WHAT DEPTH DO YOU FISH IN THE FALL FOR BLUEGILL

what type of body of water are you fishing?

Posted By fisherfanatic on 06 Oct 2010 03:17 PM
Be more specific.  Alot of species are considered "Panfish".  For Bluegill, I stongly recomend a very small dry fly from mid-Spring until mid- Fall.  They dominate!  My record for sunfish in mid-Summer is 75 on a three hour trip!  Around mid-Fall when the temperatures start to really drop down to the high 50's, I recomend using a bit of nightcrawler on a very small jig head.  You can still continue to use dry flies when the temperature drops, but its not near as affective.  If you want to continue to use dry flies, I recomend adding a corn niblet to it, for extra scent and so it will sink deeper.  Around spawning time, I recomend using a small curly-tail plastic grub on a jig head.  Cast it directly into the middle of the bed, and you'll get a bite almost immediately!

I almost forgot, small inline spinners work really good during the spawn, too.

My go-to panfish setup is a Northland Fire-Fly in Parakeet color tipped with a Berkley Crappie Nibble using either a light or ultra-light rod and spinning reel.  Fire-Flys come in 1/64, 1/32 and 1/16 oz weights and what I use depends on conditions such as water depth, wind, etc.  I use a bobber only when absolutely necessary as I much prefer tight-line fishing.
Other than the fact that green is one of the colors that fish can see, I have no idea why this setup has been so successful.  What really amazes me is the number of species of fish that have fallen prey to the Fire-Fly.  Panfish species are: crappie (both black & white), bluegill, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, green sunfish and warmouth.  Incidental catches include smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, channel catfish, bullhead catfish, rainbow trout, coho salmon, northern pike minnow, and carp.
I do use other lures occasionally but when fishing gets tough its back to the Fire-Fly.

Caught this Black Crappie about four years ago off a very tiny dry fly.  I was extremely surprised at the time.  Before then, I had only caught Crappie off of plastic grubs.  It was caught during the evening, which has, recently, been the time of day when I've caught the most Crappie off dry flies.

Fish a piece of a red wiggler or nightcrawler on a small hook. set your bobber at about 16 - 18 inches and fish it out about 10 ft from the bank. May have to fiddle with the depth but this should get the panfish bitting.

Posted By EYELLAW1 on 07 Oct 2010 07:21 PM
WHAT DEPTH DO YOU FISH IN THE FALL FOR BLUEGILL

I usually river fish in the fall, so my casting place can be anywhere from maybe a few feet deep to maybe up to 20 feet deep.  I just set my lure for bottom fishing and sometimes catch them on nightcrawlers or crappie minnows.  I will catch a host of other fish too.

Posted By EYELLAW1 on 07 Oct 2010 07:21 PM
WHAT DEPTH DO YOU FISH IN THE FALL FOR BLUEGILL

Definately deeper than in the fall.  Grubs or sections of nightcrawler should work well.

Hey, toxicstar 12. "Spike" is slang in NE Illinois for a maggot... fly larva... and they're GREAT bait for 'gills. Tip a small jig with 1 to 4 them and sling it under a Thill float, and get ready to fill your 5 gallon bucket. Panfish will also suck down nightcrawlers, redworms and waxworms (moth larvae) here around Chicago. Size 8, long-shank hooks (some call these "cricket" hooks) hooks seem to do the trick if you don't have (or don't want to use) small jigs. Ultra-light to light action rigs are the most fun. Rods can be anywhere from 5 1/2' on up to 12 or 15' (depending on fishing conditions and your personal preferences), and line should be no heavier than 8 lb. test. Some guys go all the way down to 2 lb. test, but I'm not that trusting... for pans, 4 lb. or 8 lb. is how I roll. Have fun.

tiny reel. 4 lb test. very very sensitive bobber. worm, minnow or waxie.