Will 2015 Make my Bluegill Quest??

WELL!!!! “As Ronald Reagan use to say” ---------My long sabbatical is over and I am back with you guys again to share and comment. I am sorry for my absence these past months, but other obligations got in the way of my blogging. I know some of you thought I would probably never return, but trust me that was not my intention; blogging has always been a way for me to communicate with fellow fly fishermen and women who love the sport as much as I do. I have been blogging since 2009 and it is something I truly love. I hope I can stick around for a long time with you guys.

Now for today’s post; with high water on the lake the trout fishing is out until generation slows, which could be a while. Heavy rains have caused an overflow in the lake and the water has to go somewhere so the tailrace gets flooded. This of course doesn’t stop me from thinking about casting for the rainbow and monster gills incoming spring.

My last outing in my boat this year was roughly six weeks ago to mark some sandbar nooks on Smith Lake. I will fish all these areas in the spring for spawning bluegills.

Sandbars are prime targets for big bull bluegills to search out in the spring to create spawning beds. The sand is easy to move and creates a perfect incubator for the eggs.

I have landed some of my largest bluegills from heavy sandbars, where sand has piled up because of wave wash.

The site of monster beds such as these can trigger a quite reaction from an avid bluegill fisherman.

I have never found more than a dozen bluegill beds on Smith at any given sandbar. The fish are scatted more in Smith Lake as opposed to smaller lakes. In a smaller lake, there could be as many as two dozen beds in one area.

After February I will be counting the days until the spawn. I hope some you guys will join me this year in casting a fly or popper towards the big bulls.

Awesome Float Trip Fishing With B.T.

This past Friday my son-in-law B.T. and I got to fish the Caney Fork River in the eastern part of Tennessee. David, our guide had been trying to work a day around the generation schedule that would enable us to land numerous trout during an afternoon outing. We were not disappointed, B.T. and I stayed busy all evening landing some colorful rainbow, browns, and some beautiful brook trout just getting their fall colors.

I seldom get to fish with B.T. anymore because of his heavy work schedule; so getting to fish with him again on the Caney brought back some fond memories. This is the river that actually got me into trout fishing with B.T. right after he and Jenny got married. It only took landing one trout that first outing to get me hooked, and I have been obsessed ever since.

B.T. got things going quickly as we left the launch at Betty's island bringing this nice brown to the net. The Caney seldom gives up many large browns on top but this one made the mistake of taking the hopper B.T. was using.

David netted this nice brown I stirred to the net using my 5 wt. Redington fishing a pheasant tail nymph. B.T. and I found out the browns fight harder than the rainbow we were landing throughout the day. 

B.T. landed this beautiful brook trout using his 5 wt. Temple Fork fly rod. He was really impressed with this brook trout because David told us that not many brook trout are landed on the Caney. 

Another awesome brown trout landed using the pheasant tail nymph. B.T. landed this brown near the take out area. What a way to end an unbelievable trout fishing trip on an absolutely beautiful tailrace. What made this trip special was B.T. and me were able to land a lot of trout all afternoon fishing with one of the best guides in Tennessee. Tight lines until we make another trip with David!! 

Oh, forgot to mention these gobblers were feeding along the shoreline which makes me think that was the reason we had such success today. Anytime wildlife is feeding fish are biting!!!

President Carter a Fly Fisherman??

Cathey and I and our good friends Clyde and Gloria decided to make a trip to Plains Georgia this past weekend to attend Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class. He usually conducts a class a few times a month at his small church just off the main highway going through Plains. He is still a very active former President at age 90.

This picture was taken just outside the church right after the service was concluded. There was quite a line of individuals waiting to have their picture taken with Mr. Jimmy as some call him there in Plains. It's not everyday one gets to shake the hand of a former President. We all felt really honored to be in his presence.

Maranatha Baptist Church is packed on Sundays when the former President is in attendance.

The family home where Mr. Jimmy spent his early years

Air condition in the winter and plenty of heat in the summer

Chicken House

Family store ran by Mr. Jimmy’s father

 

Main Street of Plains with all the stores restored to their original state. President Carter helped restore all the buildings with generous donations over the years.

One of the many freestone streams located in the mountains of Ellijay Georgia where the former President and his wife own a cabin. He still fly fishes in the area and he stills ties his own flies. I asked to see some of his flies in one of the stores we visited but I was told by the individual behind the counter that all his flies are auctioned off and not on display. Most of his flies go at auction for as much as 200.00 or more and all the money goes to the needy in the community of Plains.

 

Mr. Jimmy is also an accomplished woodworker, in fact, he has built a lot of the furniture that is in their modest ranch-style home in Plains.  He and Rosalynn are still active in Habitat for Humanity, which helps individuals in need of shelter because of natural disasters.

I will end this post by saying after meeting the former President, I feel there is still hope for all of use older guys who feel we may be over the hill; at 90 this man is truly remarkable!!!

Fishing with my Mico- Light Spinning Rod to Land Catfish!!

For those of you who haven’t try fishing a microlight spinning rod then you are missing out on some fantastic ultra-light action. I have been using these type of rods for years, when I use them to land crappie and bluegill some ten years ago. Of course, that was before I started using the fly rod, which all you know has taken precedence over all my other reels and rods.

I have to admit there are times though that I stray away from the fly rod, and this past week was one of those times. I decided to use my microlight spinning rods to go after some of the channel and blue catfish on Smith my home lake. Fishing the rock walls during the late summer and into the fall can be an excellent time to land some quality catfish. The catfish on Smith tend to feed early and late in the evening, so my trip this past week was a daylight outing fishing nothing but the rock walls tight-lining at depths of 20 to 30 feet down.

