Bluegill are fun!

Had to work a bit harder today for them. I managed 16 nice ones in the wind and the choppy water. Took me about 3 hours and I loved every minute of my afternoon.

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The only one I took a picture of; I gotta learn to hold them with the left hand and handle the camera with my right. No special reason for this one, just that he fought like he weighed 2 pounds and earned the right to be immortalized here on CdC. Not a single crappie to be found today but I did hook a couple of keeper LM bass. This lake they all seem to be right at 11-12" but the 2 I released today went around 14. Could be 'cause I'm not targeting them and not offering up what they want. Maybe there are lots of bigger ones there. I've become a total panfish snob, I'm afraid. Never gave a 2nd thought to keeping them.

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After a bacon cheeseburger, the work commenced to get them freezer ready. Here is a nice 9 incher ready to get my cleaning board messy. Just for the heck of it, I weighed the finished fillets. Ended up with 2 1/4 lbs. of boneless fillets, just begging to be dredged and fried. That's 3 meals for my wife and I, or 2 meals if we have a guest. Looking good to get through the winter now.

I am with you, heck with the bass, give me some gills or crappie and I am happy. Nice catch and thanks for sharing.

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Yes Pannies are fun,that's what I spend most of my time fishing for.My bass tackle hasn't seen action in a long time.

I haven't been fishin very long. I plated up my first crappie earlier this year which pretty much knocked large mouth bass way down on the menu. still managed to hook two keepers this year but wasn't even looking for them. both times I was going after gills. one was a two pounder that went after a piece of night crawler and the other was about a 3 pounder that latched onto a 1/32 jig i stuck down in some weeds in about 2 feet of water. fun to catch but swap out a equal size bluegill or crappie and I'd probably act like a star struck schoolgirl.

That is gonna be some great eating. Get your hot sauce and hush puppies ready. Time to chow down. I am with you Baxter1 my friend. (8% of the time I fish for panfish. Bass, Catfish and other fish love my lures too, but they don't make it into the livewell. LOL

Nice thing about panfishing is that sometimes the other fish don't understand and take your bait anyway, giving you a heck of a bend in lightweight equipment.

Gills are fun if you are using the right tackle. They give you more of a fight than bass or catfish if you are using ultralight tackle with 4# line. Or 6# line if you don't want to lose the battle.

I don't care much for the taste of bass, prefer crappie or trout over other fresh water fish. Gills taste good but are more work to clean and eat due to their size. Yes, I'm lazy in my old age. :)

But gills are more fun to catch with the proper rod than any fish I have caught and that includes speckled trout and redfish.

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Originally Posted by ezgoing

Gills are fun if you are using the right tackle. They give you more of a fight than bass or catfish if you are using ultralight tackle with 4# line. Or 6# line if you don't want to lose the battle.

But gills are more fun to catch with the proper rod than any fish I have caught and that includes speckled trout and redfish.

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My thoughts entirely!

Many years ago a friend taught me to fly fish. He started me on Bluegills and when I got good enough to be able to place my fly or popper he "graduated" me to bass and then trout. The funny thing is that I prefer Bluegills over all of them. I can spend a whole day with my 5 wt. and a handful of rubber spiders and/or little poppers (and some small wooly buggers if really necessary), catch Bluegills and consider it a day well spent.

Big Gill's are fun. Every now and then I find em Crappie Fishing. You can bet they go in my box if they are big enuff to fillet.

I agree!!!! I love fishing for gills and crappie. A friend of mine thinks that fresh water fish don't fight like salt water fish. I told him he should try gill fishing with ultra light gear and 2 lb. test. Hell it will feel just as big as any salty fish......

I just love gill fishing and tying flies that catch then. I use a 2wt rod and over the years have come up with some flies that work well. My largest gill was a 10 in her to date, but I'm still looking for that big boy.

Use to love shell cracker fishing in santee cooper. Haven't tried it here in alabama yet.

I'm looking to finalize my divorce papers with bass fishing this year if things don't get any better. Lol! I've had more fun going after panfish and end up catching bass too. :dono When bass is the main target, they sit back and laugh.

congrats

yes they are fun...we target them every week and right now they are biting good..I use 4# test and have a blast..I have 1 reel with 10# that I use in heavy cover

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Originally Posted by MoJo JoJo

I'm looking to finalize my divorce papers with bass fishing this year if things don't get any better. Lol! I've had more fun going after panfish and end up catching bass too. :dono When bass is the main target, they sit back and laugh.

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Take two woms and call me in the morning. Perhaps counseling between you and the bass will help if you both see the same ending.:RoflWelcome to crappie fishing. Now lets see some pics of those slabs.