Summer Bluegill/sunfish Fishing

[The_fisherman]

Hi. We have several pond with murky water around the area I live. I've been catching bluegill/sunfish/panfish in June, but not nothing bites. Any advice on tackle, rig, bait, location, etc., would be appreciated.

P.S. I use black chartreuse grub with gold sparkles, red/chartreuse tubes, small artificial minnows (kind of like the fluke) - everithing is 1 1/2 inch. Some times I rig it with split shot, sometimes with jig or spinnerbait. And also I've tried powerbait.

[Catch and Grease]

I am by no means a experienced bream angler but I do go every now and then... I may be complety wrong but it seems like the blue gill start biting when its the middle of he day and hot outside..... That would be my only tip haha

[aavery2]

can of worms, small hook and a split shot, you will catch as many as you want

[Jar11591]

I am by no means a experienced bream angler but I do go every now and then... I may be complety wrong but it seems like the blue gill start biting when its the middle of he day and hot outside..... That would be my only tip haha

I agree with C & G. I've done much better with Bluegill and Pumpkinseed during the middle of the day when the sun is shining. And nothing beats a tiny piece of night crawler on a long shank hook.

[Jigfishn10]

When the dog days of summer hit and the bass bite is tough, I would tie up some Royal Wulffs and take my 5 weight fly rod and would have a blast catching em.

[Kevin22]

I just got done fishing for a week targeting panfish. 3 man limit using a drop shot with a gulp mini earthworm wacky rigged on a #10 fly hook. Just drop the weight to the bottom and shake the slack until you feel the fish suck it in. Caught a 3 man limit of bluegill (only keeping the 8"+) and several nice crappies doing that. 

 

The best bite was first thing in the morning, just as the sun was coming up. Then they went deep mid day, out to 12-20'. 

[Hyrule Bass]

4th of july weekend i went to smith mountain lake, and discovered my new favorite bream bait as far as artificial go. Trout Magnets. the bream were killing them, even caught a bass on it. i was using white, pink and yellow trout magnets. even tried silver and gold colored hooks. the bream didnt care about any of that though. im going to get a true ultralite rod and reel and use smaller line on it to cast those things further. theyre perfect for panfish

[STPC]

I don't think there is anything more productive for bluegill than a small cigar float, 3/32 split shot and some gold Aberdeen hooks.  Just find out how deep they are and hope you have brought enough crickets.  Like C&G said, the warmer parts of the day are when I have had the most success as far as numbers go; however, b/w 7-9pm during the summer is when I have caught some of my largest.

 

I love bass fishing and all, but when the bite is dead, I'd rather catch some bream.  At least they will keep me entertained for hours on end.

[The_fisherman]

 Trout Magnets.

How to fish that thing? Like a regular jig or just cast and shake it?

[Catch and Grease]

Idk about you guys but I loooove using these things called glow bugs at night.... Its this little fly looking bug lure that sits on top of the water and glows the bream will Crush them! At least the couple times I've went out night fishing then they have!

Idk if the actual name is glow bugs, my friend gave me some in a zip lock bag and called them that so I assume that's what their called....

[Kevin22]

I should have stated in my post that we did find tons of fish shallow midday. All small. 6-7" fish. Lots of guys fishing for them and keeping them though. We stayed out in 8-10' early then moved towards the 20' range (almost the middle of the lake) as the sun got high. Most people just went down the shoreline filling livewells with 7" fish and bragging at the resort of all the fish they caught. 

[Hyrule Bass]

How to fish that thing? Like a regular jig or just cast and shake it?

well, techinically i guess the hooks are small jig heads. but you can basically fish it anyway you want to.

 

you can let it fall to the bottom(if it gets there without being ate) and hop it along the bottom or drag it. you can swim it, you can yo-yo it, really doesnt matter. it was perfect size for bluegills mouths and none swallowed it amazingly...

[Lund Explorer]

Rat Finkies in Glow colors with a wax worm.

[The_fisherman]

Okay, went fishing today. I used worms and a bunch of soft plastics. Not even a single bite within 8hrs! Any ideas?

[ww2farmer]

I took my kids bluegill fishing today. #8 VMC spinshot hook, 1" Berkley gulp minnow, 1/2 oz.......yes 1/2 oz. drop shot sinker (kids need a heavy sinker to keep the bait down) We dropped to marks we saw on the graph in 12-18' feet of water, and from Noon-4 pm this afternoon we had a 50 fish limit of nice 8" eaters, and threw back 3 times as many shorts. I don't know of an easier way in open water. Even when they are shallow, you just cast the drop shot up shallow, it will out fish a bobber/worm 10:1. And it works from ice out to ice up.............provided you are around fish. If  5 and 9 year old girls can handle it, you know it's simple.

[The_fisherman]

I bank fish small ponds and it's not not deep at all. And i live in NC. Water almost boiling during the summer. I was using 2" grubs and minnows. As well as bread, sausage, nightcrowlers, etc.

[STPC]

I bank fish small ponds and it's not not deep at all. And i live in NC. Water almost boiling during the summer. I was using 2" grubs and minnows. As well as bread, sausage, nightcrowlers, etc.

^^^I don't see any crickets in your list!  Crickets, man, crickets!!!

[The_fisherman]

^^^Crickets, man, crickets!!!

i guess I should try it and call it summer fishing last resort.

[Kevin22]

I found the bluegills yesterday in 8-12 FOW. Drop shot with the gulp mini earthworms produced again. Caught probably 60 as fast as I could drop it down. 

[BasshunterJGH]

I've been having quite a few 50+ fish panfish days this summer and they seem to bite best in the middle of the day. I use panther Martin spinners; slip bobber rigs w/ almost anything from the fridge, bread, pickles, hot dogs, corn, etc. and worms. I also catch a lot of catfish on those setups. BTW I've been fishing in nebraska and coloardo. Much better pan fishing then Ca where I live.

[The_fisherman]

Ok, if I use the same bait and gear you people use, why in the world nothing bites? I can't figure it out! May be longnose gars ate them all. We have a lot of gars in our ponds.

[Kevin22]

You haven't found the fish. Panfish aren't everywhere.... like bass, they only hang in certain areas. 

[Superdumper]

Rebel cricket crank!!!! With four lbs test it's a blast. And bass well jump on it too!

[Nicky Greece]

I just got done fishing for a week targeting panfish. 3 man limit using a drop shot with a gulp mini earthworm wacky rigged on a #10 fly hook. Just drop the weight to the bottom and shake the slack until you feel the fish suck it in. Caught a 3 man limit of bluegill (only keeping the 8"+) and several nice crappies doing that. 

 

The best bite was first thing in the morning, just as the sun was coming up. Then they went deep mid day, out to 12-20'. 

    This is a great method!    Otherwise I will use a #8 or #6 baitholder, a split shot 3-4 inches above that, than a light bobber about 1 1/2 feet above that...  Catch them all day long!   I guess I should add either a piece of crawler or redworm on the hook...

[Crestliner2008]

We've been doing well drifting over the 23' main lake basin. The gills suspend about 3' down and the crappie are right there underneath them. We got 77 today between the two of us. Two dozen were large gills. Most productive, casting or drifting, was a 1 1/2" clear sparkle tube.