Fishing for Golf Course Bluegills
John E. Phillips 05.21.14
Some of the best bluegill fishing in America may be within easy walking distance of your house—and possibly not even outside your subdivision.
Quality golf courses are well-fertilized. When the fertilizer from the greens and the fairways washes into golf course lakes and ponds, that fertilizer adds plenty of nutrition to grow big bass and bluegills in ponds that are rarely fished. Most golf courses close down one day per week for maintenance. You may be able to gain permission to fish in golf course waters that usually are stocked with both bass and bluegills.
“John, you have to wear a collared shirt and some kind of dress slacks,” my good friend, Jim Cunningham, told me. “You can’t wear blue jeans or shorts. This is the rule at these golf courses we’ll be fishing.” Jim belongs to several country clubs. While playing golf, he’s noticed bluegill beds in the golf course lakes. “I’ve got written permission from the president of the country club, and I’m good friends with the grounds keeper,” Cunningham explained. “They said they hardly ever see anyone fishing for bluegills.” In a morning’s fishing, three of us caught our limit of big, fat bluegills.
Another advantage of fishing for golf course bluegills is all you really need is a five-gallon bucket, a supply of healthy nightcrawlers, an ultralight rod and reel, No. 6 hooks, and four- to six-pound-test line. You can carry your water, snacks, and extra tackle in a plastic sack in the bucket. Then, when you start catching bluegills, you can take the plastic sack out and fill the bucket up with freshly-caught bluegills, take the bucket and the fish back to your vehicle, and put them in your ice chest.
“Since the lakes we’re fishing are fairly clear, and the bluegill beds are shallow, you can’t get close to the bluegill bed,” Cunningham reported. “If you do, you’ll usually spook the bluegills off the bed. So, I make a long cast, lay my rod down, back up the bank and watch my line. When the bluegill comes back to the bed, it will take the bait, and I can see my line twitch. Then, I’ll quickly go down the bank, set my hook, and reel in the bluegill.”
Since most golf courses have more than one lake on them, when the bluegills quit biting at one lake, you can move to one of the other nearby ponds and fish. If the golf course has three or four lakes, you may be able to fish all four lakes twice in a single day and catch plenty of bluegills. If you’re a member of the country club or golf course, you often can rent a golf cart on the day the course is closed and ride the golf cart with your rods, tackle, and ice chest in it from lake to lake.
I’m convinced that some of the best bass and bluegill fishing are right in our own neighborhoods. Golf courses all over the nation have plenty of bluegills and bass that anyone rarely, if ever, fishes for, and all you need to do to fish there is get permission. You may be able to catch bluegills every week close to home and enjoy a fish fry.
To get John E. and Denise Phillips’ Kindle eBook, The Best Wild Game & Seafood Cookbook Ever: 350 Southern Recipes for Deer, Turkey, Fish, Seafood Small Game and Birds, click here.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
