Looking for Bluegill/Sunfish Fly Pattern Suggestions

[pillcaster]

You may need to get deeper than we normally think about for bream. Carter Nelson is a very knowledgeable tyer and guide, here's a link with a few of this patterns. http://www.warmwaterflytyer.com/patterns6.asp

Look at the "Purpletrator" on this site - what do you think of using estaz as a tailing material like that? It looks a lot easier than furling a dubbing loop LOL

[Fishnfool]

For Blue Gill I always like to trail a #12 gold bead hare's ear behind any other fly that I'm fishing.

#1- Size 12 Gold Bead Hare's Ear.
#2- Size 12 Olive or Chartuse wooly bugger.
#3- Size 10 Bully Blue gill fly.

Have a great time with your dad,
John G.

[Longs for Cutts]

Thanks for the replies. Now to narrow them down to half a dozen patterns, considering it's just going to be dad and only for a few days...

[Curtis Fry]

Tons of good suggestions and honestly bream, sunfish, bluegill whatever, are not uber-picky usually. Here are some of my go-to patterns:


Boudreuax variation

Chewy Boudreaux's by El Frito, on Flickr

Any sort of smallish popper:


Big appetite by El Frito, on Flickr

Also, they love chironomids. Probably my biggest Gill-getter pattern by far. They will hit them in the dead of winter and the heat of summer:


Bluegill w/Chironomid by El Frito, on Flickr

[Big Bad Wulff]

Basically anything you throw will be taken by blue gill. Don't rack your brain too hard on this one. Anything with legs will be a hit with them.

[Bluegill222]

Only thing I might add would be a couple small pine squirrel leeches (think slumpbusters, but a tad smaller) to bump along the bottom for the redears. Bluegills love 'em too.

[Flyfish Dog]

My favorite are #12 small balsa poppers that I make, baby bluegill EP fly and the Classic McGinty wet fly. My newest addition is these tiny Deer Hair mice to try out on 1-3wt this spring.

[FishnDave]

Tons of good suggestions and honestly bream, sunfish, bluegill whatever, are not uber-picky usually. Here are some of my go-to patterns:


Boudreuax variation

Chewy Boudreaux's by El Frito, on Flickr

Any sort of smallish popper:


Big appetite by El Frito, on Flickr

Also, they love chironomids. Probably my biggest Gill-getter pattern by far. They will hit them in the dead of winter and the heat of summer:


Bluegill w/Chironomid by El Frito, on Flickr

Curtis...those are all really AWESOME pictures!!!

[Luke McLeod]

12-16 Gold bead hares ears and gold bead pheasant tails as well as small white generic poppers bring in the red-ears, pumpkinseeds and hybrids in ponds and lakes here in central Illinois in the summertime. Luke