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It’s good to see Snaggedline is up again. I thought maybe its most recent sudden disappearance marked its demise.
Bluegills are the first fish species many anglers catch with a fly rod. That was the case for me. Many years ago, a bluegill smacked a small popper I had weakly cast into a Severna Park community pond with a fiberglass fly rod. Seeing the intensity of that little fish’s strike and pulling in the line by hand, I was immediately “hooked” on the long rod with that catch. Although I fish today with conventional tackle too, a fly rod remains my preferred tool.
I’ve caught many fresh and saltwater fish species on the fly since that first catch in Severna Park. But I never tire of catching bluegills. They’re not finicky about the flies they attack. There is no need to match a particular hatch. They willingly strike flies below the surface and on top. Most anglers will agree that they fight far above their weight class. And if that wasn’t enough, they are extremely attractive and colorful fish, especially the ones with deep orange bellies from tannin-stained ponds.
Yesterday afternoon on a whim after working in the yard and doing some other chores, I decided to visit one of my favorite Delaware ponds. I really wanted to tangle with some bluegills. I had not been able to fish much in recent weeks and I wanted a simple outing to satisfy my itch. I arrived at the pond at 4:00 p.m. I hadn’t been there in over a month. I knew the peak bluegill catching period was over. But I also knew many bluegills would be lingering near the shallows to make my outing interesting.
The wind was stiffer than I would have liked as the ripples in the distance on the surface in the photo below indicate. I can generally find leeside protection in ponds.
However, yesterday something else was different from my last visit. The baby geese I saw in long trains behind their parents in May were now adult sized. These two shots show just a portion of the resident large Canada Goose flock that like me, wanted leeside cover:
P1060713.jpg
I moved on. I would return to that area later when the geese left for other parts of the pond. I had the ample daylight of a June evening ahead of me and essentially the entire pond to myself because there was only one other angler on it and he was fishing for bass in a v-hull boat with a trolling motor. There was no need to chase the geese away. There was plenty of room for two anglers and a hundred or more geese on the pond.
I soon found some nice bluegills, first on a sinking fly of my design that is part wooly bugger and part bluegill bully:
P1060718.jpg
Even a pickerel liked that fly:
P1060716.jpg
Also, I caught bluegills on top with a foam spider:
P1060720.jpg
Most were not tight to lily pads nor were they close to the shore. They were about 5 yards out from cover in open water not rippled by the wind. Also, when fly fishing for bluegills, it’s good to know that they rarely chase a fast-moving fly. Slow short retrieves with frequent pauses will attract their attention more than long, fast strips. Sometimes they will hit a surface fly that is not even moving. Patience is key when bluegill fishing.
The bite was not fast and furious like it was for me on two trips I had made to the pond in May. But I got 17 bluegills in the kayak and had quite a few long-distance releases. Most of those quick releases were because the fish attacked my fly at the precise time I picked up my paddle to make a course correction due to the prevailing wind. (Did you ever wonder how fish know when to strike at the most inopportune time?) Even so, the action was plenty for me on a very pleasant evening weatherwise. Only one bluegill was smaller than 8 inches. Most were closer to 9 inches. A chunky 8-to-9-inch bluegill can put a big bend in a 5-weight fly rod. Some even pulled my kayak.
I headed back to the ramp at 8:30 as darkness was setting in. You can see the wet tire tracks on the ramp left by the fellow in the v-hull who departed just before I did:
P1060721.jpg
And then I drove home through very light traffic on Routes 404 and 50 skirting through mostly green traffic lights and suffering no delays on the Bay Bridge which only made the evening better.
Sometimes the best fishing trips are those we don’t plan for in advance. You find time in your busy day and you go out. The moral of the story is to get out when you can, even on the spur of a moment. And always fish the way you want.
Bluegills are the first fish species many anglers catch with a fly rod. That was the case for me. Many years ago, a bluegill smacked a small popper I had weakly cast into a Severna Park community pond with a fiberglass fly rod. Seeing the intensity of that little fish’s strike and pulling in the line by hand, I was immediately “hooked” on the long rod with that catch. Although I fish today with conventional tackle too, a fly rod remains my preferred tool.
I’ve caught many fresh and saltwater fish species on the fly since that first catch in Severna Park. But I never tire of catching bluegills. They’re not finicky about the flies they attack. There is no need to match a particular hatch. They willingly strike flies below the surface and on top. Most anglers will agree that they fight far above their weight class. And if that wasn’t enough, they are extremely attractive and colorful fish, especially the ones with deep orange bellies from tannin-stained ponds.
Yesterday afternoon on a whim after working in the yard and doing some other chores, I decided to visit one of my favorite Delaware ponds. I really wanted to tangle with some bluegills. I had not been able to fish much in recent weeks and I wanted a simple outing to satisfy my itch. I arrived at the pond at 4:00 p.m. I hadn’t been there in over a month. I knew the peak bluegill catching period was over. But I also knew many bluegills would be lingering near the shallows to make my outing interesting.
The wind was stiffer than I would have liked as the ripples in the distance on the surface in the photo below indicate. I can generally find leeside protection in ponds.
However, yesterday something else was different from my last visit. The baby geese I saw in long trains behind their parents in May were now adult sized. These two shots show just a portion of the resident large Canada Goose flock that like me, wanted leeside cover:
P1060713.jpg
I moved on. I would return to that area later when the geese left for other parts of the pond. I had the ample daylight of a June evening ahead of me and essentially the entire pond to myself because there was only one other angler on it and he was fishing for bass in a v-hull boat with a trolling motor. There was no need to chase the geese away. There was plenty of room for two anglers and a hundred or more geese on the pond.
I soon found some nice bluegills, first on a sinking fly of my design that is part wooly bugger and part bluegill bully:
P1060718.jpg
Even a pickerel liked that fly:
P1060716.jpg
Also, I caught bluegills on top with a foam spider:
P1060720.jpg
Most were not tight to lily pads nor were they close to the shore. They were about 5 yards out from cover in open water not rippled by the wind. Also, when fly fishing for bluegills, it’s good to know that they rarely chase a fast-moving fly. Slow short retrieves with frequent pauses will attract their attention more than long, fast strips. Sometimes they will hit a surface fly that is not even moving. Patience is key when bluegill fishing.
The bite was not fast and furious like it was for me on two trips I had made to the pond in May. But I got 17 bluegills in the kayak and had quite a few long-distance releases. Most of those quick releases were because the fish attacked my fly at the precise time I picked up my paddle to make a course correction due to the prevailing wind. (Did you ever wonder how fish know when to strike at the most inopportune time?) Even so, the action was plenty for me on a very pleasant evening weatherwise. Only one bluegill was smaller than 8 inches. Most were closer to 9 inches. A chunky 8-to-9-inch bluegill can put a big bend in a 5-weight fly rod. Some even pulled my kayak.
I headed back to the ramp at 8:30 as darkness was setting in. You can see the wet tire tracks on the ramp left by the fellow in the v-hull who departed just before I did:
P1060721.jpg
And then I drove home through very light traffic on Routes 404 and 50 skirting through mostly green traffic lights and suffering no delays on the Bay Bridge which only made the evening better.
Sometimes the best fishing trips are those we don’t plan for in advance. You find time in your busy day and you go out. The moral of the story is to get out when you can, even on the spur of a moment. And always fish the way you want.
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