The Huron River flows from a chain of clear water natural lakes, often there is a small dam below some of these lakes to raise the the water level a few feet. This lake has a camp ground launch and another public launch but few houses and about no destructive motor boat traffic.
A couple were leaving with their electric motor John Boat and apparently a bucket of Bluegills on my late morning arrival. I paddled out to an area of mid lake shallow flats that I had found lots of good sized bedding bluegills years ago. I found beds in 4 feet of water on the edges of these shallow areas as they dropped off into 12 feet of water.
Anchoring very shallow and cast out past the deep edges, the Popper immediately caught numerous small bass, the 4th fish was the biggest bass I would see today. The first beds I saw, bluegills wouldn't even sniff the MopWorm Poppper. A #6 Soft Hackle Rubber Spider Soft caught small bluegills quickly but I was unprepared on several accounts today, no forceps to unhook them. Using the rods tip section as a disgorger worked well until it didn't. A #6 fly with 4 balls of bead chain tied Clouser style got hit well, they grabbed the mop tail hard without getting hooked. Cutting off the tail, they would get the body and the hook and the 4 beads crosswise width preventing them from taking the fly deeply, until one did. A determined bluegill can open its small mouth much wider than you might think.
The #4 Popper was now, for some reason getting hit well by the bluegills. It is made so they can't deeply swallow the downward hook in opposition to the tall back slanted rear face of the 7/16 popper head.
I hadn't measured a fish in years but I measured a couple today and I was shocked. I always knock off a couple of inches of any fish I see someone else catch. If they report a fishes length I knock off more inches. This seems to have influenced my estimates for my own fish, they seem to be and inch or two longer than I thought.
A nice place to fish. Besides dozens of bluegills, I got a few small Rock Bass, one Pumpkin Seed, and saw a crappie. In the clear water was easy to see fish, they didn't run away but then they wouldn't bite. I also saw some bluegills that I thought were larger than any I caught. I suspect some smaller bead head flies could get them.