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When we travel, I enjoy fly fishing for nice bluegill..and eating them even more..but it seems most go after them with the worm and bobber..not bad, but the fly rod is sooooooo much fun..anyone enjoy this also...??


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Absolutely. I've caught Panfish from California to Maine, Georgia to Minnesota. Bluegill, Redear, Green Sunfish, Rock Bass, Longear, Pumpkinseed, Yellow Perch. With the exception of Rock Bass which were taken on Rapalas and small jigs, I've caught representatives of each on flies.

My current 'gill rod of choice is an Echo Carbon 2wt, though I'm also trying out a Cabela's Classic Glass 4 wt ($69.95 !!) and a Granger 7030.

I find foam rubber spiders to be the most fun, though not necessarily the most effective. Tough to beat a small bugger when it comes to blending quantity and quality. For pure numbers to hand, disregarding size, I'm letting James use a size 14 Partridge and Olive soft hackle. The Elk Hair Caddis that Rob P tied for the swap last year was also a bluegill killah. Heck, that one fly probably caught close to 100 fish for me. Bluegill in CA and CO, and Rainbow and Brown trout in CO. Damn me for leaving it on my drying patch and losing it.

Scott



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It's amazing how one fly can catch so much. I admit that most of the flies I have, only four boxes full, will probably never be seen by a fish. Those few that are known to work, get the fish. They get tied on first and that's as far as it needs to go most of the time. If I do change flies, it's usually to a smaller one more often than a different pattern.
Pan fish are a ball with flies. Heck, I can remember walking along the face of a rock dam highway crossing at San Luis Res. and just knocking the big pan fish dead. All I did was jig a fly in the gaps between the big boulders and the fight was on. They apparently would hide in the rocks to avoid the Stripers that try to get them. E

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You bet, it's a blast. Most any small attractor wet fly will work.
I especially like flies with yellow and red. Small size 12 - 16 buggers work too. I like a variation I learned in San Diego called a Super Bug which only uses a turn or two of hackle at the front.

PS not technically fly fishing but I like to use a Pistol Pete (small woolly worm with a propeller on the front) with a spinning outfit with a fly and bubble set up too.


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THE killer rig is a popper or spider on top with a nymph or wet fly on a 12" dropper below. Just leave an extra long tag end when you tie the popper on and add the nymph to the tag end.


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Used a black ant and hemostats for about 2 hours last weekend. Caught enough to feed the entire cast from a Tarzan movie.


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When I was stationed in NC we had a 3 acre lake (pond) behind the house full of bluegills and bass. Loved catching the bluegills on the flyrod. My best catch was a 3 incher that went ballistic when I set the hook ... that's because he was being pursued by an 8 lb largemouth. That bass swallowed that bluegill and wouldn't let go. When I finally got him in I opened the mouth and pulled the bluegill from his gut ... the bass was never hooked. Poor little bluegill didn't fare so well. grin


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My farm pond has a healthy population of bass, crappies, and a couple of varities of bluegill. When the Bass fishing is slow I use my 5 wght. and a 5x tippit with a small wooly bugger. Usually black with a red butt. Sometimes a gold bead. It is as much fun as one should be allowed to have.

Dry flies like a coachman, rio grande, or white miller work well too if you like fish with a dry fly.

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If any of you are in Georgia, give the lake at Calloway Gardens a try. It is located near Pine Mountain, GA. I try to make at least one trip a year.

The bluegill fishing is the most fantastic I have ever seen. They were so large, I had to lip them like I do bass, to get the hook out. They were too large to hold by the body in my hand.

I have found that a Chartreuse pan fish popper works best, but flies might work as good. Black and yellow stripes are good, too.

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Oh yeah! Bluegill, yellow perch, crappie, and of course I find bass in the same waters.

So much fun on a fly rod!

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Someone once said ( I can't remember who) that if bluegills weighed 10 pounds nobody would fish for anything else. I find them to be a damn fine game fish.

They are a great fly rod fish. Excellent eating as well.

I've used the Wooly Bully Spider to great success at Utah's Pelican Lake. My best color was florescent red with white legs. The fly is really fun if the water is clear enough you can see to the bottom. You can watch the bluegills materialize out of the tules, hover with fins a quiver and then suck in the fly. Great sport.

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A couple nights ago. Granger 7030 wielded by big bro, yellow foam spider, 8" Redear.

[Linked Image]



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Way cool, Scott ! E

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They were my first fly caught fish as a kid back in Tenn and Va. Not so much since I moved to Oregon. Used to favor poppers. Now when I visit my sister back east I tend to black wooly buggers and gold ribbed hare's ears. Great fish and good starters for kids.


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Thanks for reminding me. A bluegill about 4" long was my first fly caught fish. A fisherman I met as a kid at a local park lake told me you could catch fish with small flies. I bought a couple of bright wet flies from a drug store and flipped them out with my spinning rod and reel. Could only "cast" at few feet. I tossed the fly next to some vegetation along the bank and as the fly was sinking like a little parachute this bluegill came up under it and took it. One of my most unforgettable fishing experiences.


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I learned to fly fish catching bluegills! A gray wooly worm size 10 will catch them everytime easily. Poppers are a great time as well. I don't find many big bluegills 4-6 inches are common where I fish. I did manage to catch a "huge" bluegill one day while fishing several years back. I was using a streamer fly looking for crappie and a bluegill hit it. I thought I hooked a 15 inch bass but ended up a bluegill bigger than my hand swallowed that streamer. That was the biggest bluegill I ever caught and still remember it to this day. Panfishing with a flyrod is great fun!

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My first fish on fly were blue gills and I still enjoy catching them on fly. The big bluegills are much more difficult than a trout to catch

The Shenendoah and Potomac Rivers had great fishing for BIG sunfish in it.

Boy did they fight on a 4 wt/ Prince nymphs and McGintys, Foam spiders


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Plenty of crappie and bass in the area so take advantage in the Spring during the pre spawn

[Linked Image]

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Originally Posted by Scott_Thornley
A couple nights ago. Granger 7030 wielded by big bro, yellow foam spider, 8" Redear.

[Linked Image]



great pic

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How do you tie a foam spider.? (materials)size of hook . My favorite fly is a black gnat on a 16 hook. I caught a 5 Lb large mouth bass on one in the early spring. I was fishing for trout, he had nothing in his stomach. so his first bite of food in the spring was his last. took me 20 min to net him 0n a 1 1/2 lb tipped leader. what fun that was. grin


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