i was just wondering, yesterday i went to a little ditch and there was bluegill on the beds. but i didnt know if they were just getting ready or they  are actually doing it. i love sight fishing. i threw the cricket beside the bed and he darted out and hit it like a ton of bricks!!!!!

Just a little request/observation...when you post something like this make sure to post where you are located. For me, the bluegills are no where near bedding yet, way too cold still

I haven't target bedding fish since I was just a little kid.  I can usually find others nearby.

i am here in south east missouri. east prarie by sikeston, or right in the bootheel of missouri.

For bedding fish I use extremely small inline spinners and reel them at a medium speed through their beds. Usually results with a fish on the first cast.
TIGHT LINES!

I like to use a glow icejig under a slip float with a waxie or mealie.

If you ever make it to Lake Seminole (South Georgia), the home of great Bass fishing, you can really do some sight fishing for pan fish!  Several local pilots fly over in the Spring to locate shell cracker beds, many times they exceed several acres at a time.  After the first week, you can locate them by the hundreds of boats anchored in one spot.  The great thing about it is you have to use the local version of earthworms and they are sold in local tackle shops as "Pond Worms".  If you get on the inside, you can get some local farmers to teach you how to dig for them but it is a local cultural experience.  Lake George  (North Florida) has the same kind of thing but they'll bite crickets.  Of course, if you are going for more than one day you will at least need a thousand crickets.  Couple of my friends went for a week once and took ten thousand crickets.  They were in such a hurry to get in first they left most of the crickets in truck instead of hotel room only to find all of them dead when they came in for lunch.  So much for preparation!  Good luck and good fishing!  Uncle Tom

Bluegill are one of my favorite fish to catch, especially sightfishing them!  Man, I used to go to a botanical garden with my girl freind down in Albuquerque, and there was a pond there with some giant bluegill (all 10+ inches) swimming around.  Too bad I never asked if I could fish there or not, doubt the girl would let me anyway!

Yep, sight fishing works.

I refined my fly fishing skills sight fishing for 'gills. There's a boat ramp at a lake that I fish where they show up in droves and it's a great time just bouncing a nymph in front of them, they get so mad and nail it every time!

I sight fished this spawning Bluegill a few years ago:



About 99% of the Bluegill I catch are caught while site fishing.

Nymphs or scuds are great fun on a 3wt. An unweighted 12 or 14 dry fly hook with a waxie is fun too, and you can use it where you can't cast a fly. This is especially good for little kids w/ultralite gear.