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Thread: Corny Bluegill Fishing at Perris

  1. #1

    Default Corny Bluegill Fishing at Perris

    I haven't posted a trip report in a long time, but I have some very interesting observations from my trip to the little Sail Cove fishing pier on Monday.

    Some of the pier isn't in the water, so there is less room than when the lake is completely full. There were several people on the end part of the pier and a plethora of poles in the water. I think some people were using too many poles. In fact, one guy mentioned that he hopes the ranger wouldn't see him because he had 4 lines out.

    Anyway, I found a spot on the side of the pier, and lots of fish were biting on worms nearby the pier. They were small though, about half of them Bluegills and about half dink LMB. I think I caught about a dozen fish in all. I kept the two largest Bluegills, which were mediumish size, and let the rest of the fish go. But that's not really the most interesting thing about this trip. There was a Chinese couple on the end of the pier, using a carp pole (a very long pole with no reel and a about 15 feet of line attached to the end, like a Tenkara rod). Before long, they hauled in a good size Bluegill, about 3/4 pound. Then they hauled in another and another, etc. All I could see that they had for bait looked like some kind of yellow dough in a plastic container. The husband didn't speak English, but the wife speaks English pretty well. I asked her what they were using for bait, she said her husband made it from "corn and white wine" (probably rice wine). I was pretty astonished. Some people might think I am putting them on, but I never do that unless I let people know that it's a joke. They wound up with about 25 large Bluegills between the two of them, all cookie cutter 3/4 pounders that they put in a basket in the water. They put their line in the water about 10-15 feet beyond the end of the pier, with one of those thin bobbers and a long leader with two treble hooks baited with their dough bait, and these fish just kept biting. The wife said that they have been in the U.S. for about 10 years and live in San Gabriel. I don't think she knew that catching Bluegills on corn dough (masa) was anything unusual. LOL Later, two guys came with a teenager and a little boy, and set up a bunch of poles with dough bait, and some with pieces of corn, casting out from near the end of the pier. They only caught 2 fish, and both were large Bluegills just like the ones that the Chinese couple caught, one on corn pieces, and the other on dough bait. Everybody was friendly and the 2 guys gave me their Bluegill. They only had one because their basket had a hole and other one swam out. They said they were fishing for carp, but had been catching Bluegills anyway.

    I kept thinking that larger fish might move under the pier, but they never did. I fished from about 4:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. when it was dark. Anyway, I was happy with the results and as expected, the fishing seems much better now than it has been in several years at Perris. The fish have put on a lot of growth, and apparently the Bluegills have developed a taste for veggies and wine. I think I might try the docks in the marina next time though, where there is a lot more room. Maybe I should bring the dough bait too. LOL

    Other than that, there was a couple who said they caught 14 Bluegills and Redears earlier, who left around 5:30 p.m. There was a guy fishing plastics along the shore to the left, who caught at least 3 LMB, but they were small, and there were several people fishing to the right along Sail Cove. I think they were fishing for carp but I didn't see them catch anything, although I could hear one of them talking about large carp that he had caught recently.

    This was my first time to Perris Lake since May or early June, and the fishing definitely seems to be on the upswing. I have had really bad allergies recently (and I have been taking antihistamines), but the pollen count was down and the weather was nice, so I went to Perris and had no allergy problems. It might rain next week, which would be nice. I am sure the fish will still be biting.
    Last edited by Natural Lefty; 09-27-2018 at 11:42 AM.

  2. #2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Natural Lefty View Post
    I haven't posted a trip report in a long time, but I have some very interesting observations from my trip to the little Sail Cove fishing pier on Monday.

    Some of the pier isn't in the water, so there is less room than when the lake is completely full. There were several people on the end part of the pier and a plethora of poles in the water. I think some people were using too many poles. In fact, one guy mentioned that he hopes the ranger wouldn't see him because he had 4 lines out.

    Anyway, I found a spot on the side of the pier, and lots of fish were biting on worms nearby the pier. They were small though, about half of them Bluegills and about half dink LMB. I think I caught about a dozen fish in all. I kept the two largest Bluegills, which were mediumish size, and let the rest of the fish go. But that's not really the most interesting thing about this trip. There was a Chinese couple on the end of the pier, using a carp pole (a very long pole with no reel and a about 15 feet of line attached to the end, like a Tenkara rod). Before long, they hauled in a good size Bluegill, about 3/4 pound. Then they hauled in another and another, etc. All I could see that they had for bait looked like some kind of yellow dough in a plastic container. The husband didn't speak English, but the wife speaks English pretty well. I asked her what they were using for bait, she said her husband made it from "corn and white wine" (probably rice wine). I was pretty astonished. Some people might think I am putting them on, but I never do that unless I let people know that it's a joke. They wound up with about 25 large Bluegills between the two of them, all cookie cutter 3/4 pounders that they put in a basket in the water. They put their line in the water about 10-15 feet beyond the end of the pier, with one of those thin bobbers and a long leader with two treble hooks baited with their dough bait, and these fish just kept biting. The wife said that they have been in the U.S. for about 10 years and live in San Gabriel. I don't think she knew that catching Bluegills on corn dough (masa) was anything unusual. LOL Later, two guys came with a teenager and a little boy, and set up a bunch of poles with dough bait, and some with pieces of corn, casting out from near the end of the pier. They only caught 2 fish, and both were large Bluegills just like the ones that the Chinese couple caught, one on corn pieces, and the other on dough bait. Everybody was friendly and the 2 guys gave me their Bluegill. They only had one because their basket had a hole and other one swam out. They said they were fishing for carp, but had been catching Bluegills anyway.

