A PHENOMENON

In summer, Bluegills and other pan fish frequently school up into large groups. Most of the gills within a block or so along the shoreline may almost all be in one school.

We can usually find them by standing up in our boat and slowly moving along in 10 to 20 feet of water while watching for a group of small Bluegills near the surface with our long-brimmed hat, polarized glasses and life vest.

If you don’t find them in the 10 to 20 foot depth, then try a little shallower.

Most of the time they are grouped, feeding upon a massive group of zooplankton.

When you visually find a school of dozens of 2” to  4” gills near the surface, carefully note their  location, or throw out a marker buoy (about 30 feet away from the school),   or mark a waypoint. Read More

Follow the “ZOO “ aka ZOO PARADE & 3 RING CIRCUS

Understanding the Zooplankton PHENOMENON and its effect on “Fish Catching”

Phytoplankton are very small aquatic plant life.  Zooplankton, are very small animal organisms, which feed upon phytoplankton and other zooplankton.

Zooplankton are (one or two millimeter) water-borne life forms, frequently crustacean.

Minnows and small fish up to the size of Bluegills feed upon the swarms of millions of zooplankton as they rise and fall in the water column while free floating/drifting around.

Bluegills, Crappie, Perch, very small Bass and Trout and minnows feed directly upon the zooplankton. This gives the angler the opportunity to offer small baits to these zooplankton foraging pan fish.

* This FOOD CHAIN PHENOMENON attracts these small fish, and minnows, which in turn attract adult Bass, Pike, Walleyes and Trout.

So, take your choice, and go for the foraging pan fish, or for the larger predators lurking around the edges of the zooplankton and smaller fish.

The Bluegills at or near the surface will usually be only two-four inches long.

The larger Gills will be a few feet below them.

Also see: Fish section SCHOOLING BLUEGILLS PHENOMENON for details on how to catch the larger Gills.

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