Blue Gills

[BornBad]

When the all other species have a case of lock~jaw goin on, Blue gills are always sporting. Bread on a trout sized trebble claw and your in bidness.

[coyotewhacker]

Yep...they will eat a full size nightcrawler on a walleye hook in a New York minute. And do it at 30 feet or more out in open water. Keeps things interesting though, and they tend to be bigger 'gills. Got a friend from Lebanon, currently home on leave from Kuwait, coming in tomorrow afternoon for a little barbecue get together. I'm taking him and his two boys up to a pond to fish for bull bluegills with ultralight topwaters and popping bugs. Everybody should have a blast! The boys are six and four, and know that whenever they show up here, it's time to go fishing. This time they will have a surprise, though. They will get to float around in a 16' canoe with outrigger floats so that it can't tip over. Their dad grew up on the Niangua, and is an experienced canoeist, but two active boys can be a handfull. I will float around behind them in a little plastic two man "bass boat" with swivel seats. Hey...after all this describing the place, maybe I'd better go up today and pre-fish it just in case........

[BornBad]

I knows a lot of people who get mad at them bait snatchers. They will fish for hours bitching about them even when nothing else is biting... To me, it's like natures way of saying HELLO, OVER HERE!!

I tell ya, you hook into a 10" bluegill with ultra light gear or a flyrod; your gonna have some fun.

[coyotewhacker]

Oh yeah, they are fun alright. The problem was that we were targeting something else and the bluegills kept taking the nightcrawlers before the walleye could find them. These were not small bait stealers.....they were "full growed fish" in the 10 inch or so class....and they were good fighters. All were released to steal again.

[hobiecat]

All were released to steal again.

That's a shame. They eats good!

[coyotewhacker]

No argument there.....however, the water is getting warm and the livewells are not fully functional. If it ain't a tournament keeper, it goes back. Several of the 'gills became catfish bait anyway. They swallowed the hook so deep that I could not get the hook back without some damage to the gullet and gills....they swam away, but not looking too healthy. Got some new stainless long nose pliers that should prevent that in the future.

[coyotewhacker]

FISHING REPORT: Coyotewhacker's North Forty Pond 8/15
Sunday afternoon was a bust on tv, so went to the N40 pond with a fly rod and some cheap WalMart bream bugs. As I reached down to flip over the canoe, a large, aggressive black snake came out from under it and did not notice I was carrying a SIG .40 pistol. The snake did not survive the encounter. Put the canoe in the water and paddled out to the middle of the pond, laying out fly line. Didn't take long before the first bluegill hit. In a couple of hours, I caught and released at least 30 or more large bluegills and several small bass. It was cool for August, there was no wind, and the fishing was great.Too bad the snake made such a bad decision. The only "problem" I encountered on the water was a leader that was about a foot too short. It was stiff and slapped the water instead of letting the popping bug land softly. Didn't seem to matter all that much to the fish, though.Nothing like a farm pond fishing trip to finish off the weekend.

[BornBad]

You caught and "released" bluegills, but killed a top verminator... Fuggin reminds me of my neighbor, a deputy sheriff non the less, I thought he was gonna load his pants with chit over a black snake.. Took the time to report the sighting to the whole block he did, warning everyone about a snake..



I hate rodents far more than snakes and I have always enjoyed the study of herpetology. I understand that you may have a different outlook on the matter. But there aint nottin that black snake coulda done to harm you other than causing you to soil yourself.. Admit it, that's what ya did- and like Rafe stomping a catfish that horned him: you wanted your sweet revenge.