Bluegill bed fishing

[CMorg]

My stepson is in a youth fishing tournament. He is not great at fishing yet , but not bad.They just measure the lengh of fish caught. I am going to try to get him to fish the two huge bluegill beds I just found this mourning. What to use ? thats my question. He can only fish with a bobber , he cant tell when theres a fish on without it , and he is 7. Thanks guys..

[WTL]

Crickets.

Thats all. Crickets.

[MrPhotographer06]

here we mainly fish off worms.. redworms.. but i've heard of 6 lb bass eating crickets so it should catch bluegill. if he can have more than 1 line... try some other types of worms also.. but wax worms i dont think are too good in my opinion

[Jim80]

meal worms to man if the crickets are tough to get .

[tnfisherman]

i would say crickets i have caught some big gills and bass on them ,and a rainbow trout once

[Buzz Wing]

Lately, we have been catching tons of 7,8, and 9" 'gills off of a red wiggler on a small short shank Eagle Claw #10 hook with a tiny split shot rigged about 24" up the line. Cast it out over the drops in 10-12' of water or drag it through the beds - killer! Ask Bender, he saw some of those 9-10" 'gills this mornin'...

-Buzz

[bamabassman]

i like night crawlers (worms). messy but they kick around under water. may be just me, but i think it gives dem bream sumtin to see better.

[BigBassin144]

Here's the thing, the bluegill will not eat while on the beds. Catching them on the beds is a blast though. Here we use a small fly (one that will sink) and just drop it on top of the beds, let it sink, then watch. The bluegill should try to defend they're beds by picking whatever it is up, and moving it away, when it has it in its mouth, set the hook. But ya gotta be quick, they spit it out kinda fast. The good thing about this is, you don't need to know how to use a fly rod, all you do is drop the fly right over the beds.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.


BB

[3dkicker]

Use very small hooks. Much smaller than you would normally use. Especially if he wants to catch numbers of fish. BB's got a very good idea and it has worked at the kids derbies that my club holds every year. Small flies really work.

[CMorg]

Thanks guys , I will have crickets and small flys on hand.. I can only provide moral support , so we gotta practice tomorrow.. thanks again.

[MrPhotographer06]

can daddy bring their boats?

[CMorg]

No , I cant.. it'll be fun though. I donated my time the last two years to help measure the fish , and all the fun work. But this year , he wanted to fish in it , so I am going to be a participant instead of a worker this year.

[CMorg]

Just got home from the tournament. He got 2nd place. Started out in a bluegill bed with a cricket , quickly switched to a prerigged worm ( once I seen the bass cruising the shallows ) and bagged 3 bass in about 45 minutes ( missed way more than hooked up with , but he's learning ). That bite seemed to end quickly , swithced back to the bluegill bed fishing with a cricket and hooked up with 3 nice sized gills. That musta been enough for second place. It was fun , I think I liked that almost as much as tournament fishing myself.. almost.

[pondskipper]

the best bluegill bait is meal worms

[pignjig]

Congrats, Cmorg! Ain't it a blast watching those little rascals catch fish? Good memories for both of you. Well done, sir, well done...

-Pig

[CMorg]

Yes it was PnJ. There were some large bass caught as well , it really did suprise me. Each child was fishing for something they liked to fish for , it wasnt just bass , that made it interesting.

[MrPhotographer06]

what was the winning number of fish/weight?

[CMorg]

I really dont know. They didnt do it by weight , it was actually lenght. I dont know why...

[MrPhotographer06]

so the winner was longest combined length? wow.. i woulda been going for bass then or carp lol

[CMorg]

Yes , it was combined total length. I just figured with a bobber , maybe bluegill fishing was right. He did get 3 bass , that I am sure if he didnt catch he wouldnt have been in 2nd. But none the less , it was fun , he won a fishing pole and a tackle box , a few bags of gulp a couple of spinnerbaits and a picture in the newspaper , so he is happy.

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by MrPhotographer06

so the winner was longest combined length? wow.. i woulda been going for bass then or carp lol

Or maybe gar, or something else in the paddlefish family.

[bamabassman]

congrats on 2nd place. great job man. great for your family as well.

[BigBassin144]

yeah congrats. didn't try the flys? I'll tell they work wonders up here on bedding bluegill. I haven't been ot the pond yet to see if ours are still on the beds, but I'd think they still are.

BB