Bluegill Beds

[deep]

With the water level of my favorite lake at least 7 feet below full pool, instead of fishing, this evening I hiked all around the lake (it's only 45 acres) taking extensive photos of the entire shoreline, and trying to find new structures/ covers.

I came across these: see photos. Each indentation had a diameter of about a foot, were maybe five to six inches deep, and each cluster had 10-12 of those. Found three of these clusters. Well, are these abandoned bluegill beds? Or beds of some other (forage) fish? There's crappie and probably carp in this lake.

[Packard]

What makes you think they aren't bass beds? Whatever they are they are pretty cool.

[deep]

What makes you think they aren't bass beds? Whatever they are they are pretty cool.

Bass make their beds singly. Bluegill beds are like a colony.

The point of the original question was, if they were bluegill beds, bass will hang around them next year, and of course I marked the spots. Three more locations to fish.

This lake is shore-fishing only, and the "beds" are about 50-60 feet offshore at full pool. No way I can detect them 10 feet under water standing on the shore, even with my polarized 7-eye glasses.

[Packard]

I searched bluegill beds and this is what came up, so I think you were right.

[Bluebasser86]

Bluegill beds for sure. The first time I saw them I thought they were a bunch of tires on the bottom of the lake. If you can find them on beds like that they are a blast on a popping bug and a flyrod! A U2 bluegill swam around the edges of the beds can catch some really big bass looking for a wandering bluegill too.