The micro Ned rig will put big bluegills and and all sorts of bass in the boat. Here's how to rig and fish one.

Bluegill Fishing 101: A Beginner's Guide In terms of availability, access, and a willingness to bite, it's hard to beat a bluegill.

"You don't need that heavy tackle for bluegill," he said. "Not only is it a lot more fun catching bluegill on light tackle, you catch more and bigger bream with light tackle.

Not infrequently when fishing for bass or stripers with heavier tackle like floating frogs or swimming flukes you find bluegills, crappie and perch striking your lures.

The bluegill bite is good at Wirt’s Point and across from the point at Grassy Island on red worms on the bottom, reports Jim Childress of Big Bass Bait & Tackle (352-207-7520).

Small fish tolerate an amazing amount of disturbance — a paddle banged against the boat, a fallen tackle box, squeaky boat seats. But big bluegills won’t abide the slightest bit of commotion.

Bluegill fishing is another rite of spring along with shad and shallow water bass fishing. This is easy fishing that provides lots of action with fly or spinning tackle. It’s also a great opp… ...

Shellcracker and bluegill are tough to find, but if you do locate them, they’ll be in the pads. Bass fishing has been good using topwater bait early.