Bluegill and Beetles

[wildnative]

You guys have to give small size 14 black foam beetles a try on bluegill.

I used the ones Bob Trowbridge gave me. Small pond, lots of bluegill and a couple of beetles. What a blast!

I think I can give the recipe if anyone is interested.

[south fork]

You gotta love beetles and warm weather - - and bluegills for that matter. What particular pattern did Bob share with you?

[Lonnie]

Don't you love that sucking sound they make when they eat them? Slurrrppppp! Sweet!

[FishOn!]

You guys have to give small size 14 black foam beetles a try on bluegill.

I used the ones Bob Trowbridge gave me. Small pond, lots of bluegill and a couple of beetles. What a blast!

I think I can give the recipe if anyone is interested.

Where is a good place close to the Wasatch Front where I could site fish from shore to some Bluegills? Salem Pond maybe?

[wildnative]

Here's the recipe:

Size 14 dry fly hook
Tie in piece of black foam to bend of hook
Tie in peacock herl
Wrap peacock herl forward (dont crowd eye)
Tie in some rootbeer crystal flash on each side for legs
Pull foam over top and tie down
Add an orange piece of foam or yarn on top as indicator

You can tie the legs in before or after you pull the foam down

I sometimes had 3 or 4 bluegill rush to the surface and fight for the fly, of course, I hoped the the biggest one would win!

Lots of ponds around with bluegill. If you email me, I can give you the names of the ones I enjoy.

[ezlehappy]

I caught 29 bluegill and one largemouth bass in an 1 1/2 hours at Pelican Lake using a beetle pattern. And you know how big those bluegill get.

[nordicnomad]

My bluegill fly:

Size 14 dry fly hook
Tie on anything that floats
Add rubber legs

Fish

I learned to fly cast fishing for bluegills in Iowa. I was using an old 7-weight eagle claw rod that had belonged to my grandfather to cast for 'gills in flooded quarries near the college I was attending. The hardest part wasn't finding a fly they would take - it was trying to find the fish in the weeds behind me after I set the hook.

[Curtis Fry]

Another little gem I learned that can help when catching grundles of 'gills or other sunfish. Try to use a smaller yet longer hook for the flies. A size 10 ro 12 3X long hook will make it easier to extract the fly from their little mouths.

And nordicnomad has the "secret" recipe there...

[wildnative]

You guys really know how to drop a guys ego!
I thought I was really onto something with the beetle.
Good point about the longer shank hook. Some of the bigger fish swallowed the whole fly and I had to reach down into their mouths with some forceps.

[Grundelwalken]

My bluegill fly:

Size 14 dry fly hook
Tie on anything that floats
Add rubber legs



Reminds me of when I was out with my dad. We ran out of bait so I put a piece of white paper on my hook and caught a whole bankful of bluegill. Lots of fun for a little kid. MW

[Curtis Fry]

Hey, my stand-by when I was a kid was a pop can with the line tied around it attached to a bare hook (once the worms ran out). Bluegills pretty much eat anything they can get a hold of sometimes.

[wildnative]

Sinking lower and lower . . . bubbles rushing to the surface.
Okay, so I'm reverting back to my childhood days. I guess that's what I get for getting into fly fishing at such an early age.

[ezlehappy]

These are great at weeding out all the little 'gills. The bruisers come in like police at a high school kegger. I trail a black Maribou "Poli-wog", a "Mike's Damsel" or an Olive "Dumbbell-eyed, Ostrich Herl Damsel" about 10-15" below it. The frog draws them out, but it's the dropper that gets them to bite. Let me know when you plan on going for them again. I can give ya a couple to try.

[Curtis Fry]

The bruisers come in like police at a high school kegger.

Hold on there, Tex. You're holding out on us with some stories about high school keggers? And I thought the "date" story was your best material. Come on, tell all....

[Doug S.]

Hold on there, Tex. You're holding out on us with some stories about high school keggers? And I thought the "date" story was your best material. Come on, tell all....

That story was a classic, I've never laughed so hard...fun trip