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Li'lDave

question 1. bluegill flies

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Guys and girls.

 

i am interesting in specifically seeing some of the bugs you tie up for crappie / bluegill.

 

interested in all styles. Please let me know your preference for size too.

 

 

thank you

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For blugill I mostly use the same flies I use for trout. Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, Partridge and Orange and Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear. Sizes 14 to 16.

 

I also use a Pan Fish Charlie, size 10. You may also give a Bully Spider a look. I have never fished it but one of my fishing buddies has fished them on some private ponds and says they do exceptionally well.

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Generally I get Bluegill or Pumpkin Seeds when trout fishing, they mostly take what the trout take, which is sometimes midges.. If I'm specifically fishing for them, a small woolly worm works fine or a small Muddler. That will usually get them off the midges Where I fish for them though often is where large bass also come in on the attack pushing bait fish up almost onto the beach there and trout cruise just a bit deeper. One fly that will often get Gills or Pumpkinseeds only is the Professor. It will get trout in Northern Maine as well but not so much around these parts ( Cape Cod).. So the Professor is a good panfish fly. Our Pumpkin Seeds are healthy fish here running up to around 1-1/2 lb . And lb for lb every bit the fight of a good trout, especially on a light rod like a 3 or 4 wt. Just mimmick a Colorado spoon in colors, they take those if retrieved slow. So the Professor works with it's grey/whitish wing, yellow/gold body, plus it adds some color with thread choice, tag, collar.

 

We have a good crappy pond up the road maybe 10 miles or so, woolly buggers will get them. The tie is about size 8 or 10. Colors vary, some degree of olive in the mix seems pretty good. Peacock herl body, gold beadhead is good in that pond. And a chartreuse clouser will get them. I'm not a fan of the Clouser, fish love them, I don't sort of thing. But for Crappie it's a winner because of the up turned hook, you stand a better chance of getting into some meat and not ripping the side membrane of the mouth area.. They have pretty fragile mouths. Although if we are crappie fishing they may well be going home, my wife loves to eat crappie and this place has some corkers where you can get a good fillet off each side . They remind me very much of the sea bass we get out here in the bay in May ( not striped bass but sea bass).

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Blue gills aren't particular. They will eat anything. Just tie something on and throw it and a bluegill will eat it. I do not tie anything special for blue gill and simply use whatever I have at hand. Any dry, any wet and any nymph work. For crappies anything that looks like a small clouser minnow size 12 - 14.

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Foam poppers

 

 

Panfish attractor

 

 

Floating ants

 

 

Soda can minnows

 

 

Small deer hair flies

 

 

Lots of rubber legs ... spiders or Chernobyl ant styles

 

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I use poppers and rubber spiders, but here's a great fly invented by a local guy here in Tampa Bay, called a Confederate General. I made a punch out of 5/8 in. copper tube for the foam disks. You can use hair or marabou either one for the tail.

post-52210-0-16023400-1454620676_thumb.jpg

post-52210-0-29241800-1454620685_thumb.jpg

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I can't remember ever catching a crappie on top, but plenty of bream. A bream (generic name for panfish/blue gill/sunfish) will bite anything, about any size. Say a size 6. Crappie like minnow streamers.

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add rubber legs to any small trout fly and a bluegill will eat it.

 

top producers are always little foam poppers or upside down bream killer

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I'm a fan of a sz 12 mini hopper for gills, and it's so easy even I can tie it.

 

Not my ties, azwanderings pic:

post-51283-0-01228700-1454634998_thumb.jpeg

 

Also a fly called the "Nothing Special" that was posted on here a while back, I believe by user"The Cream"

post-51283-0-55361500-1454635162_thumb.jpeg

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Real nice Scotty. I've been intending to throw together some mini-hoppers...... just never get around to it.

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From my days of trout fishing, actually I still do that, I'm a dry fly fisherman. So most of my patterns are top water. These have been up before. Size 4 to 8. I do tie some size 10 poppers. Some of the pictures are of larger versions.

Two top ones right now on top are

post-309-0-63826200-1454724174_thumb.jpg post-309-0-03917200-1454724257_thumb.jpg

 

post-309-0-60371800-1454724294_thumb.jpg post-309-0-37936900-1454724379_thumb.jpg

 

 

Some other top waters I use

 

post-309-0-09898800-1454724579_thumb.jpg post-309-0-16272800-1454724850_thumb.jpg post-309-0-20638600-1454724878_thumb.jpg

 

Sub surface

 

post-309-0-71722400-1454724959_thumb.jpg post-309-0-24731200-1454725086_thumb.jpg

 

post-309-0-93808300-1454725395_thumb.jpg post-309-0-72696300-1454725585_thumb.jpg

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