Small Pond panfishing - Hot!! 5/16/04 - photos

[Jig'nMinnow]

Today was as good as it ever has been for me in IL.

STATS
---------
Temps - high 70's
Water Temps - low 70's
Wind - MPH - 0-5mph

Number of fish caught - 50-75 in 1.5hrs
Number of lost fish - (not a factor today)
Total number of anglers out today - 1


I first wanted to go to a 5 acre marsh/ lake after dropping my sister off at her "culture" club meeting in the West-SW Burbs. This was a flooded lake/wetland but the main access site was blocked off because of a soccerfield. I didn't want to look like a clown walking around with waders, nor with my new baitcasting outfit.

Then I moved onto a small 1/2 acre pond that I used to fish at when I was a little kid. I fished here from 2:30 till 4pm.

The fishing started after I was catching a lot of 1-2" gills just like this.


Fish like these have anglers deserve a plaque of accomplishment. Very hard to master! This place might be a perfect spot for me to get the new fish for my native aquarium.

As time passed, i was getting into some better sized fish..................





And I was then getting into some even better sized fish.....................









This guy was probably "king of the pond". This was the biggest fish of the day, maybe about 1lb in size, and about 10-11". This is a Green Sunfish - Bluegill hybrid, or else a warmouth???

I had 2 chances to connect with this guy. 1st was a miss, 2nd was a hit, with the help of some Berkley attractant which was tipped to the twister.


here's a bonus photo - very cool!!



Presentation Picks

Here's what worked today. I also had my 3 week old crawlers alive & healthy.

All dinks were caught on waxies tipped on a small ice jig on a stationary float. All the 6-8" Bull Gills & 10" Sunnies were caught on 1.5 - 2" twisters on a 1/32oz jig.


OBSERVATIONS
--------------------
- should have brought a garbage bag to clean up the crap laying around (will do, next time 2-3weeks from now)

- I'll most likely catch some dink gills and just stick to them for my tank. This pond also holds some small crappie & bullheads too.

- surprised that pond doesn't winterkill during ice season. Max depth is maybe 4ft, and is loaded with weeds during summer.

- seems to be a ton of competition for the food supply (maybe because of all the dinks) It was like they've never seen a waxie, nor a bobber before...lol


TOTALS
----------
50-75 bluegills (biggest between 6-8")
2 seperate sunfish species (biggest at 10-11")
_all released_


I'll be back here in a few weeks to stock the aquarium again.. Maybe even next weekend?.......


JIG

[Sharkbait]

Sounds like you had a fun day. The small jigs definitly catch bigger sunfish then bait. I live 8 minutes from a lake and 70% of the time I use mini jigs to fish for sunfish. People around me will be catching 5'' fish with worms and when I cast out my jig I'll pull in 10-13'' sunfish, very fun.

Anthony

[trout guy]

looks like ya had a good day. the biggest fish is a green sunfish

[cst]

until a week or so ago i thought those were hybrid bluegill.

the green sunfish are awsome, they are hardy, they fight better then bluegill and redears, are more aggressive and look nicer. too bad they dont grow to be 4 pounds

are there any lakes with only green sunfish and no bluegills?

[Jig'nMinnow]

Most lakes in IL carry greenies & Bluegills together.

If the lakes & ponds are managed by the DNR (rarely happens in IL), then not too many green sunfish will be found.

JIG

[trout guy]

Originally Posted by cst

until a week or so ago i thought those were hybrid bluegill.

the green sunfish are awsome, they are hardy, they fight better then bluegill and redears, are more aggressive and look nicer. too bad they dont grow to be 4 pounds

are there any lakes with only green sunfish and no bluegills?

i actually havent caught one thats fought hard yet try some orange county parks like greer and mile square they're loaded with small greenies. o yea if you wanna see a hybrid, the fourth pic is a green x bluegill

[cst]

lots of hybrids in castaic lagoon. one time i caught 4 hybrids at about a pound each.

in fact, one of them ate a 5 inch bass of mine.

[DementedFish]

wow great job! Keep those reports coming!!

[fishingbeast]

Yes, I miss those days of bream fishing in Ga. Great to start out kids. Also to enjoy a few hours. Thanks for the pics.