Favorite Gill setup?
What's your favorite bluegill/panfish rod setup?
Rod wt, Length, Leader length, Tippet size.
I live within walking distance of a little lake with panfish, bass, catfish etc. I really need to go down there and get into panfish fishing along the dam, and at the boat ramp. I am curious what you all use. I have 3 through 9 wt rods and have gone down there with my 6wt a couple times over the years. I am thinking my 7'6" 3 wt (TFO Pro) would be a blast.
Wayne
3 wt., 7'6, 5 1/2' furled leader, 4 or 5' of mono in 4 pound test for a 'tippet'....
I am thinking that you thinking your 3 wt. will be a blast is sound thinking.... =) The only downsides to the 7' 6" 3 wts. is that wind can be an issue, and the possibility of trouble if you have a lot of cover in the lake (hydrilla and other weeds, and lots of wood that a fish can wrap you up in.) But you already have one, so you know all of this.
I LOVE fishing for gills with my 7'6" 3-wt... 7.5 ft 5x or 6x leader casting soft hackles. But with bass and catfish as a possibility, I'd fish my 9ft 5wt with 4x leader. Bigger flies just aren't fun to cast with a 3-wt.
Hi Waynep,
Before I start fishing for gills, I will often work the area over carefully with a much heavier rod and very large flies (Gurgle Pops and Crease Flys 4-6 inches long with or without a large Wooly Bugger as a dropper). This tell me two things. Are there feeding LMB in the area and how active are the brim. Brim will annoy the heck out of these big flies by swatting at them and pulling them underwater by tails and legs. I will then rest the water 10-15 minutes and get serious with the brim. I use a two weight Cabela's Clear Creek fly outfit, a braided leader and four feet of 4X tippet. This is a very husky two weight outfit and casts Gurgle Pops (#12-#10) easily even with a bead-head dropper. I usually use about 18 inches of 5X tippet for the dropper fly. BTW, I always have a 9' four weight in the truck for windy conditions, larger flies or for when I just want to reach out and touch someone.
st croix ultra 9 foot 6 weight, okuma airframe reel, cortland 444 peach wf, short amnesia butt section, warrenp furled leader, 9 lb mono tippet
a heavy rig, maybe? but i'm prepared for that 3 lb bass, large crappies, golden dace, pickerel, perch etc etc etc.
Last edited by Normand; 05-03-2010 at 12:27 PM.
If I'm chasing gills, my go-to rod is my 8ft 3wt Scott wiht a 5 1/2 foot furled leader and 2-3 feet of tippet. I also have a 7ft 2wt and a 7ft Sage 1 wt. but they don't have enough backbone to keep the big ones out of the tree limbs. Much larger than a 3 wt for me and it starts to loose some of the fun.
Jim Smith
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