Took my usual Thursday night fishing down to my favorite and only municipal lake. I thought the fishing would be dead with the cold rain we had the other day and yesterday evening wasn’t that nice either. When I got down to the lake I noticed it had risen a few inches and some coots were feeding out on the water; wind wasn’t too bad either. So I walked down to a spot near some green cattails that had been productive several days earlier.
I cast out a chartruse wooly bugger but no dice. I stuck with that spot about 20 minutes with the same results. No fish. I moved on to another spot a little further down the shore and tried there. Again no results. Time for a change. I tied on a small size 12 epoxy minnow and began casting. Was that a tug by a fish or some weeds? I couldn’t tell so I moved back to my orginal spot and began casting. After a few minutes sweet sucess.
I got three nice bluegills there and wanted to try my second spot again. Got two there. Light was fading fast so I went home a happy fisherman.
A friend and I are headed to the Elk River in SW Missouri tomorrow. Hoping the smallies and panfish are still biting. If not, the scenery should be great.
I wish you and your friend the best of luck.
Hi Cycler,
Your afternoon of fishing just shows that bluegills and most of the other panfish can be just as selective as trout when it comes to taking a fly (in fact, more selective than free-stone, fast-water trout). The little guys, sure, they’ll take anything but the big guys, can be tough and if you don’t have the right fly on and refuse to experiment, the afternoon will be a wash. Good job! 8T 
You should be able to catch good bluegills right up to ice up. My fishing partner and I don’t quit fly fishing for bluegills untill we can’t launch the boat. Use small (#12 and smaller) wet flies and long leaders. I sometimes use a level 2 pound test leader up to 18 feet long. Anybody can catch nich bluegills when they are on the beds in the spring. You need to be a bit more savy th catch them consistantly late in the year and into winter.
fishbum
Thanks for your kind words 8T.
Fishbum, thanks for the tip on how to keep on catching until ice up. Last year I had a miserable time trying to catch late season anything. I can remember only once occasion where I got a couple of nice bass but most of the time if I got anything it was a few tiny bass or a small bluegill or two. This year it’s been much, much better. I attribute that to better applying advice I’ve read in books and magazines and, of course, here. Books and magazines are nice but for advice about fishing problems and getting it just when you need this bulletin board is excellent.
Hi FB,
When you say that you can catch bluegills into winter, are you including BIG reservoir-type lakes? When the weather turns really cold on the big lakes, the blue gills head for deeper water and are very hard to find. Even if you could reach them with a fly, you would still have to find them first. I’ve always said that big lake fishing is some of the hardest you will find anywhere for a consistent catch. BTW, this is intended as a very friendly question. If you can consistently catch brim into winter on a large reservoir, I want to become your very best friend and fish with you a regularly. 8T
cycler68,
You did well indeed! I think it was Dave Whitlock who said something to the effect of anyone can take the average 'gill on most summer days but those larger guys can be just as finicky as a lot of good trout! Congrats on your efforts.
Fishbum, I’ll echo what 8T said too. And I’m listening… I"ve always had utmost respect for the fellow who can take nice gill sin less than “normal” conditions.
Same goes for the fisherman who targets and consistently takes some good crappies in our northern-most lakes in mid summer. I’ve tried and failed. It’s good to talk to those boys at the dock. Most don’t fly fish and freely offer helpful info. They typically fish deeper too.
Jeremy.
I admit I’ve been struggling somewhat to catch fish. But, I keep trying!
Amidst shuttling my kids around last night, I stopped by a local public pond and fly-fished for a bit between 6:30pm and 7pm. It got dark fast! I finally had to give up when the line guides on my fly rod finally iced shut!!
I used a fly I had tied up that looked very simlar to a dragonfly nymph. I caught 2 nice crappies (biggest was 12"), and a nice bluegill (I’d guess at least 8.5"). There was some big splashes around the pond, mostly out in the middle. Not sure what it was, could’ve been catfish, but there are some carp and grass carp in the pond, so it could’ve been those, too.
Here’s the 12" crappie…yes, once again my cell phone takes horrible pictures, and I’d left my digital camera at home. :icon_shaking2:
That’s the Albright A-5 rod and Albright Bugatti reel I’d bought earlier this year.
With the sudden cold snap here in KY, they’ve pretty much turned off. Unless we have a few warmer days with some sun, I think it’s about over in this neck of the woods.
Jeff
You have a PM. 
Nice crappie!
