Printable View
Hey guys, Located on KY and Barkley Lake, and I wanna chase some bluegill and redear!! I have never fished for them, so I am pretty clueless on where to start. I have a boat and downscan, but no side scan, so i cant look for beds. Any pointers on what to look for, type of bank to fish, where in a bay i should fish, back of the bay, point of the bay? Also what is a good beginner method of fishing for these guys? thanks everyone for any replies or helpful information!
First of all, don't get hung up on bed fishing. Like bass, crappie, walleye, trout, etc., bream bite year round. If you only fish during the spawn, you're missing out on months of good fishing. Read some of LedHed and Alphahawk's posts. They make great catches in deep water.
Second, almost any small jig works great for bream. The 1/64 oz trout magnet is my current favorite.
We fish reservoirs - not a lot of structure. 1st thing I look for is birds. Where are they and what are they doing. Also watch the bug hatches. We have several.
Look for deeper water away from the beds - channels - old roadbeds. If you are looking for the bigger fish, watch where the bass guys are doing their deep water fishing.
The best areas to fish are where the pre-spawn fish (especially the big hens) are staging - getting ready to spawn and where the post spawn fish come to rejuvenate. These areas are usually around 17 to 21 FOW, soft bottom, holding larva and baitfish. Right now, because of rising water, the zone is 24 to 28 FOW.
Recommend 2lb. test and UL jigs.
Trolling will help you pin point these staging areas. You can opt to stop and fish them or continue the search for a trophy.
My advise is to use euro nightcrawlers, which are sold as red worms or use some form of live bait such as wax worms etc. Go to a protected cove that has water that is at least a minimum of two feet but up to any depth. Use a drop shot rig tied with a palomar knot and a medium sized split shot that is about 8-10 inches down below the hook. Put the bait on the aberdeen hook, cast and retrieve slowly. This rig is pretty weedless if you use use some finesse. If you look at my catch from yesterday you will see the shellcracker and bream that i caught using this technique. I also noticed that there were bubbles coming up from around their beds which was in about 5 feet of water. That's where i caught them. Hope this helps. The biggest one was 1 lb 4 oz.
As these lakes have gotten older and silted in the fish have all but quit using the very backs of the bays and creek arms. And that applies to all the fish. They relate to the main and secondary river channels and then connecting creek channels and the drainage "ditches" from small bays and they use main lake bank in places. When they come in to spawn they want a bottom with the right slope and bottom composition. It varies from all gravel to sand,mud,gravel mix of varying degrees. If you pay attention the beds will generally have easy access to deep water routes back to the main and secondary channels. I can catch every fish on a bed with the right jig by pulling it through the bed. Some days they will come up to get it so if your over them it's okay. But other days you have to initiate a bite by pulling it through the bed.
Once they are done spawning they just start moving back out....then you have to find them . Mid lake humps,structure,ledges depth changes,channel bends,. Structure on a depth change in a channel bend that runs close to a main lake point etc.. Nows when it can be easier to use live bait right on the bottom. Other times if they are aggressive enough I am using different jig combinations because I don't have to waste time baiting the hook. I use crappie nibbles tipped on a jig a lot , bluegill and redear like them too.
This is similar for most lakes now . Some Lakes I fish where less than 10 years old when I started fishing them. That's a world of difference. The fish went further back all the way up in the creeks more then and the forage base was better in the shallow water. Silt,pollution,the loss of habitat, the introduction of shad and invasive species and the loss and reduction of some of the original forage base have changed things.
The fish react to the changing water flows on a reservoir too so you have to watch for that. I fished a lot below the Dams and they react to the change in flows here also. Some days they only bite in a window of time so you have to figure that out also. But a pattern will hold for days or weeks at a time sometimes before it changes. The turbine releases affect fishing. Not mention what happens if they have to open a gate.Small fish can be caught shallower more of the year...the good fish stay deeper more.