Fly Fishing for Bluegill
Fly fishing for bluegill is a great way to get started fly fishing, especially if you don’t live in the heart of trout country!
Bluegill can be found all across the US and are one of the most popular fish for beginners.
And you can catch bluegills year round!
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Can You Fly Fish For Bluegill?
Yes, you can fly fish for bluegill.
Fly fishing for bluegill can be a great way for beginners to learn how to fly fish…
And for more experienced fly fishermen to practice their fly casting.
Beginners tend to like fly fishing for bluegill because they are one of the easier fish to catch.
All of the extra positive feedback from catching fish can get beginners hooked on fly fishing (...pun intended)
Bluegill are a popular target for fly fishermen because they are found in most freshwater lakes and ponds around the US.
What Weight Fly Rod For Bluegill?
Bluegill aren’t very large fish and don’t tend to make huge runs when you catch them…
In general, you can catch bluegill with a 1 wt to 3 wt fly rod.
But there is a catch.
Pretty much everywhere bluegill are found in the US, there are also other bigger fish species you can target…
Or even catch on accident.
Fish like Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass and even pike.
Because of this, most anglers who target bluegills will use a heavier, more versatile fly rod than they need to so they can catch bigger fish like bass and pike too.
If you want a good all around fly rod that is strong enough to handle smaller bass, but still light enough to be fun to catch bluegill, then aim for a 5 wt fly rod.
Related: Best Fly Rod For Beginners
What Flies To Use For Bluegill?
Bluegill aren’t the pickiest fish, so there’s a lot of different flies you can use to catch them.
They also primarily eat insects, which is perfect for fly fishing!
The biggest thing to remember is that they are small fish with an even smaller mouth.
Which means you have to throw small small flies, pretty much no streamers.
Small poppers can work really well for catching bluegills.
These surface flies can move water and draw a lot of attention any time of day, but they work best in the early mornings or late evenings.
Any nymphs can work well too if you put them right in a bluegills face.
Hoppers, spiders and other terrestrials draw a lot of eyeballs and can be really fun too.
As always, try your best to match the hatch when you’re picking flies, but you don’t need to be as picky about it as you do with trout.
What Size Fly Is Best For Bluegill?
Because bluegills have such small mouths you have to make sure you’re using the right size flies.
If you realistically expect to be running into other fish species like bass or pike, then you will probably want to stay towards the larger end of that range…
Maybe even going bigger than that range to #10 size fly.
Time Of Year To Fly Fish For Bluegill
Bluegills are a great fish to target because they can be caught year round!
That being said, they are easiest to catch in the spring and summer because they are in the shallowest water that time of year.
The warmer water also makes them more active that time of year as well.
In the spring and summer they can often be found hanging out on the edges of vegetation, usually in schools.
In the winter, they move into bigger schools and head for deeper water as the weather cools.
They still eat, but much less often as their metabolism grinds to a halt.
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