Find a rock wall like the one in the above image and most of the time you find catfish, especially if the wall has an overhanging muscadine vine near it, the catfish devour those when they are in season.

A healthy channel cat using my 7 ½ ft. microlight.

My 7 ½ ft. microlight spinning rod paired with the Pflueger President XT spinning reel which spools 4 to 6 lb. test line. Today I was using my 6 lb. test extra spool which came with the reel. The balance on this combo parallels the balance I go for on my fly rod combos, super light, and sensitive.

Gulp catfish chunks split into and served up on a size 12 true turn hook; I know most everyone fishes for catfish using heavier equipment, but I prefer the challenge and fight that this fish will give one using an inferior combo and in this case the microlight works to perfection for me. In fact, it is the closest I can get to my fly rod on trips like today.

Every once in awhile a spot will nail the gulp chunk which is another challenge for the microlight that it passes. I ended the morning with 5 catfish all basically the same size as my post image and the one spot. The spot got its freedom, but the catfish were not so lucky. My wife and I seldom eat fried meals, but we make an exception when it comes to fresh catfish fillets.

The Bluegill Spawn is Over For This Year

Well another spawning bluegill fishing season has come and gone without me reaching my quest of landing fifty super size bluegill during the spawn. I can be somewhat content knowing I landed some nice bull gills this year that gave my 3 and 4 weight fly rods quite a workout.

This season added a few more poppers, as if I needed more flies, to my collection including the Barr Nunn popper. This was the popper that proved that color really makes a difference at times during the spawn. I will be back in action for another season next year, and hopefully reach my goal. I ended this season 23 short of my goal.   

This colorful Pumpkinseed sunfish was one of the last gills I brought to hand for this season----looking forward to next spring!!

 

 

When are Enough Flies and Poppers Enough??

I have found that fly fisherman who fish for all species of fish, regardless of warm water or coldwater have an abundance of flies in their fly boxes. If you are not one of these individuals then I would consider you in the minority. All my fly fishing buddies including me have enough flies and poppers to last season after season. So the question is why do need so many poppers and flies, and of course the answer is to land lots of fish.

I realize that if one is fishing for trout, the hatch comes into play a lot of times which dictates a certain size and style pattern that matches the hatch. Trout fishermen have to be a bit more creative with the fly pattern and of course the presentation to get a take. Assuming no hatch is visible and your buddy is slaying the trout with this tiny little nymph or dry he has perfected, and you are struggling to land even one trout, hence a few more patterns to add to the fly box. 

Fly fishing for warm water species such as bluegill, bass and even crappie usually requires some poppers and nymphs and that is all one needs to have success especially during the spawn. There are times and they are rare for me when certain color poppers will attract a hit better than the popper my buddy is using, but most of time any type popper will trigger a hit.

So my point is, could we as fly fishermen have success on our favorite stream or lake using what you would consider your top six dries and top six nymphs on any given outing? The same question could apply for the warm water species as well, could a few poppers and nymphs land you an abundance of bluegills and bass.

So here are my top dries, nymphs, poppers and warm water nymphs for a season, what is your top pick?

My top six dries for a season, how could any trout fisherman be without the Adams and of course Alan’sBomber

My top six nymphs including  David’s Knapp’s Seal Leech and of course the famous Zebra Midge

Poppers and terrestrials are among my top six warm water flies. These six flies should get hits when fishing for bluegill or even bass anywhere in the U.S.

My top six warm water nymphs has to include my favorite the Gant in black and yellow.

 

I truly believe I could fish a season or more with these flies and poppers I have feature here; but am I willing to get up all my flies and poppers I have in my boxes yet------NO!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  

I Got to Remember I’m Not Thirty Five Anymore

I had planned on making a trip to the tailrace Friday and fish for some of the nice stocker trout shipped from Missouri on Thursday. The Missouri trout are larger than the ones the tailrace gets from Dale Hollow out of Tennessee; but my plans got sidetracked by a pulled tendon in the calf of my right leg, which occurred at the gym three weeks ago. My doctor informed me that I had to stay off the leg as much as possible and no more uphill treadmill walking for at least 3 weeks. I’m taking medication and using ice packs for the swelling, which comes and goes, depending on the amount of standing or walking I am doing. He told me that I got to remember I’m not thirty-five anymore. So wading and standing for 3 or 4 hours on the tailrace is out for a while. At least I can look forward to some great tailrace fall fishing soon.

                                                                       

Not to be outdone by this setback I decided I would do some sitting and fishing, which means casting from my boat on Smith Lake for some more bluegill to add to my quest. Fishing during late July, August and September can be tough because of the drawdown that occurs during this time of year on the lake. The fish go deep and one has to have a lot of patience to land quality fish during this time.

This is one of my favorite spots to land bluegill early in the morning using the popper. As stated it is slow fishing this time of the year because one has to let the popper sit there for some time to entice a hit, but looking at this beautiful area often outweighs the hit. I love the huge rock formations on this lake.

Patience paid off with this bluegill that showed the rigors of the spawn, with a slim body and light color. The spawn takes a toll on the big bulls, during the spawn; they seldom eat anything, because they are too busy guarding the bed. The ferrous fight the fish puts up in the spring on the fly rod is not present now because of weight and strength loss during the spawn.

If one fishes cover during the drawdown, it is usually good for a bluegill or two. This old submerged tree didn’t disappoint.

The end results of a short morning trip and a good meal for later on in the week. I never stay on the lake after 9 AM during this time of year because of the heat and horrible humidity. It gets worse as the day progresses causing one to have trouble breathing at times. Funny, during those three hours the tendon pull never enter my mine.--------Almost forgot I counted two in the cooler for the quest, I am now a long shot 27 away.