The light chartruse black leg bug popper seemed to irritate the big boys and they would just annihilate the fly every time it got near. This type action is what makes me keep coming back for more; when they are this aggressive it is heart throbbing. I thought at times they would actually break my 9 ft.  3wt. Streamflex. It really got a work out on this trip. I was there about 3 hours and the action was continuous with bass, females and bull bluegills inhaling the poppers and wet flies. Fly Fishing trips like today is what makes bluegill fishing a blast for me!!

First of the day on the first cast of the day, notice how glass smooth the water was

This big boy killed the cork popper. I have found that black leg poppers work better this time of the year other than white or chartruse. It may a spider thing??

Another counter on the Black Gnat. I know you guys have heard me say this before, but this one fly has to be the BEST wet fly I have ever fished for bluegill with. It seems to work when nothing else will get their attention. The sick part about this fly is the company that tied them went out of business. I may be asking some of you guys to make me some copies when I go through these.

This big bull inhaled the foam popper early in the day

Last bass of the day, he went airborne a couple of times before finally swimming up next to the boat. I landed 6 bass before the day was over---always a lot of fun on the fly rod

The leaves are coming out and spring is here in Walker County

The best of the best --10 more to add to the total which is now at 13 ---I am 87 away--when these big boys turn side ways in the water it makes for a tough fight on the 3 or 4 wt. I ended the day with 16 bluegill and 6 bass. The bass I gave to some of the fishermen sitting on the banks.