Eight thumbs
Sorry to take so long to relpy. I was in Arkansas most of last week. Yes these are big natural lakes. Take a look at a map of northeastern Indiana and southern Michigan. They range in size from a few hundred acres to well over a thousand acares. Depth of these lakes average 60 to 100 feet deep in the deepest spots. Here are the keys to finding these big bluegills.
- Don’t expect to catch buckets full of fish.
- find breaks where water drops from 4’-6’ into 20’ -30’ of water. There should be weeds on the breaks.
- anchor in the deep water and cast to the breaks working the fly down the break.
- PAY ATTENTION to any slight change in your line while retrieving your fly
- BE QUITE. These winter fish are a bit spookey
Wear plenty of clothes.
Good luck and have fun when everybody else is sitting by the fire. You will have the lake to yourself.
fishbum
Conditions last night were a bit different. Still cold, but relatively calm. I fished the “dusk” bite from about 6pm-6:50pm Tried fishing deeper, with no success. Also tried a white beadhead woolly bugger, thinking the crappies might find that irresistable. I didn’t get any hits on that. As the sky grew darker, just a bit of color on the horizon, I switched back to my dragonfly nymph fly, and caught 3 bluegills and 1 fat bass, all in fairly shallow water…within about 5’-15’ of shore.
I’m speculating, of course, but it seems the fish are moving shallow once the sky gets dark? Although the water is certainly getting cooler, the hits are still aggressive, and the fights are strong!
Hi again Fishbum,
I was afraid that your answer to year-around blue gills would be pretty much along these lines. I’ve been there on cold afternoons, working 20-30 feet of water with a fly rod and had marginal success. Waiting for infinitesimally light bites in a twenty-five mile per hour wind, just isn’t all that much fun. Winter is definitely time for me to switch to trout fishing. Thanks for the input on brim. I do appreciate it. 8T
FishnDave,
The pattern you took advantage of is exactly the same one I’ve been exploiting at my local lake. On calm evenings right about at dusk the bluegills come up and begin feeding at the surface. I carefully walk withing casting distance and cast a #12 red epoxy minnow as close to the feeding fish as I can without putting them down. Hits are agressive as yours are and the fish have been running larger than usual. I can usually get about 3 - 4 fish before the fish are a little spooked and the bite slows way down. After that I get a few more and then it’s over. Usually by the time all of this takes place it’s dark anyhow and time to go home.
As for getting deep fish Terry and Roxanne Wilson in their book Bluegill Fishing and Flies advocate using sinking line on fly rods as heavy as a 7 wt. A fly that would provoke a hard strike as one that imitates a minnow, or just agressive fish and a non-strechy leader would, in my opinion, contribute to sucess.
I have some addition comments about catching deep bluegills that I forgot to include in the previous post.
A few years ago my brother and I were still fishing some bluegills in about 16 feet of water I with my fly rod and him with his spinning rod. He was using nightcrawlers and I was using 7 wt. type V sink tip line and a fly with, dare I say the word, bait on it. The sink tip was 16 ft line so all I did was lower the fly until all the sink tip was down and when I got a bite I stripped the fish in. Might not have been terribly sporting but it did work.
Life is good!
Water 45 degrees F
Air 38 degrees F
Wind 15 out of the northwestat 15-18 mph
Depth 15 feet
Break depth 4 feet with weeds
Brought home 8 for the table that were from 8 1/4 to 9 3/4 long. Tossed a half dozer 7+ inch dinks back.
Not a bad evening if I do have to say so myself.
fishbum
Went out this morning to see if I could catch some bass but no luck & those gills that were feeding conveniently close to shore have now decided the groceries are much further out in the lake, far beyond my casting range. It looks like this might be the end of that pattern at least for the mornings. I may return in the afternoon some day soon to see if the gills are still feeding close to shore where I can catch some.
The warmwater cycle is definitely coming to a halt. Went out today and got a couple of pans to bite, but the creek is about done for the season. The upside is time to really get serious about tying. My box of favorites is empty!
I fly-fished in the dark at a local public pond Friday night from 8:30pm-11:30pm. It was SLOW!
I worked around one direction with a bass-sized popper, and had a couple of decent hits, but no hook-ups…and then finally caught a bluegill on it!
Switched to a #8 purple woolly bugger on the return trip back around the pond, and ended up with 5 more nice bluegills and a 14-inch bass. Had another bass on all the way to shore before it shook loose.
Also had one big hit that, when I set the hook, I felt the massive weight for about 1 second…and then the line broke. I figure it was probably a big catfish.