Bread Balls & Bluegills

Crickets, wigglers and waxworms all have a place in the bluegill fishing world, as do popping bugs, nymphs and various micro-sized lures -- and I favor each of those offerings at certain times. However, when I just want to connect a child with a few quick bluegills, it's tough to top putting a little bitty ball of bread on the tip of a No. 8 or 10 hook and dangling it beneath a pencil-style float.

There's always at least one loaf of bread or package of buns at home, so there's no need to dig for worms or visit a bait shop. Plus, baiting a hook and fishing this rig are simple, so youngsters can do everything themselves and enjoy the rewards. Most importantly, bluegills can't resist bread.

My son Eli turned 9 last weekend, and around our house, birthdays and fishing often go together. I wasn't sure if the bluegills would still be shallow by the boardwalk at Tallulah Gorge State Park in November, but it's an easy access sort of place, and it's pretty close to home, and he wanted to do a bit of birthday fishing.

The bluegills weren't plentiful like they are from mid-spring through the end of summer.  However, a few were home, and the bread/bobber combination did its job. Eli also did his job, and he ended up catching a couple of very nice 'gills.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

An baker's dozen of my favorite fishing experiences, in no particular order:

-watching a bobber dart out of sight
-hearing a chorus of frogs, bugs and birds at first light
-feeling the distinctive thump of a bass picking up a Texas-rigged plastic worm
-witnessing game fish herding a school of baitfish
-fishing totally by feel on a very dark night
-stepping knee deep into a cool creek on a hot day
-simultaneously seeing, hearing and feeling an explosive topwater strike
-seeing a smallmouth bass go skyward
-releasing a fish and watching it race away
-recounting a noteworthy catch with a friend who shared in the experience
-joining an enthusiastic angler on his favorite river or lake
-savoring redfish or salmon, fresh off the grill
-helping my children catch fish