With all of the bugs and flies designed to catch bluegill it seems that one of the best baits used to catch bluegills is not represented in the list of favorite foods of gills, worms. If any one bait can be most associated with gills it has to be the red wiggler, but fishing them with a flyrod is either impractical or depending on your way of thinking, heresy. However there is a simple solution to this problem and it is found in a fly typically exhalted for its ability to catch trout in many rivers of the west, the san juan worm.

  I have fished this pattern (in one form or another) for many years now and can say that it has become one of the best bluegill flies I have in my arsenal. My favorite version of this versatile fly is one constructed from ultra-chenille in shades of red and tan with the red generally being more productive.

  The technique for fishing the san juan worm is simple. Using a tapered seven and a half foot leader with a 3 to 4x tippet I tie the fly on using a duncan loop to allow for the freest movement of the fly. About four to six inches above the fly attach a small piece of split shot in order to get the fly to sink fairly rapidly when it hits the water. the weight does seem to be the crucial element to get the fish to pay attention to the fly. The more rapidly it sinks the more likely the fly will be gobbled up by a hungry bluegill. Alternately the fly could be constructed with weight added to avoid the use of the split shot or a copper or brass bead could be threaded on the leader to give the fly the weight needed to sink it.

  After the fly has sank about a foot to two feet begin stripping it in with a fairly steady retrieve. The best areas to fish are near weed beds or submerged cover where large bluegill are likely to be found. Often in these areas just allowing the fly to sink on its own will cause a fish to strike at it.