favorite bluegill rod

[dpenrod]

smallies thread on the sage "bluegill" rod got me to thinking about bluegill fishing. while 6-7wt. seems way too much rod for a bluegill, was wondering what everyone's favorite to chase these critters was. am thinking of getting a ultralight line rod. i have a lamiglas 7'6" fiberglass 4 wt. that is my current bluegill rod and really like it, but was considering a lighter line. have looked pretty hard at the tfo sig series 6' 2wt. what about you?

[wayneb]

My favorite bluegill rod is a Cortland Pro Crest 8ft 5wt fiberglass rod. It's enough line weight to toss any gill fly, even with a breeze. But still allow a chunky gill to put a decent bend in the rod and any bass 3 1/2lbs or heavier really poses a challenge!

Wayneb

[tailingloop]

St. Croix Triumph 7'6" 6wt youth rod. This is a fun little rod. Not as powerful as my Sage RPL+ 6wt, or even Fli 5wt but more backbone than my Sage 379-3 LL, St. Croix Imperial 7' 2/3 wt or St. Croix Premier 8' 4wt. I went to a 6wt because I just lost too many 'gills in structure. Even then, I am a little undergunned sometimes. Got tired of losing fish and getting leaders wrapped around stuff. Same for good size bass hooked around structure while gill fishing. I like to use a 7wt bass taper on in to toss some larger flies for bass sometimes.

For smaller gills I like the 379-3 LL Sage. The Sage Bluegill rod is fine when the gills are running around 2lbs like they do at one local lake, but not my first choice for bluegill fishing.

Im looking at getting another short but powerful rod like the Ross Worldwide Flystik or Redington Predator.

[Greybeard]

I've got a variety of rods to choose from but my the one I consistently spend the most time with when I'm fishing for bluegills is an 8', 5 wt., St. Croix that I built from a blank that my wife bought me a few years ago for my birthday. She doesn't fish (or know much about fly fishing) and I thought the rod was going to be a bit more than I needed for bluegill but it is sweet to cast and fits my needs perfectly.

Graybeard

[James Smith]

Like many others, I have a variety of light weight rods to choose from when fishing for Bluegill. My all around favorite is an 8 ft Scott 3wt. It light enough to be a pleasure to fish with all day and has enough backbone to cast weighted flies when necessary. I also have a Sage SLT one wt and a custom built two wt which are a blast when I'm fishing more open water.

Jim Smith

[DaveP63]

Whatever I pick up to use!!! I've used mostly 5 and 6 weights, but I have a new 4 that I'm going to try this spring...

[gadabout]

I don't belong to the light lines for bluegills school. Unless you're fishing for thumbnail-sized bluegills, a bluegill in the 1/2 lb and up range is going to pull a lot harder than your typical hatchery trout. The two rods I use most for bluegills are a 6-weight and a 7-weight, both older glass rods (Orvis Fullflex A and Shakespeare 848 Wonderod). I want to be able to cast a variety of flies and bugs and the light line weight rods just don't cut it. Catching bluegills on these old glass rods is a pleasure.

[sagefisher]

I like to use a 9 foot rod when I am in my WaterMaster Raft or my pontoon boat. Since I usually anchor to fish a spot for a while, the 9 foot rod allows me to keep the fish I catch away from the anchor lines. I use two anchors, one off either side towards the back. I tried using a shorter rod but couldn't keep the fish away from my anchor line.

I like to use a 9 foot Sage XP 3 weight rod for Crappie and Bluegills and perch. If I should hook up on a slightly bigger bass, the Sage XP has enough backbone to handle it.

If there are a lot of LMB in the lake I am fishing then I use either a Sage 5 wt or a Sage 6 wt 9 foot rod. If I am going only after LMB then I prefer a Sage 8 wt rod to horse them out of their holes.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Bamboozle]

Anything as long as it's glass!

[Hoochman]

I have an old Scott 4wt glass rod. Love it for bluegills.