Thread: Bluegill girl and a new PB.

I can’t explain, I’m at a loss for the words. We had the best trip together this evening that either of us have had in a very long time with the bluegill and crackers. Let me back up to the start of it all. She’s a 911 operator and the schedules are tough, bordering brutal. So when I get a chance for she and I to fish together I do my best to make it happen. I got off early and was home at 3:30, ate something and loaded up and off we went. We saw some cypress trees and I told her where to shoot the jig. Second cast, the line came tight and the drag music began. He gave her quite a fight, didn’t see what it was for a good while, and she started hootin when she did.
We said before we left that we weren’t keeping any today so he went back in the pool. We picked around there for a while and got a few more, 8 as I remember, and we moved on. Small fish weren’t found today, all but a few would have made the cut, we couldn’t believe what we were catching.

So on we went to another spot similar to the first and started in where we left off an the last place. It didn’t take but a cast or two to chalk up another good Gill, maybe two, and I pitched into a tight little pocket and it went thump. I set the hook and here we went, line tight drag screaming and line going left and right. I told Jessie that I couldn’t do anything with him, and that was no lie.if I pulled to steer him away from something all I got was drag slipping. In the weeds, near a branch or two and I was wondering what it was, hadn’t seen it yet. Fought like the big pickles I’ve caught the last couple of weeks, then he flashed on his side and I saw the Gill plate, shellcracker!! I knew instantly that this was my personal best and hollered for the net. Took a little bit to get him in it, high fives back and forth.


I should have weighed it but the measurement was good enough for me and knowing he was going back, I didn’t want to drag my feet. Well over a pound without a doubt and so much thicker than any I’ve ever caught or seen in person. I held him alongside till he shook free and watched him go. Took a minute for that thrill to subside, but there was still fish to catch. It wasn’t just a few casts later and a few more gills boated and released that Jessie’s drag started screaming and she was hootin again. She had the rod with the Nanofil and I was nervous but she did well and was able to steer it somewhat around the junk that seemed to be everywhere. Once again, that pretty Gill plate with the red crescent. Her personal best also.



We caught a few more crackers and even more gills along with one tiny redbreast maybe three inches long. I had caught a LMB about 14” early on and a four inch CNBG with a spot on the forehead about the size of a pencil eraser, smallest I’ve ever seen with the copper marking. We were thinking about leaving and Jessie got a strike and this fish turned on the afterburners. Around the boat three times, wrapped a branch we had to get unwrapped from to the fish in the weeds. It jumped a couple of times and looked kind of like a catfish but didn’t slime the line. Looked kind of gray in color and wide built. It fought like nothing before and finally a weak spot in the leader let go and we lost the jig she’d been fishing with since we started. Disappointed but still happy with how it had gone, we almost got him close, I was waiting with the net in my hand. My best guess was that it was a mullet that had grabbed the little jig. We left shortly after that, we’d been fishing 2 hours and 15 minutes. I’m sure we caught 5 or 6 crackers and over 15 gills and the few others that came to visit. We’re both tired but elated. I’ve never caught that many crackers in a day before and while I’ve caught a bunch of gills in the past, I’ve never had so many big fish and hardly any little ones. I said a little prayer of thanks on the way back in and this smile will last a while. And I thought I did good on Sunday, but it didn’t compare to this. Hope y’all have fun this weekend and Happy Fathers Day to those it applies to. Maybe we’ll see each other on the water, I’ll be the guy with the smile. Jessie has to work the weekend but here’s hoping that this will help her demeanor on those long shifts. Till next we meet…. Skeet