I catch some nice big bluegills in spring, but by summer it seems I can only entice the little guys. Am I doing something wrong

[outdoorlife-editor]

I catch some nice big bluegills in spring, but by summer it seems I can only entice the little guys. Am I doing something wrong, like sticking with the same baits I use during spring? Or have the larger fish just moved to a different part of the lake? -Jack Phillips, Indianapolis, IN

[outdoorlife-editor]

Come summer, bull bluegills hit shallow weed lines, shore brush and other cover just after dawn and again in the evening-if they come inshore at all. Mainly they hang around deeper cover and structure offshore. Depending on the type of lake, deep can mean anywhere from 15 to, say, 35 feet. The fish can be on rock piles, humps (sunken islands), drop-offs at point ends, drop-off ledges along steep bluffs, ends of rock slides, rocky fingers off deep weed lines and also channels near sunken islands. Check these places near the fertile bays where you found the 'gills in spring. Search for them with a walleye-type bottom bouncer streaming an unweighted spinner rig baited with a worm bit or cricket. Or use a small floating Rapala. Once you find the fish, work them vertically with micro jigs or baits below floats, or any of the small Berkley Gulp! baits.
-Jerry Gibbs, Fishing Editor

[squirellhunter]

You should still be catching big ones year round except winter and the best bait is worms minnows and insects.

[flyfishermanj]

As already mentioned, go to deeper water and structure.

[PigHunter]

Come summer, bull bluegills hit shallow weed lines, shore brush and other cover just after dawn and again in the evening-if they come inshore at all. Mainly they hang around deeper cover and structure offshore. Depending on the type of lake, deep can mean anywhere from 15 to, say, 35 feet. The fish can be on rock piles, humps (sunken islands), drop-offs at point ends, drop-off ledges along steep bluffs, ends of rock slides, rocky fingers off deep weed lines and also channels near sunken islands. Check these places near the fertile bays where you found the 'gills in spring. Search for them with a walleye-type bottom bouncer streaming an unweighted spinner rig baited with a worm bit or cricket. Or use a small floating Rapala. Once you find the fish, work them vertically with micro jigs or baits below floats, or any of the small Berkley Gulp! baits.
-Jerry Gibbs, Fishing Editor

Great tips, thanks!

[Buckshott00]

Bluegill can grow pretty fast, you should try going to deeper cooler waters, and maybe a bit larger bait. Find somewhere with adequate cover.