Thread: Nice bluegill article

Bluegills not bad for starters

09:48 PM CDT on Saturday, June 12, 2010
By RAY SASSER / The Dallas Morning News
rsasser@dallasnews.com

Rick Pope calls bluegills the most important fish that swim. The Dallas-based founder of Temple Fork Outfitters, a fishing rod company, has caught huge trout, surface-dancing dorado and even a white marlin on fly rods. He considers bluegills and their various relatives as gateway species to the watery wonderland of sport fishing.
"Bluegills have been the species responsible for introducing more folks to fishing – whether it's fly fishing or conventional fishing, than any fish I know," said Pope, himself an early convert.

"My love for bluegills is sincere. My first fly rod was a white Shakespeare Wonder Rod with a wind-up automatic reel. I used foam spiders for flies, and this rig served me well in the creeks and farm ponds of central Texas."
Just because the small sunfish (most weigh less than a half-pound) are considered an ideal first fish for beginners, Tim Lee does not take them for granted. Lee is a second generation fly-fishing fanatic who teaches casting, fly-tying and equipment selection. He fishes more often for sunfish than any other species, often fishing in Dallas-area suburban streams and ponds.
"Panfish get no respect because people think they can just throw anything at them and be successful," said Lee. "Since we fish for panfish all the time, we find there are days when the fish are highly selective."
Sunfish spawn in early summer, and this is a great time to find them within easy casting distance of the bank in virtually every body of water in Texas. Natural bait like earthworms, fished under a cork using a spincast rod and reel is the best setup for children.
More experienced anglers hoping to ramp up their bluegill experience and fine-tune fly-fishing techniques can learn from these two pros. Pope said appropriate fly rods for bluegills range from a 6-foot, 1-weight rod to a 9-foot, 5-weight. The smaller, shorter rods are more difficult to cast.

"Lots of bluegill specialists are into 1, 2 and 3-weight rods, and I enjoy fishing with them when conditions are right," Pope said. "It is important, however, to consider line weight relative to fly weight and/or wind resistance. If you're using weighed streamers or larger poppers, you need the mass of a 4- or 5-weight line for castability."
The hottest-selling bluegill rod in the TFO stable is the Bug Launcher series, which includes 7-foot rods in 4- and 5-weight and 8-foot rods in 5- and 6-weight. They retail for $79.95.
"We initially thought we'd make these rods for kids, but we quickly learned they are very popular with adults who fish on smaller ponds and streams, often for sunfish," said Pope.

For casting accuracy, the fly rod is the most important component of a fishing outfit, but it's the fly that attracts fish. Lee has made a science out of reading the fish and the fishing conditions, then matching his fly to the situation.

For instance, on a windy day in the heat of summer, he often fishes with a grasshopper pattern because grasshoppers are abundant that time of year. Windy conditions blow the grasshoppers into the water, where sunfish are waiting.

"On a given day, I try to determine whether the fish prefer a fly floating on the surface, resting in the film surface of the water or sinking," Lee said. "I then narrow the fly down to color and work on my presentation – do the fish want it still or moving – moving fast or moving slow?'

If you're using a store-bought leader, Lee advises a 7½-foot leader that's rated 4X. They usually have a tip that's about 6-pound test.

How Tim Lee packs a fly box for summer bluegills
• An assortment of poppers in size 8 or smaller. The assortment should include yellow, chartreuse, green over yellow, burnt orange and white. The popper should have spots on its belly. You can add spots with a Sharpie or Pantone marker. The best commercial poppers Lee has found are made by Accardo and Betts.
• Yellow, green and fluorescent foam spiders.
• Marabou streamers in purple, black and olive.
• Woolly buggers in size 12 and smaller.
• Yellow and black striped McGintys, which look like wasps or bees.
• Size 14 elk hair caddis.
• Mosquito patterns.

Very informative article , thanks for posting it.......

thanks for posting

The Lefty Kreh series, TFO rod, I came across in a sporting goods store in N/WI, for a hundred bucks, I thought was a very good rod for the price. Easy to get into flyfishing for that price.