The 'Giller talks Bluegills

[Timotha7]

Where I Fish is a community of dedicated, and experienced anglers

Family Member, Illinoisgiller, has offered to field questions and answers about the fine art of pursuing BIG bluegills

Mike pursues Bluegills in every body of water he can get a line on, and has years of experience catching them.

He ties his own flies and jigs, and from boat to floattube, he catchs as many Bluegills as anyone I have ever known
The pictures speak volumes about his love of these beautiful, and VERY TASTY Panfish.

How many times have you heard another angler say "Man if Bluegills got
BIG there would be nothing to fight like them"

Well, Ultralight tackle and the right knowledge and you are having FUN,
and best part is, if you have kids or grandkids who like to fish, there is nothing better than knowing how to put them on a batch of fiesty Gills!

Mike, Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

http://www.whereifish.com/modTim/Giller2.jpg

[Illinoisgiller]

I just found this post. I hope I can add at least a little to the site . I'm leaving on Thursday for a trip chasing gills in the Guttenburg, Iowa area on the Mississippi river. I hope to have reports on that trip. Mike

[Timotha7]

Can't wait to see what you come up with, trip down round Guttenburg is
nice by itself, love the area--
I hope you get on them, have always found the pan fish I caught out of the river to be bigger on average than what you find in lakes, probably cuz they are working a lot harder for what they eat

Will be looking forward to your report

[Timotha7]

Mike
I got the Iowa fishing report today, said that they are starting to knock the BIG GILLS dead around shorline structure in the Guttenburg area, and that they expect it will really pick up in Minnesota pool too-
All reports are that they are really turning on

Tim

[Illinoisgiller]

This will be my first time to have that much great river backwater available:party0045: I and the grandsons have fished what is left of Bussey, a backwater lake just above the dam. There are some big gills there but tough to find. Odly enough, some of the best red ear fishing is right off a small dock there.
My son gave me some spots south of Prairie that were good for he and a buddy 10 yrs ago. :confused0024:. lol Who knows, if there is still water in them, might be able to knock them for a loop.
Need to check the regulations, but I think there is a 25 fish limit on the entire Mississippi for Wisc. and Iowa .
I'm getting fired up, leaving tomorrow.

[Timotha7]

Go get em Mike!
Way I read report they were all over the big gills in the shoreline structure
where every you could find a current break, they must be all in there spawing right now

Water levels are good according to the report
The spots might still be good, if they are there
Good luck! Waiting for some great pictures from you

Tim

[CrappieKeith]

Start pitchin that jig Mike....let's see some bulls!

[Illinoisgiller]

I've been posting in other areas and plumb forgot about this area.:confused0024::confused0024:
Tip for today is-----GO FISHIN--NOW!!! I just returned from the Hennepin Canal. The gills are on the beds as I speak.
Keep in mind that the canal is shallow and mud bottom so it warms quickly. This has been , by far, the most confused spawn that I have ever experianced. If you have heard that the spawn is in it's highlight 3 days prior and 3 days after the full moon, it was not a joke or wife's tale.
To all givens there are exptions. {groan) With the late cold spring ,the water was just plain too cold for the gills to do their thing. When the water finally warmed enough the girls dropped the hint that the nights would be lonely if the bulls didn't get busy and make nests. They are up on the shore in 4" of water in many cases.
The males are in the full spawn colors, and the females are about 50-50 . Half have dropped the eggs and the other half are ready.
I'll go ahead and put out the tip for tomorrow. Go get a mess of gills! If you are gainfully employed - - - - - - guess you'll just have to QUIT! (or go after work) lol
I'll wait for Schoe's report w/pictures of our guided canal trip today .We went out with the official WhereIFish Assistant Advisor today. What a great day:party0045::party0011::party0045::party0011:. Mike
Almost forgot-CrappieKeiths jigs WILL bring them off the beds and into the basket. Mike

[Schoe]

What fun we had today catching a nice mess of Spawning Gills. As Mike said we were on the Hennipen Canal not far from Geneseo Ill.

As we began our day it was tough finding any fish able holes as the weeds and moss has almost taken over the total water surface.

My little buddy Jordan, Mike, and myself were beginning to wonder if there was going to be much fish able water at all.

We hit a few areas that had some openings in the weeds and caught some "Dinks" that were returned to the water post haste to grow up for next year.

After deciding which direction to go we headed downstream about 1/4 mi. till we found some structure of old logs that was void of the mass of weeds that had been our downfall so far.

Right off we started pulling nice Bulls off the beds and an occasional "Hen" Gill whenever we landed short of our target. The "Hens" were ready to bust with their bellies swollen with eggs. I'm sure in the next couple days they will be in there doing their thing for future generations.

We hit several places like that and accumulated around 90 nice big Canal Bluegills.

I should mention that this is the section that Mike thought might have had a severe winter kill off. It looks like Mother Nature was doing her thing for population control.

All in all we had a great time and I think we wore Jordon out catching his fair share of fish today. I thank you both for another WIF outing.

Here's a few photos from today, Schoe

[Schoe]

Here's some more photos from todays fun. Schoe

[CrappieKeith]

Nice batch of fish caught men!

[Timotha7]

Man that is some FINE eating there!
Those deep fried gill fillets are right up there with perch or walleye and crappie as being
great table fare

Not to mention a BLAST to catch
Thanks for sharing the pics and the day

[gofish]

way to go jordan!!!!!!!glad to see our advisor got out an caught some with you guys...bet hes been frothin at the bit to go lol....:icon_biggrin:

[Fishaholic]

looks like a good trip to me!!

