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Normaly here in east TN the bluegill slow way down and often stop biting from september to may or atleast the way I fish for them which is normaly live worms or crickets on rock bluffs. How should I fish for them when they quit. Normaly when they stop I stop but I know they have to eat somehow.
I catch gills throughout the winter using the same methods I use at other times of the year. I just tend to fish deeper water. My best gill fishing this past year was in January. The fish are still there, and they will feed.
Have you tied beemoths or mealworms? I do know that as the water cools down their metabolism slows down as well. Thus, reducing how much and what size baits they need to eat. They will also be deeper in the winter months. You can still find them shallow through the fall but as the lakes and ponds turnover they will start moving to deeper water.
Mike P.
we catch We fish up to 40 ft deep in january over brush and can catch 150=200 in 3or4 hrs!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prybis
Those waxworms will always work.
We are still tearing them up in flats holding 2-4 ft. of water. They will stay till end of Dec. if nothing drastic changes!!Same method- 1 tightline on bottom, 1-slipcork ,about 6" off bottom. RedWorms are best, but Nightcrawler pieces work too!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluegillfreak
Went this weekend and was catching them in less than 4 ft. of water. Water temp was 58 deg. Catching them on bee moth. Hopefully they will still be there this weekend. :D
We fish all winter and catch both bluegill and shellcracker. We like below the dams when the generators are running giving some river flow. It is also nice to have some rain that makes the creeks have some flow. We anchor in the creek mouth on the up river side of the creek. Normally 4-12 feet of water. We throw our baits, worms, meal worms, wax worms, ect. slightly out to the river and slightly up stream. As the current washes the bait off in to the creek channel, the fish are waiting. It is a great ambush for easy food for the gills. The water is normally warmer below the dams in winter. Check out several creeks and you will find them. Good luck and pray for that rain that we need.
Question, for those who fish for winter crappie, in deeper water.. do you use smaller jigs, or larger jigs and jig vertically over them with crappie poles? Here in Masachusetts, I normally use 1/32 oz and tip it with Berkleys crappie nibblets. I normally cast it and let it drift down 8-10' and retrieve it slowly. I have tried tandem jigs also, no luck. I know there is some nice crappie/bluegills in these lakes. I tear them up in spring, summer, fall, but not in the winter. Maybe I am still fishing too fast for them??? Problem in the winter they must hug the bottom or disappear, I can't get them to hit jigs. Pickerel and yellow perch will hit it, but bluegill and crappie get lockjaw. any detailed techniques would be greatly appreaciated.
Gillbuster
Fish deeper and downsize. Through the ice we use tiny jigs tipped with a spike or waxie and that always produces for me.
Try brush on channel ledges. These fish will school up tight to brush. If the lake has little you can put out your own with great results. Live bait. Fish slow as the fish are lethargic. They have slow metabolisms this time of year.Quote:
Originally Posted by gillbuster
Up at Ft. Campbell we have a gravel quarry that is about 80 feet deep and crystal clear pretty muchdown to 60 feet then the water gets kinda dark the rest of the way. Anyway I would take my two man bubber raft out there and fish for Gills. While fishing I noticed a tree that had fallen in and was hung up on a rock face in 20 foot of water I think. The Gills would school up on this tree and swim circles above it. Coolest thing I ever saw. Wish I had an under water camera with me then, the water was so clear it looked like you could almost touch the fish but they were 20 feet down. all the rest of the fish would hug the wall as close as they could.
I fish east tn also mainly cherokee, the holsten, nolachucky and clinch rivers and douglas lake. I seem to catch more gills in the same places you spoke of, on bluff walls but I catch them alot on {small} minnows when Im crappie fishing. Last satuday I caught probobly 5 or 6 while crappie fishing the upper end of cherokee bluff walls with wood cover. 5 or 6 isnt alot but they were all big {for cherokee anyways}. Ive also caught them in the winter over humps on minnows. I think ther diet might change to minnows that time of year due to lack of insects or what ever else they eat. In {early} spring is a minnow bite as well for me.
I'm with T-roy on this one! I tend to target Gills in Winter with small minnows around dense wood cover. Also they will hit worms (but sometimes in Winter this is not always the case) fished very deep around wood cover but generally much fewer bites than in other months and most of the Gills tend to be above average size. Hope this helps!