All I can say is Wow! That pretty much describes the Bluegill bite we found this weekend. I set a personal best for my self with a 1 pound 9 ounce gill pictured here, and my good friend Jon Dincau, got one for the wall as well.
The bite was not fast and furious, but persistance paid off. We knew we were after trophy class fish and in the end we were rewarded with 4 gills between 1 pound 5 ounces and 1 pound 9 ounces. The next picture is Jon with his two trophies.
We spent 4 hours combing the lake for these big gills. We targeted flood trees in depths ranging from 10-18 FOW. Besides these GIANT gills we also caught many nice crappies and perch. In all, this will rate as one of my personal best outings on the water. The next photo is Jon with his biggest of the day. Check out how thick these fish are. The biggest fish was over 3 inches thick, something I have never seen in my life before.
This last picture is another look at those gills but:
In this trip we also fished Lake Oahe on Saturday. The fishing was a bit off, yet we managed to keep 9 walleye and easily caught our limit of walleye. Rigging Crawlers in 16-24 ft of water worked best for us. Most of the fish we kept were between 16-18 inches. I think walleye from Oahe are some of the best eating fish I have had. A big thanks goes out to Sean at Spring Creek Resort for putting up with us for two nights. If you are thinking about giving Oahe a try, look up Sean at Spring Creek, he will set you up.
WOW!!!
What else is there to say?
These big gills bit so lite I had to switch to my St. Croix Legend Elite walleye rod so I could detect the bites. If someone doesn’t think a high end rod is worth it, I would have to disagree. It was almost impossible to detect bites without that rod.
They don’t get that big without being smart I guess.LOL
What lake did you say that was Scott??
Holy Wall Hangers Batman!
I hear ya on the light bite Scott. I have a fly rod tip for an ice rod. Pretty sensitive. But…I’ve looked down the hole and the baits been in and out without noticing it on the rod. I agree, there are many times when a high end rod will pay for itself in detected bites…
Great pics…I must have missed it…what lake did you tell Crossin Eyes?
Scott,you ever have a chance to site fish the bull gills through the ice on West Okoboji when you were in Iowa?
When they bite they do not move a thing most of the time.
Those are some awesome gills Scott!!!!
Ryan Hale
Ryan, we didn’t get to fish that corner much when I lived in Iowa because I lived in West Des Moines. It was much easier to head down South to Badger Creek and 3 mile, etc.
I LOVE to sight fish gills when I get the chance. My previous best was 1 pound 8 ounces and I caught that one when I was 12. This was a personal best that I was starting to think I was not going to be able to beat. It takes a special lake and perfect conditions up here to grow gills that big.
I am not done though, my goal is still 2 pounds and I am determined to get that without fishing a farm pond or heading South. Until them I will keep trying
Those fish are simply amazing!!! Thanks for sharing Scott.
Gator Hunter
Scott,
those are some of the nicest Gills I’ve seen in awhile. keep them pics coming. thanks Jack..
Those are beauts Scott!
Curt
I have to agree with the rest…WOW those are some dandies.