Panfish Flies

[Adventure568 0]

I use a 5wt and always get a lot on flashback hares ears and ants

[C Teeter 0]

I use 5 wt for bluegills and that's plenty! Some really sporting types use much lighter. All I've ever used so far are rubber spiders and popping bugs, but I'm tying away, hoping to use some other stuff when I get back home.

 

I also use ultralight spinning, and beetle spins are irresistible to bluegills. Also Rooster Tail spinners, however they are inline spinners, and contribute to line twisting and result in backlashes and snarls. Anyway, anything that might look and sound like a beetle spin probably would tear them up. I don't have a suggestion for a wet fly that makes noise, but I've heard that wooly buggers (weighted) are favorites. Also plan to try that out. If anyone knows how to make them noisy, I'd like to know.

I tie some buggers up with bead chain eyes, they are not super noisy but they will rattle some, cut off four beads (rather than the two that you would normally use) and tie them on with two on each side I find that the bigger bead chains seem to work best more rattle I think, add some rubber legs and your in

[taggart.josh 0]

Well Im headed north Friday after work, will get in to late to chase trout on the Au Sable but Im hoping to put the canoe Friday night and throw some trout flies at, will be to busy to tie anything up specifically before then.

 

FlaFly Fisher, I used to tie with an old timer in MN that would tie colorado blades and and spinners to his flies. I think he bought more stuff at the bait shop then he did at the fly shop, might not hurt to look at some lure making websites and see if any have rattles.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Most of the lure rattles will be too big for typical Bluegill flies, but are great on bass flies. In addition to the wonderful suggestions already posted, tiny streamer patterns work well too, like simple marabou patterns, or Clouser Minnows tied with bead chain eyes & ostrich herl fibers or fox fur. Try an all black ostrich herl Clouser, with a little copper or bronze flashabou in it. Makes a great leech & most any species will eat leeches.

 

BTW, I caught the biggest Bluegills of my life one time in Fl on a #6 white marabou streamer. FL panfishes get big, and those Bluegills were in the 12"-13" length range! Put a heck of a bend in my 6 wt!

[FlaFly 0]

Wow, Tidey! What lake did you catch 12" BGs from? I want to go there when I get home.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Wasn't a lake, I caught them in the Rainbow River, near Dunnellon.

[FlaFly 0]

That's pretty cold water... I fell in one time up at the spring. Have you fished in Lake Rousseau downstream? It's really nice, full of cypress. A friend caught a gob of bluegills there on a beetle spin, right from the shore!

[tidewaterfly 0]

Never have fished in%2

[tidewaterfly 0]

Never have fished in the lake. Have fished the Rainbow twice both times from Dunnellon. Rented a boat the first time & only had my 6 wt. Second time was with a friend who now lives near there & we fished from his boat. I took a fly rod along both times, but the second trip ended up fishing with one of his spinning rods. There's a lot of bass in that river too! First time there was about 1990, last time was in 2008! It's a beautiful river & one that's ideal for fly fishing if you can fish at a slow pace.

[mikechell 0]

There's a ton of water over there ... and I'd really like to go to Dunnellon to fish. But as I leave Deltona, I cross or pass ponds, lakes and other streams and rivers and I just can't make it that far.

It's like walking down a candy aisle ... specifically stocked with your favorites, and you don't know which one is at the end. Once you've passed an item, you can never go back. Do you walk all the way to the end, and hope your favorite is there? Or do you pick one, as you get to it, knowing you'll like every nibble?

[FlaFly 0]

Mike

You have Lake County with all its nice lakes: Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, Lake Dora... I can see why you don't need to go any farther. Lake Griffin was pretty highly eutrophic last time I was there... right in the middle of the midge emergence. The air was so full of midges you couldn't keep them out of your eyes.

 

Rousseau and the Rainbow River are fed by a pretty large spring, and kept well flushed. The springs may have pretty high nitrogen, but the water flows through the river and lake at a pace that doesn't allow for algae blooms. Plus they're pretty well shaded by cypress.

[mikechell 0]

Even Lake County water ways are a bit of a haul. I have 5 or 6 lakes and that many accesses to the St. Johns River, all within a 20 minute drive. Within 40 minutes, I can add another 20 places. Yeah, even the two to two and a half hour drive to Dunnellon is more of a weekend camping trip than a day trip.

 

But those West Florida waters are some reeeeeally pretty water.

[bowfin47 0]

2 /3 or may up to light 4 wt.s Anything bigger than that is overkill. Yeah, 5 wt's will be fun, but a 3 wt. will be a whole lot more fun!!

[flytire 0]

I don't think a 6wt is overkill especially when fishing in waters that contain crappie, largemouth bass, pickerel etc. a good size largemouth could/would destroy a 2wt toy rod

[ditz2 0]

Indiana has lots of great streams and up north there are lots of lakes but FL puts Indiana to shame as far as fishing water is concerned. Fl is about as close to fishing heaven and one can get.