The Bluegill Spawn
July 7, 2009
It’s a warm summer day and you’re headed to the lake, eagerly awaiting your first cast. You launch and head to one of your favorite spots only to find someone already fishing it. Plan B, your next spot, finds someone there as well. You’re quickly frustrated -- everyone else on the lake seems to have the same idea as you! There simply are no secret places anymore . . . or are there?
When I’m on a crowded body of water I love to find obscure ways to catch bass. In my last article I talked discussed the shad spawn being a rather underutilized tactic. In addition to this tactic there is another spawning ritual occurring throughout much of the country right now: the bluegill spawn. These very abundant pan fish (and their many sub species) inhabit all different types of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams across the US. They are widely available and spawn in great numbers in early to mid summer. I was actually just in central Texas where there was a bluegill spawn still going on.
Bluegills, shell crackers, red ear, pumpkin seeds and any other type of sunfish species will spawn from the end of May all the way through mid July and some bodies of water may even see several spawns throughout this period. They build beds in relatively shallow water (2 to 4 feet deep) in the backs of pockets, around sandy secondary points, flats and especially boat docks. The other characteristic is that they tend to build little colonies of beds resembling a honey comb and often group together making them an active food source for large bass.
As the warmer water approaches, many anglers head out to deeper water in search of summer patterns to entice bass. This is the perfect time to explore this subtle little pattern that is often over looked. I’ve been most successful exploiting this pattern in deep, clear lakes and reservoirs. When you find a cluster of spawning bluegill the bass are typically not far behind and often just near the first little drop in water depth off of the spawning areas. This pattern usually attracts large bass, specifically some of the late, post-spawn females looking to fatten up. It is a tactic that requires a certain degree of stealth and I use a variety of baits to maximize the area.
Lures
I enerally start my approach with a top water bait and have two that work very well, depending upon the aggressiveness of the bass. I start by fishing a Yamamoto buzzbait in color number 703 (chartreuse scale) -- this will catch any aggressive bass and allow me to take advantage of the early morning low light conditions. This is a period when bass can
really be opportunistic feeders. If I find that the bass are a bit more inactive I will fish a Sugoi Splash popper in the 515 bluegill pattern, using a much slower “pop and stop” retrieve. Many of the strikes occur when this bait is motionless on the surface. It also gets the spawning blue gills riled up and many times the bass will become a little more aggressive as a result. Regardless of which bait I choose, it’s important to stay far away from the spawning flats and make long casts so not to spook any bass nearby.
After the topwater bite dies down, I really like to swim a 97-series Hula Grub and dead stick a 9- or 9L-series Senko, or even a 31-series Swim Senko, all in color 301 (green pumpkin purple green). This is a dead ringer color match for a bluegill and is quickly becoming my favorite. I tend to fish medium action 7-foot casting rods matched with a 6.2:1 casting reels. I really like the Tactica series from Tica. I spool them up with 15-pound test fluorocarbon line for added sensitivity and strength.
So while all the other anglers are out on the lake fishing traditional summer spots, find some shallow bluegill spawning flats and take advantage of this gem of a technique.
The Swimbait Craze I have fished with many styles and brands and have come to the conclusion that not all swimbaits are the same. Many companies mass produce and injection mold their baits and it’s really hard to get one of these to swim perfectly, which is essential to the action and success of the bait. I have started using a bait from ProSwimbaits called the ProMinnow. It’s a hand-poured, hand-painted bait and each one is perfect right out of the package. One critical advantage to having a hand-poured bait is the fact that you can really slow down the retrieve and still have the bail swim correctly, something that is hard to accomplish with the stiffer, injected baits. Furthermore, hand-painting produces a more realistic bait that closely matches the prey. Check them out at www.proswimbaits.com |
