Saturday morning Bull Gills made for a great day to be on the water. The fish were fussy today and just weren’t interested in the plastics I was offering them. So I decided to pamper them some with downsizing and live bait. Bam, fish on. Just like the difference between night and day.
I put away the medium light rod and plastics and changed to a light action rod and also later used a ultra light action rod, both being St. Croixs of course. The bait was small piece of nightcrawler on a colored hook [from HOF] 2 feet under a bobber.
Paying attention to both what wasn’t working and what was working made a big difference. Switching to a light action rod and live bait gently casted to an area where there was both some weeds and wood was where the fish were. The bite even got better after I switched to an ultra light rod which made it even harder for the fish to feel me at the end of the line.
I started out with a 6 foot medium light action St. Croix rod. After very little action I switched to a light action St. Croix rod which made it less easy for the fish to feel me and the catching greatly picked up. After awhile I switched to an ultra light action St. Croix rod which really made it hard for the fish to detect me and even caught alot more from the same area. The picture will show you what a nice bluegill can feel like on lighter action rods. Wow, talk about a fight on the end of your line. Gotta love those great St. Croix rods. They come in two versions: the factory made rods or the custom made rods from Hooked On Fishing in Rochester. I am sure sold on St. Croixs. Best rods I’ve ever had.
See ya on the water.
Thanks, Bill
Nice Gills and great report Bill.
Thanks Doug. I have had some friends ask me: shouldn’t you be prefishing for the Walleye Searchers Tournaments as much as possible between the tournaments like the other guys do? My answer is I fish the tournaments for fun and I’m having way too much fun between the tournaments. Anytime your rod bends like this alot during a day on the water you know its FUN.
Thanks, Bill
Great post Bill
Them are some nice look’n gills
Gills, what a meal
Bill
I would think when youseing a bobber switching rod actions wouldn’t make a diffrence.Iwould think switching to a smaller bobber would increase strike detections.
Thanks for sharing the tip. I was already using a small size bobber as I bought a bunch of small size ones to help catch finiky fish. I figure the less they can feel of me/bobber the better. I also have been using 4 lb. line instead of the normal 6 lb. line I use to use. This year ”downsizing” has been the name of the game for me for panfish. I really feel it has helped in the catching part of fishing.
Thanks, Bill