With the weather and water temps going from warm to cold I don’t believe the gills know what to do, one day on the beds ready for some lovin’ and the next day slippin’ back off the spawn sites, losing interest as the water cools. Well things are starting to change and for the better. The water temps are back on the rise and the painted faced gills are sporting full color and we found them to be serious and ready too get busy as the water temps are climbing back to 70 degrees 
According to the forecasted weather for the week things are going to finally happen 
There are no fancy tricks needed to catch gills off the beds. They are aggressive and will not tolerate anything crawling past being very protective of there indentations in the sand. There is no other time which selective harvest needs to be practiced more than during a spawn.
Once arriving to the first area to be targeted the busy gills were visible immediately putting a grin on mine and Mike’s face. Like mentioned nothing fancy needed for action. A small piece of crawler on a gold hook pitched to the beds in 1-2.5fow is all it takes to play tug of war with these flat sided pies.
The areas to target the gills right now are shallow sandy/weedy shoreline in warming back water bays. Keep your eyes peeled searching out the gills looking for depressions in the sand and a dark spot in the middle, that would be the male gills right now making and watching over the honeymoon suite Today a dozen nice males made a trip to Sparta for table fare, plenty for a fry without putting a dent in the area filled with the pannies.
Some of the locals lay claim to the spawn being over, well…..its not over yet but, I don’t think it will last much longer than this week.
Another site that will normally be witnessed when fishing the vulnerable gills is the presence of toothy critters on the chew. After watching the commotion while a pike harassed gills making them dart in every direction Mike couldn’t take it any longer, this is when Mike decided it was time to teach this gator a lesson. Tossing a Horny Toad at him did just that. After taken a picture and releasing this toothy, things settled down for the gills. The gator probably was happy to just get out of the situation with his life and left well enough alone 
Looks like some great fishing weather on the way, get out there and enjoy the time on the water 
Good luck fishing people 
Team Bret and Mike……….well done
You are right Bret, the spawn has really been drawn out this year. Whether that is good or bad I don’t know for sure.
Kinda surprised that Mike got the first cast in on that gator…….you slippin or did Mike sabotage your gear?
Nice write up and pics buddy
That gator didn’t want a spook
Dandy bulls Bret & Mike!
Nice fish guys, I was starting to think that decent bluegills were becoming an endangered species. It’s good to see evidence that there still out there.
Nice bulls guys. Those are some biggies.
There are only a few places around here where a guy can tag into a few of those.
Great report Bret and those are some dandy bulls!
I see the water temp you were fishing in was at 70 degrees. What do you think is ideal for spawning blue gills and how much does it play a factor?
Water temp is the key to spawning Bluegills.
The Bluegills will start there spawn when water temps are steadily holding at 70 degrees and rising. Earlier this year the water temp hit 70 degrees and spiked at 75 only to drastically drop back into the mid and lower 60’s bringing the spawn to a complete halt. There was a spawn started but when the temp kept dropping off the gills moved back off the beds.
Now with the water temp in the back bays at the 70 mark and on the rise once again, the bluegills are very love sick showing up in good numbers and hitting the spawn hard.
Like I mentioned above, no matter how much a guy would like to take a limit of gills home, this is not the time to get greedy (we all know one of these dudes
) Catch and release with a few selected males is a must during any spawn, in my opinion.
Bret,
I just checked for the first time in a long while to see if you had a recent report up. You are my guide to find out what’s biting. I’ve been out a few times for crappie but have only managed a few nice ones in the deep. I’ve seen the gills on the beds too…yours were some nice lookers. I’m guessing the crappie and gills wrap up the spawn around the same time as like I said, just a few crappie are making their way to the deeper snags. Anyway, good gills, we have alot of good panfishing ahead!
Thanks for taking the time to read and reply
This year has them pannies in the state of confusion but the warm muggy weather this week should straighten them out. It won’t be long like you mentioned and them crappies should be schooled back up in the deep wood. With the cooler water temps the specks haven’t had a reason to move out of the shallows yet.
My favorite gill bite is yet to come, it is fun taking them bulls off the wing dams once the move back to the main channel.
Tight lines too ya
Nice report BreTT.
Just another day closer to hard water.
Great article Bret
O yea A piece of crawler is the best for blue gills.
Uncle Jack
Crawler is best most of the summer but there’s no better way to fish them on the beds than a fly rod and a very small rubberlegged spider. It’s fun as anything and actually outperforms crawlers by a ways.
Nice job on the gills
. they will look good in the fry pan 
Great job on some dandy gills Bret and Mike!
I am brand new to this site and have alreayd fell in love with it. I am from this area and do a lot of fishing on Lake Onalaska hence the name but was out over the weekend and man thos sunnies are still all over the beds. Thanks for the article and pics those are some great lookin gills.
Welcome to the Site LakeOna!
Thanks for the report Bret. One of these days I need to start looking around pool 2 for panfish.
Glad to have you aboard LakeOna
Excellent report and fish you guys. Great shots on the paddle too. A guy forgets just how pretty those fish really are.
Thanks for the water temp information as well!
Joel