Tactics for crappie and bluegill

SRC&Bassbum

SRC&Bassbum

Steelhead
I know of a lake that has a decent population of crappie and bluegill.that I hope to target more this year. What kind of tactics do you all use? I’ve caught bluegill on a bluegill bully spiders under a small foam hopper before but am trying to learn other tactics
 
I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for big bluegill and have dedicated a lot of time and resource in pursuit of them. I dont really know why, but I sure do!

I found the big bluegill get plenty piscivorous in the right setting. Once the spawns have started I hit em with small, olive/gold/flash baitfish patterns and do really well. I have found they will attack much larger prey than you would expect, and the key is having a hook small enough to fit in their mouth. I've had them eat a miyawaki popper before, and gotten the hook too.

I haven't found much they wont eat. The challenge is finding the right bug that keeps the small ones off but still attracts the big boys.

Love the foam triangle bluegill bugs, hook slides right in but they cant swallow it.

Also, returning your large male catches is the best way to increase average size of bluegill in your pond/lake. The big males are the dominant breeders and will keep the smaller males from making nests. This keeps the smaller males from reaching sexual maturity (and the drop in growth rate associated with it) as well as keep the total number of fry lower helping stave off the stunted populations we so often see.

Get those gills!
 
I'm new to this, but so far I've had luck with sz. 12 leeches and wet flies under a float. And leeches in sz. 10 up to 3xl fished slow strip on a sink tip, as well as carey specials, heather nymphs and doc spratleys. I'm lookin' to try and discover more this summer. I have some small poppers and foam beetles to try.
 
The last two outings I had crappie take my fly seemingly right at my fins while adjusting my float depth, however I've been too startled to let go of the line. I've been reading some gear fishing sites on crappie, following the suggestions of others and their pursuit of a chosen quarry. It seems vertically jigging with a long rod and fixed line, either with float, or without, is a common technique. After I found a sunken pile of sagebrush, I carefully moved in close and essentially tight lined, and I used a float in the rig too. Got several including this one. The best one broke me off in the pile, couldn't get it even with the 10' 6wt. Just like euro-nymphing, find the structure, get in close, carefully present the fly.
20230502_crappie.jpg
The leech with the softhackle like dubbed collar and hot spot I posted was dynamite. Glad I took a pic, because it's in the brushpile now. I've also already figured out single fly rigs are preferred for this.
20230502_shleechhotspot.jpg
 
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Dynamite-2.jpg
Best tactic I can come up with for these invasive species.
 
I love catching Crappies. I'm from Ohio and you can keep 30...but don't need that many to have a great meal. O use lead head jigs 1/32 -1/8 with a rubber or hair tail. Just drop them down and feel for a thump. When you get to the bottom...just bring up a turn or two and just hold it still.... the trick is not to jig it...just hold it still...if no bites...raise it up a couple of turns and repeat...when you find what depth they are ...you can keep going there and catch more.
 
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