Where Do The 'Gills Go In Large Southern Lakes?

There is a great thread going on about drop shot fishing for bluegills, but it seems to be a follow up to an older post about where the 'gills go in big lakes. I have wondered about that for a long time. I can catch the dinks around the shore, but I have very little luck with decent-sized 'gills. So how do you know where to look for them? What kinds of places are you checking with your fish finder? How deep are we talking? If there are other threads that answer any of these questions, I sure would like some help in finding those threads. Any information that anyone could give me about how to find the 'gills in deep water, if that's where they are, would be appreciated.

Take Care

GF

Just cannot resist. warmer water makes them shrink thus the fact that dinks can be easily caught during warm weather. The few fortunate gills avoid shrinkage by finding spring fed areas close to the bottom where they go into semi hibernation during the hottest months of th year.

It sounds to me like your problem is not location within a body of water, but the water bodies you're choosing to fish. Rule number one of fishing for large bluegill is to not fish where they ain't; and most public waters simply don't have them, due to multiple factors. Do some research on which waters in your state consistently produce the biggest bluegill, and especially which ones have done so recently, and target those waters. From there I'd suggest trying to track down locals who fish those waters, and picking their brains on what works and what doesn't. In deep, clear lakes - ones that have big bluegill - the larger 'gills will indeed go very deep at times; but in shallow, eutrophic lakes where deep water is 10', they have entirely different habits. So it very much depends on the lake. But if they don't exist in the lake, it doesn't matter where you fish, or what technique you employ.

Thanks, tnpondmanager. I'm not hunting record fish, just larger than dinks. Statistics say that 'gills up to `1 lb are common in the lake I'm fishing, but I've never caught anything nearly that large. So they must be there somewhere. I've just gotten a canoe which will allow me to fish from somewhere beyond the bank and I'm trying to learn more about where to fish when you are no longer "bank-bound." And I also have a fish finder and I would like to learn how to use in in finding bluegill habitat in deeper water. The lake I'm fishing, when I get some time to get away from work, is Lake Hartwell in the Upstate of SC. I'm hoping that others will chime in who fish water like Hartwell with more tips. This tread is a follow-up to another thread about drop shot fishing for gills when they go deep.

Take care

GF

One thing to consider is whether or not the lake develops a thermocline, and how deep it is. The fish will stay at or above the level of the thermocline.

Big gills are known to be loners, with the exception of the spawning period. And they don't hang around the shallows as often as the smaller gills, preferring open deep water when/where it's available.

When I've fished specifically for gills of size, I've always worked on deep points that drop off quick, and open water out away from deep cliff banks. I've also always moved my sinker up the line farther than I normally place it when fishing for Crappie. And I've used a larger, or more than one sinker, so as to get the bait down past the smaller, shallower, gills ... casting it out and letting it pendulum fall back on tight line, counting from splashdown until I get a bite, so I'll know at about what depth to expect a bite on succeeding casts.

If you absolutely "have to" fish straight down under the boat, I suggest using a slip float that's barely big enough to stay above the surface from the weight of your sinker/hook/bait. Small gills will pick & peck at your bait, in order to kill it & then dismember it. Large gills can suck the bait in, and don't need to tear it apart. They are slash/dash eaters. Having 8-10" of line between the sinker and hook allows them to grab the bait and begin their return to wherever they were, before the sinker weight is felt. Once they've committed to grabbing & eating the bait, they rarely spit it out ... so when you get the slightest bump in your rod tip, when casting, or when the slip float starts going down ... that's the time to set the hook with authority.

I also might add, that when I'm using crickets or grasshoppers, I will remove the "jumper" legs ... reason being that too often the fish will grab them by these large legs and swim off, signalling to you that you have a bite ... but when you set the hook, you merely rip the hook through the bait or just lose the leg to the fish. When there are no large extremities for the fish to grab hold of, they're more prone to grabbing the bait by the head or body, giving you a better chance for a hookup.

... cp :kewl

Jam up info CrappiePappy! That is exactly what I experienced this weekend. I am loving this brim chasing!!!

To the OP I would recommend searching around the large marinas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

I also might add, that when I'm using crickets or grasshoppers, I will remove the "jumper" legs ... reason being that too often the fish will grab them by these large legs and swim off, signalling to you that you have a bite ... but when you set the hook, you merely rip the hook through the bait or just lose the leg to the fish. When there are no large extremities for the fish to grab hold of, they're more prone to grabbing the bait by the head or body, giving you a better chance for a hookup.

... cp :kewl

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I never really thought about it. I never tried grasshoppers, but crickets work really well here in the hotter months. The size of grasshoppers around here are bigger that most fish I catch! :Rofl