gill bite

[gilldan]

Went after gills today.  The bite started at 11:30 and never stopped until 3 pm when the sun came out.  Kept a few to eat and threw back all the rest.  Couldn't get the hook back in the water fast enough.  They were on the feed.  Everyone of them swallowed the hook.  Using a black and green wet fly 16" down in 3-4 ft of water.  Just a slight breeze to give it that small ripple you want.  As the time went on started fishing in 4 -5 ft water but kept the fly at 16".  They came up and got it.  Saw several schools of strippers hammering the minnows not far from me.  Just far enough from me I couldn't cast that far.

[treepotato]

howdy, glad to hear you did well. when you say you were 16 " down does that mean you were using a float indicator to keep your fly at that depth? i have been bit by the flyfishing bug this year and absolutely love it. had a few great bluegill trips also this year. all of my gills have come on top with a foam spider or wet fly tipped with a piece of worm. do you have a picture of the fly you had luck with? i would love to throw a wet fly that i didnt need to tip with bait. again congratulations on a nice outing...thanks for sharing.....treepotato

[seamonkey84]

just about any buggy fly will do, no need to tip with bait. If they don’t hit it on the drop or when it’s sitting still, try wiggling the rod tip side to side to give it a little action, or do a slow strip and pause. I’ve had very good luck with small wooly buggers/worms, bead head nymphs of all sorts. That said, you can’t beat a top water bite so I’m more often than not fishing with a small popper. sometimes using a size 10-12 bead head Bugger as a dropper fly. The popper attracts them, and gets the more aggressive fish, plus acts as an indicator and provides action to the wet fly dropper. Also, play with colors, I’ve had days they wanted bright pink instead of the natural colors.

[gilldan]

The fly is all black with a green strip down the back.  I have them with red and yellow strips also.  They all work well.  A former neighbor of my son that lives in Boston tied them for me along with some other ones.  He owned a fly fishing store out there.  He custom makes bamboo fly rods that start at $1,000.00 on up.  He's pretty sharp on the stuff.

The method I've been using the last 16 yrs. is using a casting float bubble with four pound leader.  Length depends on your choice.  I start out with 4'. Between the bubble and the fly you can put the float of your choice.  I used to use a Dickie ice fishing float as it was the lightest and smallest that I could see.  Problem is sometimes with the ripple its hard to see.  Lately I've been using a foam float that I used in making my worm harness rigs.  You just have to experiment what works best for you.  There are times no bait is better than bait.  It just depends on their mood.  Hope this helps.

[treepotato]

great! thanks for the replies. fly fishing is truly a fascinating sport.  cant wait to get back at em. thanks again.

[Teacherpreacher]

My father put a 9’ bamboo fly rod in my hands when I was 5 years old. I am now 79 years old. I had to use two hands to handle that rod. I’m not an expert by any means but have caught LOTS of bluegills since that day. I use both surface and wets. I’ve tied LOTS of flies, they aren’t perfect but they work! This past April I tied 150 trout patterns for my two nephews before we went south of Gatlinburg and caught a bunch of trout.These flies will catch bluegills as well.

[treepotato]

wow! teacher those look really nice. i wish i would have gotten into fly fishing at a younger age too. im 57 and realize now what i have missed all these years. i started tying a little last winter and did pretty good on the river with white bass, smallmouth and crappie . i see myself doing this alot more in the future. thanks so much for the pictures and congratulations on the many years in this sport. helps to keeping us young ! lol

[SHaRPS]

Hey Teacher, Gatlinburg as in TN?

[Teacherpreacher]

Yes , sir. Gatlinburg, TN. Fished the Nantahala, River and stayed at The Nantahala River Lodge. Beautiful spot. Type in Nantahala River Lodge in SEARCH and click on Gallery. Really a neat place!
 
Teach

[RoeBoat]

Teach, all I get to come up is a place in NC?

[Teacherpreacher]

On computer I go to search and just type in Nantahala River Lodge? Then click on Official site.
or: www.nantahalariverlodge.net.
Should take you there?
Teach

[SHaRPS]

Nice! Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Bryson City, Cherokee, the wife and I went to them all while on our honeymoon. WE actually stayed in Gatlinburg for 8 days but wished we stayed longer. Beautiful place.

Side note - The lodge you speak of is in North Carolina and not TN.

[Teacherpreacher]

You are correct! My bad! I knew that,  I stand corrected.
Teach

[gilldan]

Hit the lake again Thurs.  Bite was a little slower than last Fri. as the water came up almost 14" over the last weekend.  Neighbor did real well with the high water on Sun. Lake is going back down.  Hit a small farm pond Friday am.  This pond normally is an evening pond and I didn't expect to catch anything. To my surprise I ended up with 24 nice gills from 8 1/2" to 10" and one red ear that went 11" and was full of eggs (first red ear ever caught in this pond).  The owner was with me and we were both surprised to see it.  He never stocked any and I've never caught one in the twenty years of fishing it until now.  Still catching everything on a wet fly, with and without bait.