My wife Debbie and I had the day off together on Thursday and since the weather was cooperating we decided to take off to search out some early spawning blue gills
I was searching for some back waters that the shore line was running mainly north and south and i was on the west side of it. This shore line will warm up the fastest with the sun spending most of the day here. Another thing I like to look for is grass and sand bottom…these two things make for GREAT spawning areas and the gills will come in here before the spawn and start to make their beds…
Well with the wind blowing out of the west, and mighty strong at times we found it a bit tough fishing these spots, but with a couple of good anchors we were on some fish and were having a blast
We were pulling gills out that were in the 9 inch range,some a bit over and some a bit under but they were all bulls and real good scrapers
As usual Debbie was pulling about 2 fish for everyone of mine but that is quite normal when we fish together..We were using 6 foot 6 inch St. Croix Premier Medium Light action rods spooled with 6 pound test Sensation Solar.A small jig on the end of the line just heavy enough to pop the bobber up, and to leave just enough resistance so that the gill can take it down with little or no effort..tip the jig with a crawler,red worm or even wax worms this time of year and you’ll be in to some mighty fine catchin;) We must have boated 30 or 40 gills with 60% of them in the 7 to 8 inch range and the other 40% were in the 8 to 9+ inch range..
Remember to let a lot of these big bulls go back so we all have this fun to share with our future fisher boys and girls…It sure has a way of putting a big smile
on this mans face, and it is a site to see when the youngsters are into them too..
Good luck and see you on the water
click on the pix to enlargen them
ec
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Dave Koonce’s Backwater Guiding
BfishNTackle
St.Croix Rods
Otter Outdoors
Nice gills Dave.
Isn’t it nice to get out during the week!
Nice fishies Dave.
Great report Dave! Those pre-spawn gills can be a real blast. Makes me with I was out there right now.
Guys, It was fun to get away from the walleyes for a day…
Catching bull gills on light tackle is always a hoot..The bite will only get better…If you haven’t already checked out the panfish forum, do it ..AppleCanyonJeff has been on fire on his waters with some monster gills and some nice bass to boot
Dave,I’m going to after bull gills here in a few weeks also.It is alot of fun to catch them.Best of luck on the water.
Ryan Hale
It is fun to get out and work the gils and bass for a change of pace. I was out last Sunday in the rising, muddy water here at Dubuque. Since walleye fishing was totally out of the question we went to a backwater sandpit and had fun with the bluegils. It has been years since I fished specifically for bluegils and I had forgotten how fun it was. They aren’t bad tasting either. I had been hammering the walleye prior to the flooding but the river came up 6-1/2′ in a day and a half. It has dropped over 3 feet and barring another deluge I should be able to get back on the walleyes by Monday.
Thanks for the report Dave. Gotta love them St. Croix lighter action rods for gills and crappies. Besides med. light action rods I’m also using light and ultra light St. Croix Premiers and are they even fun with the scrappy gills and crappies.
Looks like she really knows how to catch em if she can catch more than you. 
Keep havin fun and keep us posted. 
Thanks, Bill
Was out over the weekend 30-31, only to nail alot of 5″-7″ gills. Key seemed to be moving constantly to catch the lunker gills. Did manage to keep (11) 8-9 inchers for the pan. Great report Dave, appreciate every report you post.
Buckmaster