Knapp: The thrill of catching that big fish, especially bluegills
There is something special about catching a big fish, one that represents exceptional size for the given species.
And, of course, this is all relative. A 20-inch musky isn’t a big one, but when a bass stretches the scale to the same mark, it’s a special achievement.
And so it was recently on Keystone Lake. Over the past few years, I’ve located fish on sonar that I figured, given their location, to be crappies. Nice marks within submerged tree sections and cribs in 20-or-so feet of water. And like prior years, this has happened during early to mid-fall.
But unlike crappies, the bites produced from such spots produced tentative, tap-tap-tap ones. Bites that suggested bluegills rather than crappies. Lowering an underwater camera verified, indeed, the majority of the marks came from ’gills, nice-sized ones from the look of it.
Since this initial realization of a few years ago, these large bluegills have intrigued me, both from the here today, gone tomorrow aspect, and in the challenge they presented in catching them.
So, when these fish made their annual reappearance on what I have come to understand as traditional fall spots — and the titter-tatter bites on my crappie presentations only resulted in missed fish — I made a more concerted effort to catch them.
The first adjustment was to downsize my hook.
The hooks on the crappie jigs I use run in the size 6-8 range. Certainly not big for crappies, but crappies have big mouths. Bluegills do not, even big ones. Rummaging through my tackle box, I came up with some Northland Tackle Mimic Minnow jigs, ones from its Small Fry collection. Tiny 1-inch plastic bodies couple with a 1/64-ounce jig sporting a hook in the size 12 range.
I replaced my 1/16-ounce crappie jig with the diminutive offering, added a Berkley Powerbait Crappie Nibble to the hook, and lowered it to the bottom, its descent aided by a large splitshot.
The combo didn’t hover next to the underwater porcupine crib for more than 30 seconds before a fish telegraphed its bite though the 10-pound text braided line. Instead of missed fish, and the need to suppress a crude verbal response, the light rod bent into a heavy U-shaped bend. The broad-shouldered fish gave a good account of itself before being landed, measured and released.
A thick bluegill of nearly 9 inches.
During the next hour, I experimented with slight variations in color and bait choices. I found pink Nibbles seemed to produce the most bites. The fish didn’t seem interested if I didn’t add the Nibble, presenting only the tiny plastic body. I also took fish on a 1/16-ounce jig with a size 10 hook, one dressed with the back half of a Berkley Gulp Alive minnow and a Nibble.
A few days later, I did a guide trip on the lake with clients Greg and Drew. We focused on deep trees along the creek channel during the first three hours of the trip, catching nice black crappies up to 13 inches in length. With an hour to go, I suggested we try the bluegills spot, to which they enthusiastically agreed.
My previous scouting paid off, and we quickly put some big ’gills in the boat. On this day, however, the bluegills were joined by crappies, and several slabs joined their panfish cousins in the livewell.
Like so many aspects of fishing, quality-sized panfish present a challenge that tests your skills and adaptability as an angler.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
