Thread: Summer Bluegill?

How do you guys locate them lakes I fish only weeds is lilly pads some don't even have them. most are less than 10 ft deep max

Big ones are generally deeper. Like bass, there will still be some in the shallows pretty much any time of the year, but I have better luck fishing waters deeper than 5 ft. down to about 20 ft. They can be even deeper, but I don't like fishing deep so I don't focus on those fish. My favorite summer tactic is to drift flats that are 6 - 8 ft. deep until I find a school, or to find drop offs near the mouths of large coves in 8 to 12 ft. of water. I start out fishing about 5 or 6 feet under a float (I love bobber watching) and if that doesn't work I switch to a drop shot rig. If you don't care about catching large numbers, you can have fun catching good size brim in shallow waters fishing a small crankbait (the tiny Rebel or Strike King types). Swimming 1/32 or 1/64 oz. jigs along the bottom contour is always a good search tactic as well, but sometimes the smaller fish seem to get to the jig much more often than the quality fish if you haven't located fish of size yet.