Mississippi river panfish-pool 10

There was a question last week in the "general discussion" forum, relating to the blugill spawn down here on pool 10. At that time, my boat had yet to chase the shallow bulls so an effort during the holiday w-end was in order.

During the spawn, one of my favorite and more relaxing ways to hunt down brawny gills is to slowly cruise inviting looking shorelines with the shallow boat while making mental notes to key locations. After a few inviting areas are pegged down is when the flat boat is beached, the long rod-spinning combo is broke out and the chest waders put on.

Setting up like this the last few seasons has produced some of my more enjoyable and satisfying outings during the shallow water spawn.

Pinning it down to one specific reason on why to wade is hard to do, the advantages and rewards are too many.

Senses seem to magnify the second you slide out of the boat, sounds become a little more acute, enhanced sights and aromas then follow suit leaving you with that rare feeling that nothing is more important than being exactly where you are at that time in your life. Simply put……Great fun!

While slowly making your way from spot to spot, be sure to stop often, look and listen. The first located bed was heard first and not seen. Hearing that familiar pop-slurp of a feeding gill nearby made it easy to hone in on the area and connect with a dozen purple bull bug eaters.

Finding finicky gills during any other time of the season would usually lead me to discuss what bait presentation was used. At this time of year however, as many of you know, it simply doesn’t matter what you drop in front in front of nest guarders. Jigs, bare hooks, worms, plastics…..you name it. Colors? Forget about it! The main question would be….what is it in your ice jig box that they won’t hit?

When searching in stealth mode I do like to start off with a moon-glo with a healthy piece of fresh crawler. After a bed is found is when I’ll switch over to gulp maggots, just a little quicker is all.

The set up used is actually a versatile 9ft. Zander rod matched up with an Okuma spinning reel. Like to load up fairly heavy for line to deal with the occasional bass and pike so have stuck to 8lb. power pro. Line diameter seems to be of zero importance. These bad boys, I’m sure, would hit a bait attached to bailing twine if dropped into their living room.

Seemed that the males are in the early stages right now, a few fat females were caught out in the deeper 4ft. area so it’s just a matter of time before it gets wild. A little late this year so with the waters warming quickly the spawn won’t last long. A good solid week and these fish will have things wrapped up so if a shot at some mean gills is what you’re after then you better make a move.

Catch and release? This of course goes without saying, everyone knows how simple it is to wipe out a school this time of year……please be very selective. The gills on the mighty river are in pretty good shape, population wise, but numbers of larger gills have been hard to come by. Hopefully with selective harvest those 8-10 inchers will become more abundant.

Do yourself a favor, if you love big gills as much as yours truly, set yourself up with a pair of waders and reconnect yourself to simpler times. Silent, sneaky but most of all…….deadly!

Good luck and get them kids out!