Fly Fishing Using the Green and Brown Grasshopper

Today was another great day on Walker County Lake. I fished for 5 hours and landed 35 to 40 bluegills. I threw back some of the smaller ones which quite frankly got to be a nuisance. The water temps today were 65 to 68 which made for some good topwater action. I never use the 4 wt. today, but instead went with my 3 wt. which was a blast landing some of the big bull gills. I started the day with a small brown grasshopper from Bass Pro and ended the trip with a larger green grasshopper also from Bass Pro. Both of these flies are so realistic. They always land on the water with the body upright. A lot of the hopper patterns I have fished before landed upside down at times. These Bass Pro hoppers work to perfection. The fish were still in water five feet or better, and the water was clear enough for the fish to see the offering easy. Get ready for a number of posts in the bluegill category for at least the next 3 weeks. I hope these posts don't become boring, but my blog not only serves me as a communication tool, but it is my fishing log from year to year. It is really helpful to look back on a particular post and see what temps and time of the year the fish were reacting to different flies. My goal is to land and keep 100 gills filleted and put in the freezer for the season. This lake is the perfect lake to accomplish this task because it is well managed and the fish are extremely healthy. The lake is fertilized throughout the summer and if one is planning on catching a limited of gills on this lake they had better stock up before the first of May. May is when the game and fish start the fertilize program and this turns me and a host of other fishermen off. The water turns a slim green and most of the fertilize floats on top of the water for some time. In other words, I don’t like fishing English Pea soup.  I hope to be back on the water Friday and do this all over again.  You know this could turn into a job I really like-----and better yet I willing do this without pay!!!!!

Working on filling the freezer, by the way, this lake is stocked each year with 1000 gills and the limit is 20 per day. As I stated it is well managed.

First Fishing Trip of the Season

Today was my first bluegill trip of this season, which proved to be successful. Walker County Lake is always a good producer early in the year. I started fishing today around 11:30, with a host of other individuals either fishing from a boat or just sitting on the bank. They were all enjoying being outdoors, especially with all the sunlight and warm temperatures. I fished for an hour without any success. I tried terrestrials, poppers and some weighted nymphs, all without a single hit. I could understand the top water turn downs, but the nymphs were supposed to produce. When I say nymphs I am talking about buggers. After the dry spell I decided to go back to the fly I used last year at this time, which was the black gnat in a size 6. This is really a unique little fly because it has the ability to stay fully dry looking in the water. In other words the fibers or hairs on this fly stays brushed outward from the body underwater. I really don’t know what attracts the fish to this fly but it was the life savior today. The minute I tied it on I started to feel and see action. I ended the day with this fly because I found nothing else would produce. The water temperature today was between 62 and 65, which meant the majority of the fish was still deep. I got most all my hits in depths of 5 feet or deeper. The gnat is perfect for this depth range, because all your hit comes on a slow fall. All you have to do is watch the line go and then set the hook------sounds simply and it is!! It was just good to back in the moment of catching gills on the fly. Everything that was on my mind today disappeared when I hit the water, what great therapy.

I was not the only one fising today.

This guy was really enjoying himself. He said he fishes 4 days a week--must be nice

Good catch today, considering everyone I talk to didn't have any fish or had caught one or two. I was the only one on the lake fly fishing. I was getting some weird looks with my # 4 weight. Notice the fillet knife guess where these will end up??

Bluegill could be commercialized for food markets

I recently got this email alert concerning using Bluegill for commercial use. I know it is illegal to sell bluegill, so to read this piece really got my attention. Catfish is locally farmed and sold, so in the near future you might start seeing bluegill along side catfish at your local meat market. Bluegill for Commercial Use