[DaveIN]

Yoko and I went to the "J.I. Case Wild Life Refuge Area" near Hawthorn
park in Vigo County, IN. The Refuge's 50.3 acre lake attracts migratory
birds and fishermen.

Yoko had her trusty Zebco 33's with night crawlers.

I took my Quintum Extra Ultralite spinning combo with 2 lb Trilene XL
line, a rainbow bobber given to me by Don and one of Bill-E-Bait's red
ants tipped with red wriggler worm.

High 70's
Partly cloudy
Wind 15
Water dirty, cloudy

Gained easy access even with my bum foot with diabetic ulcer and "Moon
Boot."

A couple hours later we had a couple dozen real nice keeper gills and
numerous bait stealers. I know what we are having for Sunday supper!
Gills were the only species we caught which surprised me. Yoko is known
to pull in bass, cats and other with her night crawlers. A lady in the
next cove pulled in eight channels using chicken livers. Will try that
next trip here.

What a great time just being near water again. I chose bank fishing due
to my foot and I do not regret it. Had a blast bird watching and
fishing!
Bill you would have loved it. Only thing missing were eagles.

Planning on going to "Stump Jumper" coal pit in Stauton, IN next for
its great Red Ear fishing.

Till I See You On or Near the Water...........

Ole PanFish Dave

[Sharon]

I just got a tip today that they are starting to bed in this area. Guess Ill bring my ultra light and go have some fun!

[Illinoisgiller]

Thanks Dave for the great report. Those short local trips are what fishing is all about these days. Just neat to be able to get out and get on a mess for eating when you can.
Those Red Ear, being meat eaters ,just love those red worms. Long shank #8 hook and a couple big red worms random hooked so the tails wag will bring them home to Dave and Yoko. lol Mike

[DaveIN]

Thank Sharon & Mike-

An ole boy from Minn makes by hand these various jigs I use. The red ant is my favorite tipped with the red wriggler worm. I go extra ultralite to lite depending on weather, water conditions, and if I am structure. The 2 lb test on the extra ultralite can be a challange at times. On the lite, I have some rigged 4 & 6 lb test. These three rigs are just about all I use anymore. Due to a friend in Oklahoma I met cyberly and met up with at Reelfoot Lake in TN, got me to using the Rainbow Plastics Ajust-a-Bubble. This is a very ajustable float.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VACsGt8Y2xG4F96eDVcJHXbXVxap3JWhnfGy5pM8fj2lnUId! 5f9OfI0!o31IaeJLZHUFwu6i3ipGuo96xZ7d6PtawYsuRO9qQY 5FIu38MPiygd22ntASROwK248Bvro/P?dc=4675596301118136582

I also use crickets in summer and fish for cats at times.

Seems as if this is going to be a great place to talk fishing..........

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TgBsG0MXiY0ZG58csiX!v6Fehwd9uq8kG4EENG8ovmrNTysl3 0!dsLUwJWuenT7GO9ZFBmuQ4jAoLDQQ2Lff7J1YHAXUOp3jx8j TpwlNoadOx5nxk7Spig/P?dc=4675596301116195894

I use fly boxes to keep my jigs in. Above is an example.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TQCMGh4YF8enjVXiR*cdDHGp4waw0OXvedamtsKItPXSktzXy rRPbma1sdB6Y5J1bBrf2q9jDOKKSpUaH*zKpP*W37Drs7YxrGi wWanmQgckV02KUBUAWg/P?dc=4675490241953339119

[Illinoisgiller]

Nice lookin ants Dave! What size hook are those poured on? They would go well on a fly rod of course as long as it was mine. lol Spiders and ants are deadly on the fly rod.:party0011::party0045::party0011::party0045:
I tried that 2 lb. line last year, but was in open water strip mine.I used YoZuri 2 lb. Hybrid. I found it to be real tough. I never found the line dia. listed though so might just be overbuilt line:confused0024:. I also used an 8 1/2' BPS Micro lite rod from a float tube so the long rod done most of the work.
This summer when you get that foot healed up a pair of shorts and a cheap float tube would put you out on top of those deep gills and Red Ear. (justathought) lol:evilgrin0039:
Back to those yummy lookin red ants- Does he put a weight on them?

[rebg38]

I just joined and trying to get a feel on how things work on here

[Schoe]

Hey, welcome Don and Dave. The best way to get the feel of things here is to do just what you fellas are doing.

Jump right in there. Schoe

[Illinoisgiller]

Big Welcome to Don and Dave.
Don, If you get it figured out how things work here, let me know.:icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin: lol Ole Mike

[DaveIN]

Thank you Schoe and again Mike!

Yeah, Don and I are feeling our way around and getting used to everything. This forum will be one I drop into quite often.

[jason454ci]

Welcome to the both of ya's Dave and Don. Hop right in and chat with us. Heck most of us don't bite. Hope ya guys enjoy our little family here at WIF.

[DaveIN]

Thank you much Jason!

Appreciate the Welcome........

[Screen]

Mike - at Geneseo gathering you talked about your favorite setup for gills.
Could you show us a picture of that rod and reel and why it is your favorite?
Maybe a couple of surefire rigs as well.