Bluegills Galore

[dubob]

I drove up to Mantua yesterday morning and launched about 10:00 AM. I idled out past the beach buoys looking for some deep water and found 18 feet about 200 yards out. I dropped the anchor and started drop shoting with meal worms. It was non-stop action for over 2 hours. I couldn't get the line back in the water soon enough for the fish. I was getting hits on the drop almost every time.

Seven inches was the minimum to go into the box and I ended the day about 2:00 PM with 18 in the box. I released at least double that under 7 inches. The biggest for the day was just a tad over 8 inches. I didn't get any perch, bass, or trout.

I switched over to some Berkley Gulp maggots in green and pink for awhile and they produce about as good as the meal worms and lasted longer on the hook.

If your looking to take some kids or grand kids out for a fun fishing experience where they probably won't get bored to death waiting for a bite, then Mantua is the place to go.

As a side note, the weed eradication treatment last year worked very well. When I brought the anchor up, there wasn't a single strand of weed on it - only mud. And the 'gills were everywhere; even without the bottom cover.

[lunkerhunter2]

Nice report. The gills are fun to catch.
I dis-agree about the moss treatment. You got lucky and found one of the few "holes" that goes from the surface to the bottom without weeds. I have been up there 15 or so times this year and EVERY time i have pulled anchor it was 100# heavier with moss. I actually think it is worse this year than last.

[Grandpa D]

The weed control was smaller than the DWR had wanted.
There is a large open area that goes almost all the was from the West side to the knoll on the East side. It is about 100 yards wide and I believe that is all that was done.

I have fished over on the East side twice and found plenty of weeds there. I also found some nice Bass and plenty of Gills over there.

Mantua can be a fun stop for some fast fishing.

[k2muskie]

WTG dubob...Mantua sure is a fun place to fish in the summer...enjoy that Gill fishy dinner. Yep we noted also that the weeds didn't seem that bad...closer to the knoll they got thicker a little east of the middle of Mantua I would say. Again enjoy them Gills I'm sure they'll be tasty.

[Leaky]

I agree with lunker. I'm guessing that that one treatment area didn't do much good for us Mantua guys. Hopefully there will be some more. If not, then it's up to us to adapt. I ain't that good at finding the "spots" in my tube, but that's my problem. Oh well, life ain't perfect for everyone! Very few, actually. Makes it better that it ain't, right? Keeps us thinking and working to make it work.

[scartinez]

Mantua is a producer. Why get rid of the weeds. Maybe the weeds is what makes it so good. Don't fix something that aint broken.

[Skullanchor]

Thanks for the heads up! I was planning on taking my kayak up there tomorrow. I took it up there two weeks ago and it was closed with a 1000 people all standing around at 7am. I asked the sheriff what was up and he said Mantua is closed one day a year and it was that day to kick off pioneer days. I pulled the knife out of my back and went down to willard to no luck but i want some Mantua redemption tomorrow

[Skullanchor]

I made my trip, talk about tons of bluegill! I released all the fish i caught because i only had one bluegill of size and it flopped off the hook as i pulled it out. I also caught about a 7 inch perch and a 9 inch bass. Thats the first time i had been out there in my kayak, i can't believe the moss on that place! Its like paddling accross the top of rain forrest. the canopy is litterally 2-4 down almost everywhere i paddled. I caught the most fish in the canyon like areas that would open up without all that moss.

I tossed out a few lures but in the end i caught all of them on the worms i brought with me, pinching a chunk off. I used the worms because of the constant action. and i didnt want to lose a diving lure in that moss. people on the shore should do allright too because i saw a high volume of bluegills around the shoreline