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.
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
2, 3 or 4 wt. in a length that will be best suited to what I am trying to do (short rods for tight brushy farm ponds long rods for more open areas). Furled leaders, 4x or 5x tippet and fly selection depends on where I am and what is happening.
Steve
In the waters that I most commonly fish the bluegill average a pound with fish approaching two pounds occasionally. There is lots of cover with abrasive surfaces. Plenty of bass too. When fishing from a float tube, I primarily use a 7’6" 6wt rod (St. Croix Premier youth rod or TFO TiCrX) lined with a 7wt bass bug taper line and a 7.5 foot leader tapered to 2x. I settled on this rig after finding 5wt and lighter rods did not have sufficient backbone to quickly pull fish from cover. These 6wt rods are a bit softer than their 9ft cousins. The 2x tippet provides the necessary abrasion resistance. When fishing from shore, I use a 9’ 5wt with the same line and a 9ft leader tapered to 2x. I will go down to 3x if tossing tiny poppers. I tried furled leaders but they pick up too much algae/slime, at least those that I have tried, and start to look and fish like a green rope.
On a lake or pond with smaller fish I will go down to a 3 wt, either, 7’, 7’9" or 8’ long.
I normally carry my 2wt and my 4wt for gills. I use a simple knotted leader that I tie up ending with 4# or 6# Berkley Vanish. But if it gets windy I put the 2wt up and fish just the 4 wt. I like my total leader-tippet length to be around 7’. And it never fails if I go to 2# tippet I regret it.
One of four depending on the flies I’m throwing:
8’ 4wt rod, floating line and 5x leader. This is my all purpose go-to rig
6’4" 4wt bamboo rod, floating line and 6x leader. This is my close quarters/short cast rod, usually I’ll be fishing dries and soft hackles with this one.
8’ 6wt bamboo rod, floating line and 4x leader. If I’m throwing poppers or other bulky/weighted patterns, the bamboo gives me the sensitivity and control of a lighter rod while still having the power and castability of the 6wt. This is also the rig I’ll go to when bass, white bass, etc. are also a possibility.
8’ 2wt. rod, floating line, 6x leader. This is the rod for the times when I know it’s just going to be gills and/or small bass and when there’s not a whole lot of cover a fish can get me tangled up in if it runs. The drawback here is that the light line holds me to pretty small flies.
Obviously different situations will mean tweaking the system just a bit. But these are the most common set-ups you’ll find me using 99% of the time with the bamboos fast becoming favorites.
9’, 4 wt. Sage XP, floating line, and 12’ to 18’ of level 2# leader with weighted flies for the deep water fishing I prefer. For shallow water shorten and taper the leader to 4# test Maxima and toss small deer hair bugs with rubber legs.
fishbum
8’3" Dan Craft Sig V 3/4 wt. It is my preferred rod for anything I can use it for. If the wind is light, I’ll use my RX8 6’6" 2 wt. In either case, I go straight from the line to my tippet. I just seems to work better. Size changes with conditions.
5wt. Sometimes 8’6", but usually 9’0". 3x 9’ tapered leader. I usually just tie to the end of the leader. When I use tippet, I’ll go with 24" of 6lb-8lb test.
I’m most often fishing public ponds for bluegills and crappies. Bass and catfish are generally “exciting by-catch”. The 5wt rod may be over-sized for small bluegills, but for 8"+ bluegills or 10"+ crappies, its perfect.
Last night I could HEAR the fly line slicing the water as a nice hooked 'gill headed for the other side of the pond. Plus I’ve hooked and landed bass to 18" (3lbs), catfish to 31" (12lbs), and grass carp to 36.5"(25lbs) on a 5wt (fortunately, there are VERY few snags in the ponds I fish!). Its a very versatile rod wt.
If I’m gonna be tossing bigger flies specifically for bass, I like at least a 6wt.
waynep, my go to rig is 2wt rods one is 6’ second is 8’. If the wind is up I’ll go to my 4wt. rod. Gills on light tackle is a real blast. Take c are, John
A 7.6 3 weight or 8.5 4 weight…usually the 4. It’s pretty soft, so it’s pretty sporty.
6’ 6" 2wt I built on an H&H blank with an Orvis Barstock reel. Awesome outfit for the local park and urban lakes
St. Croix 8.5 ft 8-wt with 250 yds of backing on a heavy-duty reel. If one is going to dream, one needs to dream big!
Ed
Ed, you going to fish with Ohio tuber for those saltwater bluegills?
I’ve had my 6wt bent double by some of the Tuber’s monster gills. Too much fun!
…and the tuber weighs in with…
1st choice: 2 piece 8’ 3wt St Croix Legend Ultra with 5’ (approx) furled leader, 3’ 6x tippet or 4lb test clear blue Stren. (BTW, this is my best “windy weather” outfit)
2nd choice: 2 piece 6’ 6" 2wt built by Joe Valencic (Thanks again Doughey!), 6’ tapered leader/6x or 7x tippet.
C’mon over folks! The biggest ‘gills keep swimmin’ after I catch 'em!!!..It’s called CPR.
Mike