August bluegills: Get 'em while it's hot

The tactics required to catch big bluegill in hot August weather are somewhat different that those of the spring. A more aggressive approach may be needed. Larger baits are also a very good bet. The natural prey of the fish we are after has had time to grow; therefore, a natural presentation should look a bit larger.

Let's first look at the baits that we might use to fool summer bluegill. Crappie and bluegill are hungry from the moment they hatch. Making a living during the winter and spring can be tough for a fish.

Luckily, the cold water slows their metabolism markedly.

This allows them to survive on the limited diet they experience that time of year. However, as the days lengthen and the temperatures rise, warming water brings on a voracious appetite.

Natural bait offerings work very well in the summer season and are usually available. Crickets and night crawlers are your best bet.

They are commercially available everywhere and will attract all species of panfish.

This presentation should be done with the use of a bobber and the bait should be fished as close to cover as possible. Fish are relating to cover for protection, shade and as ambush points.

Time of day matters in catching warm weather panfish, but not as much as for bass.

You can usually find hand-size bluegill to hit all day and all night. That having been said, the first 90 minutes of daylight and the twilight hour will generally produce better.

If you find yourself in need of a mess of panfish this summer and find no commercial live bait available, be a bit creative with Mother Nature. Grasshoppers are always abundant and work just as well as crickets.

In fact, grasshoppers are much tougher than crickets and may stay on the hook for several fish.

Grubs are also readily available. Check under rocks and logs, watching out for snakes in these same places. In the grub family my absolute favorite is the Catalpa worm.

These bright green larvae are about the size of your thumb. When I was a teenager I caught three catalpa worms and brought home over 30 bluegill and goggle-eye.

If you are fishing a stream or a river there are some aquatic baits that panfish cannot resist.

Hellgrammites live under rocks in shallow, fast-moving water. While you are on the hunt for these leggy critters you will certainly run across a fair amount of crawdads, as well. The smaller ones are bluegill killers.

If live bait is not in your power-alley, do not give-up on catching summer panfish.

There are some deadly artificial lures that can help you fill your skillet. The crappie thumper is deadly, as are other small jigs, Rooster Tail spinners and Roadrunners.

I want to spend just a couple of minutes here at the conclusion of this article to discuss ways to clean bluegill in preparation for the skillet.

I grew up scaling these tasty fish. After eviscerating and beheading them we would remove the scales and fry the entire fish. This method may have provided a tiny bit more meat than filleting, but you had to fight the bones.

I now fillet virtually every fish I catch. I have tried using an electric knife. This method is quick but leaves too much meat for my liking.

I prefer to get a really sharp fillet knife and go about the filleting process manually. This technique takes just a bit more time, however, I think I get almost all the good meat off each fish.

The bottom line to this bluegill lesson is that right now is the prime time to load up your freezer with a ton of fillets for the long, cold months of winter.

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