Report from 5/27 and need bluegill advise

[Lvn2Fish]

Finally was able to get out last Thursday . The boat had been in the shop and with starting my new business I had been very busy . Dumped in at the state park around daylight . Water was stained only about 4-6ft visibility . Started in a spawning pocket fished for about an hour and finally caught a keeper smallie . Then the bite really picked up . Next five fish were all healthy keepers including a 3 lb spot caught on top . Made a move and only picked up one fish but it was a big one about 4.5 lbs spawned completely out and looked rough as a cob . That fish came in top also . Went 2 hours without another bite . Last spot for the day yielded 3 more keepers with two largemouth over 3 lbs . These two were caught within 30 seconds of one another . And they were healthy and fat . Finished the day with 10 keepers and the best five would have went 16-17lbs . No real pattern just a few here and there . Mostly shallow by table rock standards . FB jig and vixen did the damage  
 

Next question . I figure the bluegill will be spawning soon . I’ve only ever drop shot for them later in the year .  And caught a huge mess in later June .Wonder what depth to target for the big ones, or just cover that mid depth range to the bank ? I could care less about the small ones I’m needing some fried fish in a bad way .

[fishinwrench]

41 minutes ago, Lvn2Fish said:

 

Next question . I figure the bluegill will be spawning soon . I’ve only ever drop shot for them later in the year .  And caught a huge mess in later June .Wonder what depth to target for the big ones, or just cover that mid depth range to the bank ? I could care less about the small ones I’m needing some fried fish in a bad way .

Where I go after bigger bluegills the best presentation is always vertical.....a very slow sink.   Some days they will bite no matter what you do, but on "normal" days they want to intercept something that is just slowly going down.   Bite detection is tricky sometimes, you gotta keep a tight line.   

[Lvn2Fish]

29 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Where I go after bigger bluegills the best presentation is always vertical.....a very slow sink.   Some days they will bite no matter what you do, but on "normal" days they want to intercept something that is just slowly going down.   Bite detection is tricky sometimes, you gotta keep a tight line.   

That’s the only way I’ve ever targeted them also . I’ll probably just start out on gravel and hope to run into them 

[Quillback]

Couple of weeks ago, on the local lake they were in a pre-spawn mode.  They would eat redworms on a drop shot, and crickets under a float.  They were in about 5-10 FOW.  If I was fishing TR for gills right now, I'd be looking around some of the smaller pockets where they spawn, fishing out a bit deeper in that 5 -10 foot range.  I fish more of a horizontal mode with the drop shot - cast it out and slowly work it back, helps you to search water as it appears you'll be doing.  

[196champ]

We caught several this weekend while targeting bass, all on a swimbait.

they were on main lake gravel in 18-25ft, some real dandies

[Bill Babler]

They really don't get going quite yet on the Rock. Usually last week of June into July. Look on gravel with pole timber. Not a lot of timber left these days. 

15' to 18' is just a magic depth number for hand size and bigger on Table Rock gravel.

It also seems like the walleye are extremely interested in bluegill that time of year. Use 1/2 a night crawler on a long shank hook, not a cricket hook, something with a little steel in it or a size 1 drop shot hook. Thread the worm a bit past the eye if your using the drop shot to avoid misses.  Bet you catch some walleye also

Good Luck

 

[rps]

57 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

They really don't get going quite yet on the Rock. Usually last week of June into July. Look on gravel with pole timber. Not a lot of timber left these days. 

15' to 18' is just a magic depth number for hand size and bigger on Table Rock gravel.

It also seems like the walleye are extremely interested in bluegill that time of year. Use 1/2 a night crawler on a long shank hook, not a cricket hook, something with a little steel in it or a size 1 drop shot hook. Thread the worm a bit past the eye if your using the drop shot to avoid misses.  Bet you catch some walleye also

Good Luck

 

Solid advice.

Another alternative: Rig up a miniature Carolina rig. 1/4 to 3/8th ounce bullet weight above a swivel. Below the swivel use 3 to 4 feet of line to the hook. Bait with 1/2 to a whole night crawler. If you put a small float just ahead of the hook it will keep the rig off the bottom. Use you troll motor to cover the gravel at about .5 mph.

Here is a link to a how to post I wrote ten years ago.