Stalking redbreast on a river.....

While they are on the beds can be difficult! Especially if the water is low. My girlfriend and I took a trip to the moon the other day....or seemed like it on our local honey hole/small river. All the big boys were on the bed. Problem was, if you got within 15 yards of them, they were not going to eat anything you through at em. It was like hunting fish instead of fishing. We had to sneak up on em...by hiding behind trees, crouching down from the bank or trying to make really long casts. Forget trying to get he canoe close enough. We only managed 15 bed fish, but they were huge, almost all over a pound. Big readbreast! Small females were willing to bite, but they weren't on the beds. Anyhow, catching bream easily while they are on the beds is not always a guarantee!

I have always been able to catch bluegill and shellcrackers on the bed but not redbreast. They are notoriously skittish when on the bed. You did great to catch 15 nice ones.

Up here in west Illinois we do not have Redbreasts, but I have told people of my experiances with clear water gills where they will shut down if they profile you. In these few cases, I have also hid behind bushes. In one extreme case, I gave up and cut willows and stuck them iin the mud along a bare bank and left. The next day I had a "blind" within casting distance. :D It doesn't take them long to adapt to a shape along a bank, but just walk up, toss out a line, and watch the bite fade quickly .;) Mike