September 1, 2017

More About Stan Stan’s Archives Those Bluegills Are Memory Makers Part 2 If you’ve got a chapter in your Fly Fishing Memories book that’s headlined by something like “Just Plain Fun,” I’d be willing to bet it includes mention of one of America’s favorite panfish. As you already know if you read last month’s column, that great little scrapper is the bluegill.

There’s a whole school of hungy bluegills hanging around that sunken log you see in the foreground of this picture. Look close and you’ll see the swirl one made when it just grabbed my fly.

In my previous column I wrote about how effective teensy plastic worms could be for these interesting panfish that you’ll find in lakes and ponds all over the United States. This time around let’s look at another favored technique that can provide even more fun when conditions are right. That technique, of course, is fly fishing. Page 1 Don’t feel like you have to be a fly fishing wizard with the best of equipment for bluegill fishing. Certainly the ability to do a decent job of casting, as well as having quality equipment to do it with, isn’t going to hurt you any. But I like to think of bluegill fly fishing as close combat. If you can manage to cast your flies out there from 20 to 30-feet most of the time you’ll be in business.

As we covered in the last column, your gear must be scaled down to match the size of the fish you are after. My favorite fly rods for that purpose range from 7 to 8-feet. Fly-fishing for bluegill isn’t long range action. If you can cast 20 to 30- feet, you’ll do just fine. Be sure the leaders you select have a tippet testing from two four pounds.

What I’ve said about finding bluegill while using spinning gear also applies to fly-fishing. You’ve got to find them before you can catch them. Once you do get them pinned down, you’re in for a fun day.

I recall one day years ago when I’d just come in from fly fishing for bluegills on my home lake. A well known Seattle photographer happened to be at the dock when I came in. He was in the process of producing a film for the Evergreen State’s Parks Department. He saw the nice string of bluegill I’d brought in. He expressed his regret that he hadn’t been around to shoot pictures of me catching them.

“Don’t sweat it,” I said, “it’s no problem. Get in another boat and follow me back out there and I’ll catch some more for you.”

Now making a statement like that where fish of any kind are concerned is a good way to wind up with gravy in your whiskers, but the fish had still been hitting when I quit and I knew right where they were. The photographer followed me went back to the same spot. I caught a fish on the first cast and many more after that. The photographer wound up with just what he wanted.

Your days won’t always go that well, of course, with the fly rod or anything else. But there are things you can do to bend the odds in your favor. The first is to stick to Number 10 fly sizes. Carry dark, light and in between shades in your fly patterns.

A Number 10 hook is small enough for the bluegills to get hold. Go down in size and you’ll be forever hooking little tiny guys you don’t want to mess with. Go larger and the teensy ‘gills won’t be able to get hold of it.

I find a Number 10 hook to be just the right size for my bluegill fly fishing. Page 2 One of my all time favorites is my own version of the McGinty. I tie it with a red tag and alternate bands of brown and yellow yarn. In finish it off with sparse brown hackle. Another favorite is a black ant.

Don’t be in a hurry to do anything with whatever the pattern you’re using after you’ve made a cast. Get your fly out there and then let it sink through the surface film. When you begin your retrieve bring the fly back with little twitches of the line. I do that by holding the line in my left hand rather than working the rod tip. Be especially alert each time you twitch the line. That’s when your strikes are most likely to come.

There will be times when sponge-bodied spiders or tiny poppers catch fish off the surface. That’s the most fun of all and it’s always worth a try to find out if the fish will feed that way. As in any kind of fishing, don’t hesitate to experiment in fly fishing for bluegill. Try your poppers, but if they don’t work don’t stick with them for hours on end. Try a different approach. Bluegills aren’t all that picky. Sooner or later you’ll find what they want.

Here’s my all time favorite pattern for bluegill fly fishing.

I haven’t killed a bass in years. I’ve made some friends and relatives unhappy by not bringing home the largemouth I put in the boat. I killed my share of them decades ago when those wonderful fish didn’t face the ever building pressures they do today. Bass are a slow growing fish, particularly in areas like the Pacific Northwest where the growing season is relatively short. It might take years to grow a 4-pound largemouth.

It’s a different story with bluegill. One of the dangers with bluegill is over population. One lake I fished as a young man was loaded with yellow perch. Later the bluegill became even more numerous. They are among the most prolific of panfish. It doesn’t hurt to invite some to dinner.

Page 3 Buegill fishing is fun fishing and catching them on a fly is a great way to do it.

If you decide to do that don’t fool around attempting to scale each fish. Cut off the dorsal and a strip of skin along the top of the back. Next slice through the skin in back of the gill covers on both sides of the fish. Use a pair of nippers to pull the skin back toward the tail.

Once you do that, cut the head halfway off. Now pull the head off with your hand and the guts will come out along with it. Use a lightweight pair of canvas gloves while you’re cleaning your bluegill and it simplifies the task by at least fifty per cent.

Roll the skinned fish in cracker crumbs and flour and pop it into the frying pan. Fresh bluegill prepared in such fashion and served along with hot French bread, coleslaw and a glass of chilled white wine will have your taste buds doing the cha-cha-cha and begging for more.

The Good Lord created bass to teach fishermen humility. I suspect He gave us bluegills to make up for the frustration He knew those bass would bring. He also made them for eating.

As said in last month’s column, if you know your butt from a barracuda, you’ve got to have a high regard for bluegill. And if you don’t know about them now, I envy you the fun you’ll have learning.

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