We were looking for big fish. As we flew across the lake at high speed, I held my cap in my hand, my sunglasses were pressed against my face by the sixty-something mile per hour wind, my hair was laid straight back and an occasional bug would whop me in the forehead. The twenty foot bass boat was being pushed across the water by a motor that touted more horsepower than my Corvette. The cool morning air felt good, the weather was perfect, and no doubt, we were going to catch some big fish.
Tom Moody cut the motor as we entered a cove which was sheltered from the wind. As he lowered the trolling motor, Moody stated that he had caught some good fish here yesterday. On the first cast, I watched as Moody's bright neon green line jumped eratically and started moving to the side. Tom set the hook and 
as the fish headed under the boat, he smiled and said "That's a good fish." A few seconds later, I saw the fish as it came out from under the boat as Tom put the pressure on him. Soon, we were admiring the strikingly beautiful fish. The black on the back of the fish faded into a transparent purple on the sides and tail, but the breast of the big male bluegill was a bright orange color. The saucer-sized bluegill was a handful for Tom as he removed it from the hook and tossed it back into the water. "That's what we are looking for. If that don't get you excited, you simply don't know what's fun," Moody said as he put another cricket on his hook.
Moody, who is the Technical Service Manager for Triton boats, is a serious fisherman and he takes his bluegill fishing just as seriously as he does any other kind of fishing. Actually, according to this part-time guide on Kentucky Lake, his favorite kind of fishing is what we were doing today, catching bedding bluegill. Apparently, Moody is not the only one who feels that way, as bluegill fishing during the spawn is an annual event for thousands of fishermen across the South. You don't need a fully rigged bass boat equipped with the latest electronics and thousands of dollars of fishing gear to catch bluegills. You can walk the bank, use a cane pole, and catch your limit of bluegill if you choose to do so. Everyone who fishes for 'gills catches fish. The biggest thing is to know when the 
fish are bedding and where, because they can be here today and gone tomorrow.
Without exception, every body of water in the south has bluegill. You can find this brightly colored, easy to catch, great to eat gamefish in creeks, farm ponds, water shed lakes, rivers, deep coldwater impoundments, bayous or anywhere you choose to look, but the spawn is when the fish are concentrated and you can fill your cooler with them. It just takes a little searching to find them and a little common sense to keep a hot fishing hole alive for years. "We only keep the male fish and only keep enough to eat" says Garry Mason, pro-angler and long time fishing guide on Kentucky Lake. "We practice catch and release, but if you are fish hungry, it is certainly okay to keep a mess of bluegill, but only what you will use. This way, you do not hurt the population and there will be plenty of fish to catch in the future," Mason continues.
You can distinguish the male fish from the female fish at a glance. The males are very dark black on the back and have a bright orange breast and belly while the females are much lighter colored with a dull yellow breast. Most bluegill spawn in eighteen inches to four feet o
f water and their beds are easy to see, as they look like light colored, plate sized craters on the bottom of the lake or stream. The "when" is an important factor and according to the fishermen who know, in our region the bluegill spawn will take place during the first full moon during June. Though, most of the fish you catch will not be gigantic, there are areas where bluegill grow to more than one pound with an occassional two pounder being found. In Arkansas, the state record bluegill was caught in a farm pond in Fulton County by Albert Sharp. The brightly colored fish weighed three pounds and four ounces on a certified scale and was verified by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personel as a pure strain bluegill and was confirmed as a new state record.
So, the time is at hand to enjoy some of the hottest fishing of the year and I can assure you from personal experience, bluegill fishing is just plain fun!
reprinted by permission of Paxton Media Group
Blue Gill Fishing... it's Just Plain Fun
