Does anyone on here ever get to Lake Perris in California to chase the bluegills? On another forum I participate on, there’s a small group of guys that post pictures of some MONSTER coppernose bluegills all the time.11-12" long, dinner plate round 'gills! It got me wondering if these fish ever see flies? I know these guys fish for 'em pretty deep (25-40 ft deep), but surely they are shallower at some point.
I would loooove to get on a mess of those big boys with a 3-weight!
Perris can have some decent fly fishing for bass and panfish. Its about 90 minutes from my house but I have never been there since I have so many good waters closer with similar size 'gills. There have been a couple of articles on Perris in California Fly Fisher magazine in the last few years.
Used to live around the corner from Lake Perris but never saw anyone fishing it. Have they cleaned it up from what it was like 10 years ago?
Hello. I fished Perris today and got 4 bluegills and two trout. Perris is great for large panfish: bluegills, shellcrackers and crappie. My persoanl best bluegill from lake Perris is 13 inches. I like to fish midge pupa and size 14-18 wet flies and nymphs under a bobber at Perris. I have been fishing this lake since it opened in the early 70s and have had many years of great warm water fly rodding there.
Lanny
Yes, fished it quite a bit in the early-mid 90s. And yes, there were many bluegill just as you describe. Throughout spring, I’d find them in the brush and trees in 3-5ft of water. I did best with #6-8 Yuk Bugs. They fought hard on a 5wt. Best of luck with that 3wt:razz: