Just Bluegill

[ozark trout fisher]

Some of my most enjoyable moments fishing over the years have been while angling for the lowly bluegill. For a fish species that is far too often written off as only fit for kids dangling worms off a dock, the little critters are sure fine sport. Of course like most people, most of my bluegill fishing over the years has been done with an ultralight spinning rod, a bobber, and a container of worms or crickets. When I started to fly fish pretty much exclusively, I really thought that bluegill fishing would start to become less and less important to me, until finally I just didn't go after the little guys at all anymore.

But as it turned out, the exact opposite thing happened. Almost immediately, I learned that bluegill are one of the most fun fly rod fish on the face of the earth. A good sized bluegill fights much harder than a trout or a bass of the same size, and they can put a very respectable bend in a light fly rod. But what really got me hooked on bluegill fishing is how much fun it is to dry fly fish for them, something that I've been doing every evening for the past four or five days.

At the risk of offending some of the trout or bass purists on here, I would make the statement that there is no higher sport in fishing than standing on a still, tranquil pond at sunset on a warm evening, casting out a small dry fly, and simply letting it sit until a bluegill disturbs the placid water with a splashy rise. Of course it is not difficult to catch fish this way, but there is something about the inherent stillness associated with it that I think is just more therapeutic than many other forms of fly fishing. The half-light of the evening,the graceful casts through the windless air, and the long but not empty spaces between the fly landing on the water and the fish taking allows me to me to feel a sense of perfect clarity, a feeling of being completely in the moment with all other thoughts pushed entirely out of my head. This is really one of those kinds of fishing for me that has very little if anything to do with the actual act of catching fish, and more about slowing down and plugging back into the natural rhythms of the world for an hour or so, when most of my life is far too fast paced and hectic.

I guess it probably seems a bit odd to put in this much thought about just a couple evenings spent fly fishing on a woodland pond. But I also suppose it's a little bit odd to essentially devote your life to the pursuit of fish, and I've done that too, so whatever.

[flytyer57]

Gotta love them bluegills. You can usually get them to bite when every other species of fish turns up their noses at every lure or bait you toss to them. They can easily turn a skunk into a good quality fishing day. Just don't use that extra heavy pool cue rod to fish for them and they will be fun.

[gotmuddy]

I love bluegill fishing. we have a pond that has some 1+ lb hybrid sunfish

[jdmidwest]

I caught my first fish on a fly rod of a cousin I found in a shed full of his stuff as a kid years 30 some years ago, it was a green sunfish on a popper. I have caught tons of them since. Inch for inch, they will outfight any trout.

[Jack Jones]

Whatever I've fished for, and however the fishing has been, I know that if I haven't caught anything I can put a worm, a woolly, or a small gnat fly on and pull in a bluegill. Even if it's practically the size of bait for other fish, it puts up a fight and therefore puts a smile on my face. For that....it's worth it.

[Justin Spencer]

Flyfishing for bluegill is how I started and still love it. You end up with a great meal at the end to boot, and even catch some nice largemouth on occasion.