First off, I’d like to say, I can’t get enough of this weather. Mile high skies, little to no wind and heat. My kind of weather. Surprisingly, you might be surprised to hear that from me being a red-head and all. I burn up like a dead x-mas try hit with a lit match. But I can’t help it. This time of the year, I’m drawn to shallow water chasing some of the most voracious eaters in the river. The Bluegill.
Man, I love chasing these fish. Right now, there’s no better time to be out. The ‘gills have crashed the shores and the spawn beds are fanned to perfection. Finding these gems of the Mississippi isn’t all too hard. A quick survey with the trolling motor is all one needs to find out if you’re in the right area. Once you’ve found an area with some overly protective Males guarding or fanning beds, you’re in business.
Today I returned to section I’ve fished for years, and once again the green light was lit and the action was fantastic. Today however, I decided to bring along the ice tackle and my fly rod, hoping to switch things up. I was definitely NOT disappointed.
Today I tried a Zebra patterned Gill Pill and a waxie. I didn’t take 2 minutes and I had a nice 7.5″ Bluegill in my palm. Cast after cast, this repeated itself until I drew out the fly rod with a chartreuse & black popper. Again, the Bluegills were all too willing to stretch my fly rod. It wasn’t too long, and my popper had worn itself out of shape and I was forced to try and all white presentation. There was no difference. These fish had no preference whatsoever. Not that I’m complaining…. 
The real beauty of today’s adventure was fishing right over the side of the boat in 4ft of water. These ‘gills were using the boat as shade, and I was using that to my advantage. It was like fishing in the big tanks at Cabelas. The water is so clear right now, and an enterprising fisherman can literally pick and choose their quarry.
I finished my adventure on the water with a nice mess of Bluegills in the 7-8″ range, being very selective to not keep any females. After all those females are the sole reason the fishing is so good right now.
Have a safe & happy Memorial Day weekend! Don’t forget to say ‘Thanks’ to our members in the service, current and past. Better yet, take one fishing! They’ve definitely earned it. 
