Fly Fishing for Bluegill

To begin fly fishing for bluegill, you’ll want to use a single-action reel equipped with a clicker drag, something lightweight to attach to a seven- to nine-foot fly rod. Your rod should be made to cast four- to six-weight lines. Before you purchase line, however, check the manufacturer’s suggestions for the proper line weight for your rod.

Generally, a weight-forward taper floating fly line or a double taper line works best. Use three- to six-pound test tippets on 7.5- to nine-foot taper leaders. You may prefer to use about 6 feet (1.8 meters) of two- or four-pound monofilament line in place of a leader .

Choose a fly that looks like an insect, and move it as though that insect were struggling or injured. Males are very aggressive during the spring spawn, so small flutters are likely to end in a strike. Later in the season, choose the edges of weed beds. Try ultra-light leadheads or wet flies. On a size 10 to 14 hook, place deer hair poppers, sponge bugs, jigs, streamers or nymphs. Small black flies are good choices. Remember that bluegill have small mouths, so there’s no point in tossing out a huge piece of shad or other bait.