Bluegills

[floater]

When do bluegills in small lakes around here get off the bed?

[Hooker]

Floater,
There is probably a few stragglers still spawning on the next full moon, but for the most part they should be done. The water temps are now pushing 80 degrees, and spawning activity usually initiates about 60 degrees.

[floater]

How do you know where to locate bluegills that have recently move off the beds??? What flies???

[Hooker]

Floater,
Bluegills are a prey species, so you're going to find them close to cover. A tree in the water, a boat dock, or aquatic weeds and bushes will all hold them. Some areas are better than others for reasons known only to fish. On a small pond, just work your way around the bank with a small popper or foam body spider until you get a hit. Bluegills are gregarious, so where you find one, you'll find a bunch. Pay particular attention to low branches that overhang the water, and deep banks. The larger Bluegills are usually a little deeper. So once you find a concentration, try throwing baits that sink, like a wooley Bugger. With bluegills, the size of the bait, will frequently determine the size of the fish.

[Moye]

Let me complicate it a little more Hooker. A pond I fish here in Middle Ga. will have quite a few bluegill on the bed from March to September on the full moon. Are the later ones straglers or doing the nasty twice or more in a year?

[Hooker]

Moye,
Most (80%) members of a species of fish will reproduce at a given water temp , moon phase, water level, etc; however, there is always a group that does it early and a group that persists in doing it late. This is genetically controlled and insures survival of the species. If for some reason a sudden cold snap killed all of the eggs of the 80%, than those that bred later would insure there was reproduction to carry on the population. On the other hand if global warming continues, than the group that reproduces early will insure the population survives and also, the young they reproduce will tend to breed earlier.
The same thing happens with deer. There are some bucks that are ready to go in October, the peak of the rut is usually late November, and there are a few bucks that continue to breed on into February.
Also, if you've got hybrid bream stocked in your pond, than the rules that govern wild populations do not apply. Hybrids breed all summer.

[Owl]

Marben. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[BeeDub]

Hooker writes, "On a small pond, just work your way around the bank with a small popper or foam body spider until you get a hit. Bluegills are gregarious, so where you find one, you'll find a bunch...The larger Bluegills are usually a little deeper." My daughter and I found all this to be true this weekend at Sweetwater Creek State Park west of Atlanta. I threw a popper right up next to the bank and several tiny bream immediately attacked it. They were too small to swallow it, but I counted seven following it at one time. My daughter tried a small bead head fly she had tied herself and caught her first bream on about her second or third cast. It was a Kodak moment! She caught another a few minutes later. There were fish hitting the surface all around us. The larger fish we caught were out in slightly deeper water maybe 15-20 feet from the bank. We saw lots of smaller ones in real shallow water.

[davida]

It's not uncommon for panfish to spawn twice in the deep South.

Regards, DA

[floater]

How about that? I didn't know! Maybe that's why the period in which I caught them in was longer than I anticipated!!!

Looking forward to next springs bream spawn!!
http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[floater]

err, Bluegill spawn. Same thing right?

[Hooker]

Floater,
Here in the South, bluegills, redears, redbreast, longeares, pumpkinseed, and green sunfish all come under the collective heading of "bream".

[Loren]

Other names include: sun perch, Gov'ment bream, and shell crackers.

[Drifter]

....and goggle-eyed perch ;)

[BT]

I've even heard of Warmouth bream.

[ICHTHUS]

I believe Warmouth is also known as rock bass. It has a larger mouth than sunfish or bream or panfish etc etc etc. The fish is a darker color with neon blue and orange around it's head and gills. Really a pretty fish.
.02 Ich

[FFing Duo]

ICHTHUS,

I think I have caught several of those recently. The ones I caught were very beautifully colored with dark rich colors. The mouth and head reminded me of a bass. Big mouth, wide head, kind of shaped like a b****to past the gills. Then, the shape of transforms into the normal bream body,taller than it is wide and stubby tail. If that's what it was, warmouth are excellent fighters for their size.

Jonathan

[ICHTHUS]

FF DUO,
Sounds like the same fish. Where did you catch them. I haven't done any panfish fishing in a long time. The one's I caught where in texas years ago. I do remember them being strong fighters.
Ich

[William McClendon]

I'll bet they were out at Marben (CE). I've got a few out there in Allen. Interesting fish.

BTW I'm out in California right now, so I can't get any email until Friday. No fishing though http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/frown.gif

[ICHTHUS]

W.M.,
Open your self a yahoo email account. It's free and you can use it anywhere you can get on the net.
Ich

[Owl]

bream are fun. river bream fight hard . Warmouth's are fairly rare , as far as " brim" go...a big ol Shellcracker ( redear) will pull your arm off !


Owl http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[FFing Duo]

The warmouth are in a secret urban pond. I'd rather not spread the word on it publically, but would be willing to talk about via email. It's not all that exciting of place, but its my only secret. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/wink.gif

Jonathan

[dredger]

The Rubber Legged Dragon gets my stamp of approval. I saw the pattern in another thread on the board and tied some up in #10 olive.

I fished the Hooch leg of Lanier Sat. afternoon. Conditions were terrible. The water level is getting down so low that all of the normal bluegill cover is high and dry. Muddy conditions because of the rain, 6 inch visibility.

I went almost halfway to Clark's bridge and the water cleared up. Surface temps 80 to 82 deg. I caught 4 nice 'gills around a large dock in deep water using the RLD about 6 feet down. They were average fish by pond standards, but some of the best I've caught out of Lanier. They all swallowed the RLD deeply so it passed for food.

I got chased home by rain so I don't know how many more I might have picked up if I had been able to stay into the more productive late afternoon hours.

[Rod]

Speaking of bluegills and crappie (pronounced like poppy--not pappy)--I'm a yankee too....
went to my brother's place yesterday....condo with a big pond...mostly for scenery from what I can gather.....

during the drizzle and fizzle yesterday I caught around 20 in a couple of hours....mostly hand sized bream but some b****and crappie for good measure....

I post about it, not to brag, but to note that I've found a pond and exit stream teaming with largish warmouth...these bastards fight better than all but shell crackers....fun, fun, fun....till the meatchuckers take them all away.

Rod
bream on 6X tippet rule

[floater]

I bet those bastards would be fun on, say a 0 weight. Geeez I can't imagine.

I don't know what brought that up but it makes me wonder.