San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

I have a friend coming to the area for a bit and he is a self proclaimed "bluegill fanatic" and since I am not an expert on where to go for these I would like to ask for advice on the body of water and technique to get a bucket full for a fish fry.

Any help will be appreciated.

Oceanside area, local, how about Lake San Marcos? I've heard good things about the bass fishing there too.

Otherwise Lower Otay would probably be best city lake if you had a boat or a kayak to fish outside the tules. No boat? From a shoreline, maybe Lake Murray for the most shore fishing options - like the fishing dock, under the wires, or in coves by the ballfields.

In April try warmer, sunny days in the late afternoons. Bigger bluegill hit small crappie jigs, tiny cranks, or trout spoons. Bait? Use half a medium nightcrawler or any worm. By May its really good everywhere.

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Senkosam is basically describing a common Ned rig technique. But it works with ball head jigs too. Panfish are usually less aggressive than bass and a slower, more subtle retrieve is important including the light jig head. And it may work better for bass too. Expect to get an occasional bass (or more).

Funny how new techniques are not always that new.

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Here we go again

Hey spoon, you have any recent pics that aren’t from many years ago?

Did I miss anything here?
It might be too late for the OP but if I target blue gill and don’t know body of water i would use 1/16oz drop shot with either night crawler or 1” Berkley gulp alive. I would drag or swim slowly or just drop and shake until you find hard bottom.
I hope @camobass wouldn’t mind if I use old photo with my diy dropshot weight.

Just_Bass wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 1:05 pm Did I miss anything here?
It might be too late for the OP but if I target blue gill and don’t know body of water i would use 1/16oz drop shot with either night crawler or 1” Berkley gulp alive. I would drag or swim slowly or just drop and shake until you find hard bottom.
I hope @camobass wouldn’t mind if I use old photo with my diy dropshot weight.

Must be an old photo, not even a tungsten weight!

The fishing tackle gods will not approve of this.

Just_Bass wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 1:05 pm Did I miss anything here?
It might be too late for the OP but if I target blue gill and don’t know body of water i would use 1/16oz drop shot with either night crawler or 1” Berkley gulp alive. I would drag or swim slowly or just drop and shake until you find hard bottom.
I hope @camobass wouldn’t mind if I use old photo with my diy dropshot weight.

Nothing you haven’t already seen many times before.
Your’s may be old but it’s a new photo. Not the same ones we’ve all seen dozens of times.