I enjoy fly fishing because it’s a fun way to fish. While trout are the darlings of the fly-fishing fraternity, bluegill are great fun and tremendous sport for fly casting. Bluegill fishing is the best way to introduce someone to the sport.
Bluegill is not the state fish of Kentucky (that honor falls to the spotted bass), but it probably should be. Wherever you live in the Commonwealth—Pikeville to Possum Trot, Louisville to Lexington, Owensboro to Omaha—bluegill are swimming nearby. They are easy to find and relatively easy to catch, especially in late spring and early summer, which is when the fish generally spawn, although spawning can and does happen throughout the summer.
The weeks preceding and following the May full moon (May 15 this year) are by tradition and experience one of the best times to be on the water for spawning bluegill. But don’t fish solely by the calendar. Water temperature is a key factor in driving fish behavior. For active bluegill, look for 65- to 75-degree water, with 70 and warmer being the optimal range.
Bluegill are often described as “scrappy.” Well, yes, they can be. Ounce for ounce, they are one of the hardest fighting fish in freshwater. If bluegill grew to double-digit size, it would take saltwater gear to land them. A 2-pounder is a trophy by any measure. The International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record is 4 pounds, 12 ounces, a mark that has stood since 1950. The Kentucky state record, set in 1980 by Phil Conyers, is 4 pounds, 3 ounces. That fish came from a strip mine pit in Hopkins County. A 4-pound bluegill is nearly the size of a dinner plate.
Try fly fishing for them. It’s easy and fun.
Fly fishing has a reputation as being difficult, expensive and a bit snobbish. This is somewhat unfair, although you can spend as much as you like on fly tackle, including four figures for a high-end rod and more than half that for a reel. And you can easily overload on gear. Fishing gadgets are the fly fisherman’s bane. But if snobbishness is seeping into your fishing, the problem is not the fishing.
For bluegill on the fly, here’s what you need: rod, reel, line, leader, a spool of tippet material, a tool to trim the line (nail clippers are perfectly suitable), a handful of flies, and a little box to hold the flies. Shop judiciously and $100 should cover it. Keep things light with a 1-, 2-, or 3-weight rod, with line and reel to match.
String up your gear and make a few practice casts in the backyard before heading to the water. There is plenty of online/how-to help available. I’d recommend starting with Tom Rosenbauer and the Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing on YouTube. Rosenbauer, who also hosts a fly-fishing podcast, offers easy-to-follow practical advice and probably knows as much about the sport as anyone alive today.
My fly-fishing abilities are adequate but no more than that. I was self-taught, and the mistakes I learned early have stayed with me. The bluegill don’t mind. If I can do it, you can.
Go if you can. The world is on fire. If proof is needed, just look to Ukraine or, closer to home, to the current state of U.S. politics. Investing an hour or two waving a long rod over a bluegill pond won’t solve any of these problems, but that’s not why you’re there. Go. There’s no better time than now.
• • •
Kentucky does not enjoy a wealth of public lands, so here’s some good news: The Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources recently added a new public wildlife management area in Hopkins County and expanded an existing management area in Lewis County.
The Hopkins County property, which opened April 1, is the Harris-Dickerson Wildlife Management Area. The property is split into two sections totaling about 1,800 acres and is located roughly 7 miles east of Madisonville off Ky. 70. The WMA includes two small lakes and nine ponds, plus several miles of frontage on the Pond River.
The Harris-Dickerson northern tract includes hardwood trees planted as part of a wetland restoration project. The southern tract is primarily reclaimed surface-mined land.
The area is open under statewide fishing and hunting regulations. Right now, you’ll have to walk (or paddle) to access much of the property, but habitat work and property access improvements are being planned, said Eric Williams, a local public lands biologist for the state game agency.
“Staff are working on plans for a multitude of habitat improvement projects to benefit the grasslands, forests and wetland habitat found on the area,” he said. “The wetland restoration work in the northern portion of the property has been a tremendous success and will provide excellent bottomland hardwood habitat as the forest continues to grow. Wildlife viewing will also be good due to the variety of habitats found here.”
For more information about the Harris-Dickerson WMA, call 270.476.1889.
Wildlife officials have added 550 acres to the Old Trace Creek Wildlife Management Area in Lewis County, more than doubling the size of the property. The new Staggs Branch is located off Ky. 59. It is primarily hardwoods providing good habitat for deer, turkey, squirrel and some grouse.
A map of the Old Trace Creek WMA is available at fw.ky.gov.