Catching Early Morning Gills

There is no better action than catching Bluegills on the Fly-Rod, however the majority of this fishing is done during the Spring, when the Bluegills are in the spawning season. Wait, there is another time when you can catch the Gills feeding on the surface…

Early Mornings – Calm Days

The best Bluegill action next to fly fishing during the Spawning Season is early morning on a calm day, when the water is like glass. You will find the Gills coming in to the bays or close to the weed lines chasing minnows and sucking flies and spiders off the surface. Starting mid June when the temperatures are high the Bluegills move to deeper water and come in early morning to feed. I have found this feeding frenzy to be around 6:00 am and last approximately one hour before the sun pushes them back to deeper water.

So if you’re willing to get up this early you can catch some really nice Bluegills. Baits I recommend are the following; Dry fly (spider), Gulp 2” minnow, and/or a small jig tipped with a Gulp Maggot.

Baits For Early Morning Bluegills

The Dry Fly- I prefer my homemade spiders that cost roughly $0.02/each to make. These things may not look pretty, but they catch a lot of fish. Start by purchasing a sheet of foam, cut out your pattern, tie the foam body to the hook, add the legs, and epoxy the thread and the legs at the exit points of the foam body. 10 minutes later you’re ready to fish. Making Dry Fly Spiders.

Gulp Minnow – Take a torpedo bobber, use yellowish-green (easier to see) and tie on 18 to 24 inches of line. Add a crappie hook and place a 2 inch Gulp Minnow on it. Make sure every cast that your minnow is all the way on or you will not get the action or catch the fish. See how to rig.

Gulp Maggot “Pink Lady” – The pink lady is just a name I gave to the Gulp Maggot so that my grandchildren would not shy away from it. And this worked great as they are not sky about grabbing them and putting them on the hook. To use the Pink Lady I start with a torpedo bobber and 18 – 24 inches of line. I then tie on one of my improved 1/64 oz jigs. How is it improved, by adding flashablu skirting and epoxying this on. The flashablu really gets their attention and makes a huge difference. Now tip this with a Pink Lady (Gulp Maggot), sometimes I think they hit it without being tipped.

Mayfly Hatch

Tip of the Day! In late June you will find that Mayflies have hatched and are all over the surface of the water or at least their exoskeleton is. So on a calm day watch the surface areas just off the weed lines, you should be able to see the Gills popping the surface and feeding. Once you see this grab the fly rod, put on a dry fly, and get after them, working the bay or down the shoreline as they move. You’ll be surprised how big some of these Bluegills are.