It can sometimes be tough to catch big bluegills as the spring spawning season begins. When bream get on their nests, they are easily spooked. We may see clues to their presence — a protruding dorsal fin, swirls over their beds, a flash of scales. But by the time we spot a fish, it’s often spotted us as well and quickly scurries away.
If we know what to look for, however, and proper ways to approach spawning beds and present our baits, it’s possible to catch dozens of jumbo panfish. It’s a game of “I spy,” much like sight-fishing for snook or bonefish on a saltwater flat. The difficulties are many, but the rewards make the challenge worthwhile.
Clear-Water Bluegills
Bobby Graves of Mount Ida spends most of his bream-fishing time on Lake Ouachita west of Hot Springs. Here, the water is crystal clear. When bream are on spawning beds, it’s easy to see them, even 12 feet down.
“In clear lakes like Ouachita, spawning beds of bluegills typically are in pockets, near points and around sunken humps,” Graves said. “The fish nest on a clean gravel or sand bottom, usually between the bank and the inside edge of a big weedbed in 1 to 6 feet of water. Beds look like big honeycombs, with several nests side by side.”
Polarized sunglasses cut surface glare, enabling Graves to see the inner edges of the “moss” beds and pinpoint the “honeycombs” he’ll fish. He motors slowly while watching for key structure and cover that may reveal bedding fish.
“In pockets, or coves, the ideal site has 5 feet of water on the inside of the moss line and a 30-foot open area between moss and bank,” he said. “Stumps or other woody cover in the open area make a site even more attractive.”
Graves also watches for “void areas” within the aquatic vegetation — circular openings where submerged weeds don’t grow.
“On points and humps, void areas at the right depth are choice spots,” he said. “For example, a hump may create a clean area 20 feet in diameter. That’s a good spot to watch for honeycombs.”
The scare factor goes up in crystalline waters. Approaching anglers are easily spotted by shy bream, and targeted fish scatter quickly. If left undisturbed, however, bream quickly return to their nests.
“When I spot a honeycomb, I drop a marker buoy nearby,” Graves said. “I keep moving then, marking other spots, and come back a little later. I know where the bed is now and can slip in close without disturbing the fish.”
Graves keeps two 8-foot, medium-light spinning outfits spooled with 4-pound-test
Silver Thread line at the ready. One is rigged drop-shot fashion using a No. 4 Carlisle hook tied directly on the line a foot above a pinched-on No. 6 split shot. The other outfit is rigged conventionally, with the split shot above the hook.
“Some days, bream suspend above their beds, and the drop-shot rig works better,” Graves said. “Other times, you’ll see them right on the bottom, and the conventional rig is better. Either way, I anchor a long cast away from the honeycomb to keep from spooking the fish, then bait up with a cricket or a piece of night crawler. Then I cast to a fish I see in the honeycomb, or to a single nest, and let the bait sink to it. If a big bream is there, it won’t be long till you know it. Keep a tight line, and you’ll quickly learn when to lightly set the hook.”
Bream in Brown Water
Lewis Peeler of Vanndale spends most of his bluegill-fishing time on east Arkansas farm ponds and bottomland oxbow lakes. It’s rare to find clear water in these places. The color tends more toward brown with little clarity.
“Fishermen find can spawning bream in these waters many ways,” Peeler said. “Sometimes you can see their fins or the swirls they make. Some folks use their ears and listen for smacking sounds made by fish sucking bugs from the surface or beneath lily pads. My way is different. I use my nose.”
Peeler said that wherever bluegill nests are concentrated, the air carries a distinctive, fishy odor. Anyone with a normal sense of smell can learn to zero in on that musty aroma and find big beds holding scores of good-eating panfish.
“I start by looking for shallow flats or long sloping banks where the fish are likely to spawn,” he said. “When I detect the smell of the beds, then I look for an oily film on the water. It looks like someone spilled a little gasoline in the water. The two together — the oil slick and the smell — are sure signs bream are bedding there.”
Wearing polarized sunglasses, Peeler now looks for honeycombs of nests, just as Bobby Graves does. The water rarely is clear enough for individual fish to be seen swimming above each nest. So Peeler drops a bait in first one place, then another, until he pinpoints concentrations of fish.
“I typically fish with an 11-foot Buck’s Graphite Jig Pole from B’n’M Pole Co.,” Peeler said. “I rig up light and never use a swivel. I tie on a long-shank cricket hook and the smallest split shot that will slowly sink a cricket. I prefer a small peanut cork and put the split shot 4 to 6 inches above the hook. As the split shot goes down, the cricket slowly follows.
“Most bream beds on the lakes and ponds I fish are on a firm sandy or gravel bottom. I start fishing in places like that and keep moving until I catch big dark-colored male fish guarding the beds.”
Where Peeler fishes, bluegills often spawn in extremely shallow water in places inaccessible by boat. When that’s the case, he may leave his boat and wade-fish.
“Sometimes the fish are just out of reach, and the only way to reach them is to wade,” Peeler said. “My brother taught me this method when I was a kid. Using long poles or ultralight spinning outfits, we waded through water that varied from knee-deep to waist-deep as we hunted for bull bream on their beds. When one of us caught one, the other would come over, and we would work that bed together. We found some of the largest beds I’ve ever seen while fishing this way. If you move slowly and try not to disturb the fish too much, chances are good you could land 100 or more big bream in just a short time.
“Fishing like this can be habit forming. It’s one of the best reasons to spend a day on the water.”