Inching Closer to my 100 Bluegill Mark

I hope everyone is not getting bored with all these reports of my bluegill fishing trips. I have really got into this quest of mine, landing 100 super bull bluegills by the end of this month. Keep in mind here, I am only counting the big males. Today;s trip got me closer to my goal. I started out around 7 AM and left the lake 3 hours later. I didn’t have to contend with the bad windy conditions I have been battling lately, which help me hit some of the areas that I have not been able to fish. Those areas today produced some big bluegills along with a couple of nice Shell Crackers. The big boys today all came on the Black Gnat and the rest were taken on the size 8 popper. The limit on this lake is 20 bluegills for the day and it is strictly enforced. This lake is well managed and the fish are some of the healthiest I have ever landed. The fight is awesome, and most of the time the fight is going away from the boat. I had the limit by 10 AM and left for home. I only kept the big bulls which totaled out at 15. I did find out today that the Gnat works best with my 5 wt as opposed to my 4 wt. I can set the hook much better with the 5 wt, and I can also get the fly up out of the water much better with the added backbone of the 5 wt not to mention handling the big Shell Crackers I landed today. The 4 wt works great for all the surface flies I fish on the lake. I don’t have to tell you guys how much I am enjoying this little venture. After today’s outing my total is 85. We have bad weather tomorrow and Wednesday, so I only have Thursday or Friday to make my mark. Wish me luck!

One of the first of the day in--this fish came up 7 ft. to grab this popper, I was fishing a flat ranging from 7 to 8 ft. deep

When they take the fly this deep in their mouth, you know they mean to kill it. The orange popper has been the color for the past couple of trips.

Notcie the Black Gnat, this Shell Cracker was in water 6 ft. down. I was fishing the Gnat with a slow fall, all I had to do was watch the line, when it goes so does the fish

This is what he looked like after landed him

Today's catch which gets me to 85

Seperating Myself From the Rest of the Pack

Today’s post is an update on my quest to reach my goal of landing 100 bluegills by the end of this month. I missed my trip on Thursday of this week because of the rain. I did get to go on Friday. I launched my little Raider boat at 7 AM and fish until lunch. The wind was a little more cooperative today compared to this past Tuesday. The only negative aspect of the trip today was the number of individuals on the water. It seems every nook, point, and bend I approached to fish, there was a boat. The positive aspect of the trip was the fact that I was the only one on the lake fishing with a fly rod. Everyone was either fishing live bait for bluegill or fishing for crappie with minnows or fishing for bass with artificial lures. I was really getting some strange looks; I had one individual to ask me, what kind of outfit was I fishing? I explained to him what I was doing but I don’t think he quite understood what I was talking about.

Today proved to me that if you are not following the norm by fishing the way everybody else does, then you should be a little more successful than the rest of the pack. That is what happened to me today. I stopped counting after I landed more than 30 bluegills. Of those 30 gills, 18 were keepers and 10 were the big bluegills I was after. The bedding process had begun because the water temps had reached 72 degrees. So this explains why all the boats on the water. I only have a couple more trips to make before it is over with on this lake for me this year. I hope I reach my goal.

The little number 10 orange popper on the floor of the Raider boat was the choice popper today before the wind. It seems the bluegills were attracted to this color more than the traditional white, chartreuse, or yellow colors.

These are the best of the bunch. As stated in the post, I brought 18 home, but these were worthy of the picture. Half of these were landed using the Black Gnat after the wind got up. This group brought my total to 70.  



Reaching That Number 100 Gill in All That Wind & More Wind

I was reading Mel’s Post over at Blog Cabin Angler the other day on wind. Well as I fished Walker County Lake today I reflected back to his post. Why because I experienced the wind factor “big time” today. I found myself with fly line wrapped around my head at times not to mention the fly itself hooked either in my clothing or in some article in the boat. I made the comment on Mel’s post that the wind can be a friend or it can be your enemy. Today it was more of my enemy than a friend. It was gusting at 15 to 25 mph. at times and the lake was white capping after lunch. So you asked with all this going on where is the fish? The fish with exception of the 15 I brought home is still in that windy lake. I decided after I got home around 1 pm that I would not stay and fish in those conditions anymore. It is not worth the problems one’s goes through to stay an extra hour for two or three more fish.   I arrived at the lake this morning around 7 and didn’t land a fish until 7:45. There was no wind and the water temp was reading between 66 and 68 with the wind from the south. I finally made a hook up right before 8 which was a largemouth around 2 lbs. I fought the fish to the boat only to have it break off as it made one last jump as I was reaching to lip it. I lost popper number one. As the morning progressed I lost two other poppers on break offs in brush, which were large bull bluegills. The 15 bluegills I brought home were all caught on a size 8 Chartreuse Popper, and a size 8 Irresistible wruff. I really like this little fly because it resembles some of the Mayflies coming off the trees at this time on the lake. You know I would never go without the Gnat. The Gnat is the fly that produced all the larger bulls today. I started using the Gnat when the wind got up and stayed with it until I left. I told all of you back in March I was going to set a goal of landing 100 bull bluegill before the end of April. Well after today I stand at 60. With wind like today I am wondering if I will reach my goal. Stay tuned for Thursday’s trip, if the rain doesn’t wash me out. Wish me luck.

Sorry about the glare, the mimosa trees in the distance was producing the Mayflies, which caused me to tie on the Irresistible wruff--it produced female bluegills no bulls

Flydeals tie this fly for me with a red tail and a white hackle--excellent dry for bluegills

This little ruttier saved me many casts by keeping the boat parallel to the bank when the wind really got bad. I made the ruttier out of a discarded trolling motor mount.

Good bluegill but not the biggie I have been accustomed to. But I will take these all day. He was one that I counted towards my 100 goal. Notice the Gnat.

I counted 6 of these bluegills towards my 100 goal. The rest in the cooler was female bluegills.

Ready for the fillet knife

The end result of today's trip. The fillets above are left in the refrigerator overnight in ice and salt. The salt is added to eliminate what blood is left in the fillets. The next day you rinse off the salt and either deep fry or bake to a golden brown. The majority of the fish I have been catching lately have been put in the deep freeze for the winter. By the end of summer the freezer should be full.