    I kept thinking that larger fish might move under the pier, but they never did. I fished from about 4:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. when it was dark. Anyway, I was happy with the results and as expected, the fishing seems much better now than it has been in several years at Perris. The fish have put on a lot of growth, and apparently the Bluegills have developed a taste for veggies and wine. I think I might try the docks in the marina next time though, where there is a lot more room. Maybe I should bring the dough bait too. LOL

    Other than that, there was a couple who said they caught 14 Bluegills and Redears earlier, who left around 5:30 p.m. There was a guy fishing plastics along the shore to the left, who caught at least 3 LMB, but they were small, and there were several people fishing to the right along Sail Cove. I think they were fishing for carp but I didn't see them catch anything, although I could hear one of them talking about large carp that he had caught recently.

    This was my first time to Perris Lake since May or early June, and the fishing definitely seems to be on the upswing. I have had really bad allergies recently (and I have been taking antihistamines), but the pollen count was down and the weather was nice, so I went to Perris and had no allergy problems. It might rain next week, which would be nice. I am sure the fish will still be biting.
    Nice report! Thanks for sharing it with us.

  3. #3

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    Thank you. No problem, Erik. Now my only dilemma is whether I should make my own Bluegill bait out of masa and rice wine before my next trip to Perris Lake, or just go with the usual Bluegill baits and artificials that I already have. LOL
    Last edited by Natural Lefty; 09-27-2018 at 03:46 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    The 1950's
    Posts
    2,672

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    Thanks for the down to earth detailed report about pier fishing at Perris lake I loved it.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Natural Lefty View Post
    Thank you. No problem, Erik. Now my only dilemma is whether I should make my own Bluegill bait out of masa and rice wine before my next trip to Perris Lake, or just go with the usual Bluegill baits and artificials that I already have. LOL
    I can see it now. 'make one dough ball' ' drink one glass' 'make two dough balls' drink two glasses' meke trey dubolls' 'drunk fiex garbuls'...lol

  6. #6

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    Yes, we were calling it the Drunken Bluegill recipe out on the pier. LOL

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    sa bernardino
    Posts
    803

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    Yes, this is the time of year you catch alot of bluegill and bass fry. Especially if you are using redworm.The docks ao the marina may be a better bet for the bigger gills now.

  8. #8

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    Nice report Robert (it is Robert right? My mind is going as I get older, I swear). I have not been out with my Bluegill buddy "LedHed" on his nice boat lately because I have 2 painful torn rotator cuffs, but he has done pretty good too with the high water. Although he is losing a lot more jigs now. Good thing he ties his own! You know I once saw an Asian man rolling a dough-like bait into shapes that looked like meal worms, wax worms or some kind of grubs there on the old dam dock at Perris and he was catching some nice fish. He said "you have to make them look real."

  9. #9

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    Yes, Jeff, it's Robert. Sorry to hear about your rotator cuffs. I guess you won't be "pitching" baits for a while.

    These people weren't making them look like anything but round doughballs. LOL There are a lot more snags now. The two guys who were fishing on the bottom and casting farther out got snagged occasionally, but it wasn't snaggy around the pier.

    Castle, I do usually catch small Bluegills and Bass this time of year, and maybe some smaller Redears. This time was no exception, although I didn't catch any Redears. However, I must honestly say that I don't think I have ever witnessed people catching so many large Bluegills before. I have caught and seen larger Bluegills than these, and I have seen people come in with catches that included lots of large Bluegills and Redears, but I haven't actually seen anyone catch one 3/4 pounder after another, so it is possible this time of year, and they weren't far from the end of the pier. In fact, they were only about 50 feet from shore I would say. I have in fact caught several large Bluegills this time of year (like a pound or more), so it happens, but not usually in those kind of numbers.

  10. #10

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    I went back to Sail Cove Pier this afternoon. Bluegills weren't biting on masa this afternoon, although I heard more credible reports of that happening. There were far fewer fish caught by others, but a couple of good size Redears were caught by the couple that I saw there last time (those were the only two fish they caught), and for me personally, the fishing was better than last time. That was probably because the end of the pier finally cleared out so I could fish it where and how I wanted to. I ended up staying longer than I intended as many Blueglls were biting after dark. I did catch one of the "big ones," about 1/2 to 3/4 pound, and probably at least a dozen Bluegill in all, plus 4 small bass. I think I kept about half of the Bluegills, mostly in the 1/4 pound range, and let the smaller ones go. I caught most on worms but one on a bead headed fly by the pier. I also helped a fellow named Tony catch some Bluegill after dark, and he got into them too. One of the guys who was there last time was there again using masa under a small bobber for Bluegill but he couldn't catch any this time. He also casted a small jig on which he caught several small bass.

    Most of the Bluegills that we caught were straight down from the pier on the left side near the end, but they also bit if we cast out a ways. For me, a redworm on a trout magnet, with no bobber, worked best.
    Last edited by Natural Lefty; 10-02-2018 at 11:08 PM.

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