Fly Rod and Bluegills

[ForresterModern]

I have fished locally for bluegill, redear and pumpkinseed (sunfish variants), small and large mouths, mostly in friends farm ponds. Previously I have fished the great north for pike (largest 42inches, twice same trip), the rare lake trout that will come up close enough to the surface to take a fly, and for grayling. Have fished Lake Michigan tributaries for lake run king salmon (largest 42 inches), steelhead and lake run brown trout on their spawning runs or poaching other spawns, none the last year or two. Besides of course the standard freestone or tailwater or small tream trout fishing.

Now is a good time to pound the sunfish as they will be spawning and readily available and eager to bite whilst on there beds. Good time to either parallel shoreline fish or cast from a float tube, rowboat, canoe or kayak (as long as there is no wind). Should be some good fishin'.

Now you got me thinking where I put my smallmout/panfish flybox and whether my 3 or 4 weight rigs need new lines and leaders.

[MrShoe]

Hey McNulty...
Please don't steer any more people to Baldwin. lol That is one of my favorite stretches of water.

I love to play with gills/panfish on my 5wt. I have been wanting to target spawning pike w/my 9wt as well.

Tight line my friends!!

[auld argonian]

I have a nine foot six weight that never sees the light of day. As one author said, "...suitable for very large Western streams and hauling crippled Russian nuclear submarines into port..."...hey...it was on sale!

Best

AA

[Scotcop]

Funny story...my dad tried fly-fishing once in a canoe...caught a bluegill, and instead of reeling him in, flipped it through the air as if he was trying to dry his fly...LOL it made a loud SMACK! sound when it hit the water behind him.....

[ForresterModern]

It is about time I indoctrinated my 2 year old son into the addiction.....errrhh.....passion, yeah that's it, for fishing, as I was about his age when my grandfather first took me fishing on a pond with a cane pole and a small can of worms. Every time I dipped my bait in the water I brought out a sunny---must have been a hundred times---so many and so fast that granpa never even had a chance to wipe off the slime from his hands from the last fish. We were there what seemed to my youthful brain like hours, but he never tired of unhooking fish and baiting hooks as fast as I could pluck them out of the water. That is where I got my passion for fishing from, and it has never abated, only been pushed a bit back on the activity shelf we all call life. Man I miss my granpa now.

Got some of his old fishing gear from my grandmother after he died---an old wicker creel, a rusty reel, a few rusty lures---and shall keep and treasure them all my life, along with those memories.

[RonnieMac13]

The last conversation I had with my Grand Father was about crappie fishing on the night that he passed. The nurse said she didn’t think he could hear us anymore, so me being hardheaded had to find out. I started talking to him about fishing before long he answered me. So yes fishing does bring back some wonderful memories. We fished together all the time when I was a kid.

[Detroitpete]

I admit it freely. When it comes to fly fishing, I've been a life-long addict. I grew up in the great state of Michigan where we have trout streams nick-named "the holy water" etc. and still love fishing for brown trout and rainbows. Further south, I get a real kick out of smallies, blue gills, sun fish etc.

When I travel to Franklin NC, I ALWAYS take a few rods and LOVE fishing the rivers and streams of that part of NC as well as the nearby areas of TN and GA.

I will fish for ANYTHING with a fly and fly rod--especially if I'm using a fly I tied myself and a rod I've built myself (or an antique--love my old HI's).

[dfmacliam]

I love fishing for panfish.. in Arkansas my folks had two spring fed ponds that were stocked with cats, large and small mouth bass, crappie, and every imaginable panfish... it's like fishing in a rainbow.. pulling out a different color everytime... I loved it.

[HeathBar]

Panfish is pretty much the only reason I have a fly rod. But I couldn't tell you what size or length it is. I haven't used it much since getting married, 9 years ago. But what I do remember was that they loved to bite on a spider looking fly. It had a black foam body and white rubber legs. It would float on the top. That was some fun fishin'.

[Jock Scot]

I have no idea about most of the varieties of fish you are all talking about(we don't have them over here), but it all sounds like fun. I hope to try and wet a line sometime in the next week or two. I have been scouting for some good places where a long line will not be needed. Fingers crossed, but I have to give it a go!