BOTTOM-MOP FOR BIG BLUEGILLS
Difficult
Bluegill Problems And Eight Keys To Taking Them
Editor's Note: You don't have to go to private ponds
in the South to take monster-sized bluegills. You may
find Goliath-sized 'gills right under your nose where
thousands of anglers fish every year. Many of the best
bluegill hotspots never see an angler because most of
us have believed that bluegills bed only on the banks.
However, I've learned if you want to catch this scrappy
panfish that fights hard and tastes delicious, learn
to fish offshore on deep-water structure. This week,
I'll tell you the best summer tactics for finding and
catching bluegills.
You'll
find trying to catch bluegills in a clear lake difficult.
Bluegills can see your line, your boat and even you
in the clear water. You can solve this problem in several
ways and catch bluegills.
* Use 2-pound-test clear line and a short shank, small
hook you can bury inside a live worm. By utilizing the
light line and wrapping the hook with worms, the bream
will bite more readily.
* Crawl to the edge of the pond you want to fish. Wear
camouflage clothing. Keep a low profile, and try to
look like your surroundings. Then the bluegills won't
see you as easily, become spooked and not bite.
* Use a clear-plastic slip cork to add enough weight
to your line to make long casts. When the bluegills
look up, they can't see the cork, and they won't spook.
* Drift fish with 2- to 4-pound-test line on a dark
night to keep your boat from
being silhouetted in the moonlight. You can catch some
of the biggest bluegills of the summer with this tactic.
From studying the haunts and habits of bluegills, I've
learned …
* you can catch big bluegills and shellcrackers, even
in heavily-fished public lakes, if you move away from
the bank and fish in deep water.
* big bluegills will hold in the middle of lakes when
the temperature soars.
* bluegills and shellcrackers prefer to hold on humps,
drop-offs, ledges and other bottom breaks.
* light line, little jigs and Beetle Spins fished on
the bottom of a lake will produce
the most and the biggest bluegills.
* you need to change to using live worms for bait when
the bluegills won't take an artificial lure. Drag the
worms slowly across the bottom in the same areas where
you've caught the fish on artificial lures.
* you can use a portable depth finder to pinpoint bottom
structure.
* a hand-held GPS receiver can help you locate and catch
big bluegills all summer in deep-water areas.
* bottom-mapping tactics will produce big bluegills
from the Deep South all the way to New York during hot-weather
months.
|