Photo by Louis Cahill

By Justin Pickett

It’s bluegill time again.

Warmer temps, blooming flowers, and the buzzing sound of lawn mowers. Crazy, diehard bass anglers are trailering their $30,000 boats with their $50,000 trucks, and running 70mph across every lake in the country in order to chase after their favorite little green fish. Hell, the amount of money a bass angler may spend on gasoline this summer could probably fund a bachelor’s degree. As fishermen, we do some crazy things. Well worth it in my opinion, however, today I am standing on the bank of a local pond, three weight in hand, casting little poppers and #8 RLD’s.

This time of year is the height of the bluegill spawning season, and the best time to target the larger bluegill.

That first full moon of May is typically when most bluegill anglers mark their calendars, though you can find them on the bed as early as March and April, and as late as June. These little guys are crazy aggressive and will sometimes make you think a 5lb bass has struck when they take your fly. They’re one of my favorite species of fish to catch on the fly. Their bright colors and never-give-up attitude makes them a treat for anglers looking for some fun. I swear if these things grew to ten or fifteen pounds, they’d be the largemouth bass of the world. If only they jumped.

Much of my childhood was spent on the banks of Lake Sinclair near Milledgeville, Ga. I would spend many of my summer weekends running around in my little jon boat, chucking little Bettes poppers along the banks and submerged timber. It was where I really learned how to cast a fly rod, and where I fell in love with fly fishing. On most days, there were always bluegill willing to strike at my fly, providing the positive feedback to keep me going no matter how frustrated I may have been with my casting abilities. These little guys are certainly one of the main reasons why I kept picking up my fly rod.

The learning curve in fly fishing is sharp for most. Put a beginner on a tight stream bank, with overhanging trees, and the need to cast into an area the size of a hula-hoop, and it can be extremely frustrating for them. Even when they get that cast right, they still have to get a trout to take the fly.  Hell, there are still days where I feel like a beginner figuring things out. However, bluegill and other panfish species are plentiful and easy to access. Pretty much any pond or lake is likely to hold a good population of these little suckers. I used to catch some gnarly bluegill in a retention pond behind some apartments I lived in. I think they were juicing, and on a constant high provided by the second-hand smoke from the neighbors’ “medicine,” so they were always on the lookout for a snack. They also tend to be way less picky and will give a look at almost anything that hits the water. Ever spit over the side of a dock and see a handful of bluegill rise to the surface to check it out? They are everywhere and seemingly eager to jump on a hook.

There’s no need for fat wallets, fancy casts, or secret fly patterns, and the chances of hooking up are high.

All you need is a three weight fly rod (or any rod for that matter), a 4x leader, a floating line, and some basic flies. I find that beetles, caddis, woolly buggers, rubber legged dragons, and small poppers are all you’ll need to have a great time on the water catching bluegill until the sunlight fades. Tenkara is also a great, fun-as-hell way to target bluegill and other panfish species. Look for them around docks, grass beds, and any other submerged structure. In my opinion, it’s the best way to get new anglers interested in fly fishing, especially kids.