How do you guys catch them when they are not on the beds?
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How do you guys catch them when they are not on the beds?
:popcorn
As a general rule, I just fish deeper. I catch a lot of fish near the bottom, and I catch a BUNCH suspended over deeper water.
I fish jigs, flies and bait, not necessarily in that order.
How do you find them
Charlie Brewer one inch sliders on 1/32 road runner heads .Best three colors BLACK-BLACK-BLACK .
Despite my comment about "fish deeper", I try to be systematic and always start shallow. (One of my best days ever was in January. I caught over 70 gills and crackers two feet from shore.)Quote:
Originally Posted by no luck
If the fish are shallow, they'll let you know fast. If they're not, I back off the shore and start fishing deeper until I find them. I don't try to cover a lot of water. I just pick a likely spot and experiment with different depths until I start getting action.
I fish a lot of smaller lakes (under 100 acres), and I literally catch fish right out in the middle of the lake, sometimes suspended, sometimes right on the surface.
I don't fish a lot of big lakes for gills, but I read about this guy on Kentucky Lake who would head out to the main river channel and catch suspended gills till he literally got tired of it. He was fly fishing, but I think any light bait would work if it was fished at the right depth.
I mostly fish ponds and small to medium size water reservoirs . I have five county reservoirs within 30 minutes of my house . They range from around 200-900 acres .
I havent used bait in years .
I love fishing the float and micro jig rig . I use a weighted pear shaped clip on floats . I start around 18" and change depth up and down depending on what works . I rarely go over 3' . Ain't nothing like seeing that float disappear :) . Also fish slider jigs , and curlytails, cast and slow retrieve . Jig spinners ,( Beatlespins) work good , as well do Rapala F3's .
Ponds are fished from the banks . Just pick out a spot and fan cast . With light line and 7' UL Rod , I can cover a lot of water with each cast .
Reservoirs are fished from my Alumacraft 1436 or 1036 jon boats . Electric powered 90% of the time . Most water reservoir lakes don't allow gas motors at all .
Gillchaser
I've never had much luck on the big lakes .
I thought the smaller gills alwaysnstayed closer to shore. If you are searching for the big bulls you need to go deeper.
Never thought about gills being suspended over deep water.
I guess there are not many of us fishing for gills after the spawn....
It's OK with me if it stays that way . :) GillchaserQuote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
I have access to big water lakes. I focus on marina and community docks out in the deeper water. Not much luck on the small waters. This next season should be better as I hope to follow the fish in and out from the spawn. The lil one does not mind catching the small boyz but I want to be prepared as she gets older.
I was catching them in 20 FOW last year about 5-6 feet off the bottom near a hump. Not the deepest part of the lake but the deepest in the area i was fishing. They were good size too .... 3/4 - 1 lb each. Ive always heard the smallest ones stay close to shore.
I'm trying but not much luckQuote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
I hear ya, brother. Most of the year, I have them all to myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by gillchaser999
Keep trying, my son. I think a small jig tipped with a wax worm is a great search bait.Quote:
Originally Posted by no luck
I don't fish much, but I fish for them all year except the dead of winter. I also like to start shallow and work deeper until I find them. Pre-spawn I hit the steeper banks with small jigs reeled slowly along the bottom. The rest of the year I work the shallow flats with live bait (I never outgrew the love of watching a bobber go under) starting in about 3 feet of water and slowly working out deeper while fan casting and adjusting depth until I find them. If I can't catch them that way, I'll reluctantly switch to a drop shot rig. It works great, but I don't get the visual thrill of watching the cork move - which is what I really crave.
During the spring, summer and early fall I normally fish deeper water out away from the beds and the outside edges of deep weedlines whether gills are on the beds or not. There are times I will fish as deep as 20fow. The lake I fish is ultra clear and very deep (100fow max depth). I will tightline crickets most of the year but as the weather gets cooler I will tightline small jigs tipped with a waxworm. Around early November I will switch to a slipbobber with small black hair jigs or black ant flies tipped with waxworms. During this colder time of year I concentrate on weedlines from 14 - 20 fow and really slow down.
It took me a while getting used to fishing the conditions of my home lake with the depth and water clarity. While learning your lake stay flexible and enjoy the challenge. You will figure it out.
I have almost completely quit using floats for bream. I tightline jigs with very small pieces of shrimp up to 20 feet deep around fallen trees or other junk I find on the bottom with my cheap fishfinder. I only fish with a kayak. Some of yesterday's fish.
Crappie like shrimp as well.
Find a hump or rock pile away from shore on the main lake and you will find the biggest gills in the lake.
we actually troll open water i n early spring with mini beetle spin type baits.usually some shot a couple feet up the line till we determine the depth they are holding at.the bigger gills seem to school in open water over various depths.i think it is a follow the hatch thing.this lake i fish every spring has a lot of coves and arms that are deep.we run slow right down the middle and catch lots of em.crappies and white bass too
I fish for bluegills all year round...soft and hardwater. Submerged points, weed lines, humps, deadfalls, brush piles, etc. They're pretty easy to find and interesting fish to pattern. 90% of the time I have a jig and large live bait (3-4 waxies or 2-4" of redworm) under a slip float on open water. Through the ice is usually a jigging spoon or tungsten jig tightlined.
I like to fish around the cypress trees with a sinking fly under a strike indicator.
There are as many ways to fish big gills as there are fishermen. I am in northern Mich. Usually fish deeper lakes. I fish water temperature in summer. find water temps 60 - 75 degrees, I use a slip bobber to fish that depth. Drift slow, if no wind or current I use tm. If I find temp over 40 ft. 10 ft down, I will usually find that temp on bottom in 10ft. Fish over deep water and also where that temp is at the bottom. Best time of day is first 3 hours and last 2 hours.
I use a slip bobber on 6# mono, with a 4# floro leader, 2 hooks and a weight on bottom. I use a combo of bait, 1/3 crawler, leech, minnows crickets etc.
I love the many different ways that folks use to catch gills. I will attempt to try as many of them as will fit the circumstances that I run into , both in TN ( deep reservoirs),
and in FL. (Shallow bowls) I find that when shallow...in both places...a crappie nibble on a 1/32 oz hair jig will catch fish. I haven't had much luck in deep water with
artificials, but will give it more effort this spring and summer. I have been meaning to try using the mini pieces of frozen shrimp for the tipping and bait situations...and
will do that this summer also to compare against my fishing buddies use of worms and crickets. Keep the info coming !
A big mess of gills would be good about now.
a 5 wt fly rod with a #10 chartruse popper- if I can find bushes hanging over the water, I am one happy boy.... love to see them big hump nosed males fight over who gets to eat that pesky bug!!