I was fishing a local canal today not catching anything. Then bluegills started slaping the water. I think it was thier tails that was making the noise. I didn’t see what they were eating. I will admit that I was using worms but the gills didn’t care. I caught 6 fish in a half hour then things went dead. I am going out there same time tomarrow and try some topwaters. Any idea what this Bluegill blitz was a about?
Note:
Sandy bottom with no weeds that was 1 to 3 feet deep.
“Just when I’ve caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods.”
Jimmy Moore, “Taken Down a Notch or Two”
[This message has been edited by irondragon013 (edited 19 December 2005).]
Another thing that can happen sometimes plagues anglers too quick to set the hook. Gills will, at times, slash at a bug to kill/disable it, then come back to slurp up an easy meal. Many times, letting your fly lie motionless after this “slash” can result in a take.
Mike
Just got back and I lost count of how many fish I caught. They were all in the 6-9in range and I caught one 9in bass. I caught them on poppers and dries. They really liked my Elk Hair Caddis. I didn’t even try a dropper.
“Just when I’ve caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods.”
Jimmy Moore, “Taken Down a Notch or Two”
That’s interesting. I don’t know what temp your canal’s at but I caught bluegill [and redear] down to 50 degree water last fall on topwater. It was in 3-4’ water in channels off the main lake. At the very last I had to switch to #16 epoxy ants suspended under small poppers and grasshoppers to take fish.
I was surprised the other day to see a rise as shallow as I have been catching these fish. The air temps in my area have been in the 50’s. I kept trying to get flies deeper until the other day. So now I have a winter fishing hole.
“Just when I’ve caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods.”
Jimmy Moore, “Taken Down a Notch or Two”
If it’s wintertime and the daytime highs where you live are in the 50s, and you’ve got 6-to-9 inch bluegills taking surface flies in 4-ft. water, the best advice I can give you is…DON’T EVER MOVE! KEEP LIVING THERE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!
Over the weekend I checked a lake that I fish in often, and the only topwater action was from 5,000 Canada geese that were having way too much fun keeping little swimming holes open in the ice, between feeding flights to nearby frozen farm fields.
Soon as this lake thaws, I’ve got some feathers of my own I want to lay on that water. So thanks, Irondragon: I have a few Elkhair Caddis flies ratholed someplace from a trout trip two years back. Now I won’t be shy about trying them on 'gills, crappie and redears; for some reason (ignorance) I’ve never considered using that pattern in warm water.
The Elk Hair Caddis is one of my favorite flies. Also most bigger Gills will take a larger fly. I had a set up that had a size 12 EHC with a size 14 mayfly imitation behind it. With this all of the larger fish were taking the caddis.
The EHC and the Royal Coachman are my two favorite “real flies” for bluegills. BG’s are really rough on flies tho; that coupled with needing to have an active fly much of the time has resulted in my fishing a lot of foam patterns. Even a really heavely dressed EHC will sink with repeated “twitches”. I’ve been fishing a Madam X with foam body a lot the last few years, along with BLTs. However, for late in the day fishing with glassy smooth water I don’t hesitate to tie on one of the above flies.
On EHC I put a drop of head cement on the cut part of the elk hair. This is were most of the EHC I fish come apart. The one I was using is still good to fish. Only problem with it is that it smells like fish (not really a problem Also I figured why the area is so good. It is near the head gate of the canal and thing seem to wash into it. I noticed this with weeds and probly does the same for insects.
“Just when I’ve caught a nice trout and feeling very proud of my fly fishing ability, my feet fly out from under me and there I sit, wet, flustered and properly humiliated by the Fly Fishing gods.”
Jimmy Moore, “Taken Down a Notch or Two”
[This message has been edited by irondragon013 (edited 21 December 2005).]
You answered a question I was going to ask, before I even asked it.
What I was wondering is, are elk hair strands the same stucturally as deer hair? Deer hair, I’ve heard, is hollow, which provides bouyancy making it useful for popping bugs especially.
So I guess maybe elk hair isn’t hollow? Or if it is hollow, then the generally tiny size of Elk Hair Caddis flies doesn’t allow enough of hollow elk hairs to be wrapped that they can float the hook weight (plus the other fly components including the glue).
Still, I’m gonna try that fly anyway. Even if it rides low or sinks, in summertime that would imitate a drowning baby grasshopper.
Elk hair is hollow like deer hair but elk hair can be a little larger in diameter like antelope. It should float no matter what size, but it may ride just below the surface when totally wet. A few false casts to dry it should have it back riding on the surface.
The Deer Hair Caddis (Trude) also works. Down here in Florida, I use a size 8 as Caddis can be large here. LMB also like them .
Deer Hair Caddis
Hook: #8 dry fly or smaller (a light wire Aberdeen may also work)
Thread: Tan 6/0
Body: Dubbed light olive rabbit fur
Wing: Natural deer body hair (tied on top and parallel to hook shank)
Hackle Collar: Ginger or variant rooster
Head: thread
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 21 December 2005).]
Ya’ll right; elk hair is hollow. But both deerhair and elkhair will soak up water and sink as will the body material and hackle. BG damage flies using either hair or hackle by mangling and breaking them.
When I used a lot of hairbugs I needed a half-dozen or so for an afternoon and evening trip because as they get soggy they float lower and lower in the water and get heavier and heavier. This will happen even if you have floatant on them. Will they still catch fish - yes. Can you false cast them dry - yes, for a while. But if you need a “dry fly” to generate the hits they will become less and less effective. If you need an “active dry” they will become less effective quicker.
I still use them; however, I find myself looking for ways to use foam in my flies more and more lately. The foam is more durable and floats, and floats, and floats… You get the idea. Heck, I tie a lot of my EHC with foam bodies now!!
Elk Hair is hollow but will not flare as much as deer hair does when put under tension. Also I like to make deer hair bugs but find myself using foam bugs more often. I use foam on some of my dry flies and found that cut in a thin sttrp and rapped around the hook it makes a nice segmented looking body.
Also I figured why the area is so good. It is near the head gate of the canal and thing seem to wash into it. I noticed this with weeds and probly does the same for insects.