Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Favorite Bait for Bluegill...

I grew up using wax worms and red worms for bluegill on the dock at my grandparents' lake house in Indiana. I am unable to find either of those here, so I have been cutting off chunks of night crawler when I take my 5 year old fishing at the ranch. I was curious if anybody had a different recommendations.

Pieces of nightcrawler are great for catching small bluegill. They work just as good as wigglers and waxies in my opinion. They should have waxies at any pet store close to you if you haven't tried that yet.

Have you tried having waxworms shipped to you? That might be one option. I've done it before and got 1,000 in perfect condition for a pretty good price.

I've even been tempted to order my bait online due to the dearth of Mom and Pop bait stores and the ones that do still exist are so far apart.

Crickets !!! My fav by far.

Berkeley Gulp seems to work fine in the small sizes, and it's more convenient than dealing with live bait.

There's a lake north of me that has the largest bluegills in the state. Fishing with slip bobbers and night crawlers they can and will inhale the entire nitecrawler!

Clear Lake in far northeast Indiana.

DIED and I experimented on his pond with Berkley Gulp worms and real night crawlers. The Berkley Gulp stay on the hook much longer, you can use one worm for multiple catches. We found though that sooner or later the fish bite would slow down using the Berkley Gulp.

With the night crawlers we would get many more nibbles and the chunk of night crawler would have to be replaced much more often.

With the Berkley Gulp though I found (at least at my pond) that the BG become pretty wise to the bait after about 20 minutes or so. JWHAP and I experimented at our pond one day. We paddled the boat to a good BG area and fished with Berkley Gulp worms. For the first 15 minutes or so the BG just attacked. We were reeling them in one right after another. The pond was clear enough so you could watch the entire process. Toss in a hook with a Berkley Gulp worm on it, jig it up and down a little and the BG would rocket in and grab the hook. It seemed like they were actually competing to be the first fish to the worm. But before long the BG became wise to the situation. The began to cautiously approach the worm and nibble on it, not attack it.

It was fun to observe.

All in all I prefer the Berkley Gulp only because it's easy to use and lasts a long time. That being said the BG in my pond and DIED's do seem to bite slightly better with live worms.

Crickets and catalpa worms seem to work the best for me..

I'm with eric on the crickets but nobody sells them around here. Can they be shipped?

favorite bait, or best bait for catching?

favorite bait....



what a hoot....

best bait for catching......



and what yall have already said

Thanks for all of the tips guys.

Hello gentlemen! I haven't been fishing for bluegill but some other fisherman have and let us know how their outtings panned out....so don't take my word for it! Now, HSB... I do have some fun experience!

...and I'm so excited that we are going to the Pond Boss Conferrence in April. Ezylman, you can swing by and get some free Stubby Steve's if you go! I'm thrilled to meet everyone we've been talking with. Anyone need a fishing partner for the tournament? George?

Bryan Brasher: Pond-raised fish not biting? Time to change baitsBy Bryan Brasher
Memphis Commercial Appeal

"A couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from a buddy who said I just had to try one of the great new creations from the fishing tackle industry.

He said it was called "Stubby Steve's Artificial Fish Food Lure," and I knew right away that I had to have some.

I didn't know what it was or even what kind of fish it was designed to catch.

But with a name like that, I knew surely it must be dynamite.

Turns out, Stubby Steve's Artificial Fish Food Lure is a perfect imitation of the same floating fish food that pond owners all over America are using to feed bluegill, catfish and a variety of other privately raised species.

Those of you who own a pond with an automatic feeder must know how valuable a bait like that can be.

You see, when fish are raised in a pond and fed a consistent diet of premium floating pellet food, they sort of lose a taste for primitive fishing baits like crickets and worms.

Wouldn't you?

I mean, if you had your choice between a store-bought delicacy or a dead, waterlogged bug, which one would you eat?

Once those fish develop a taste for the finer things in life, they can be ridiculously difficult to catch -- and trust me, there's nothing more frustrating than getting skunked on a pond that you built, by fish that you've spent hard-earned money fattening up.

Now, Stubby Steve's is the perfect solution for fish that refuse to bite the hand that feeds them.

The folks who made this stuff claim that it "smells more like fish food than fish food" -- and if you leave a bag of it open in your truck overnight, you'll see what they mean.

It looks, smells and floats just like floating pellet food, but it's spongy so it'll fit easily onto any hook. It's such a perfect match that fish simply can't tell the difference.

I've already used it in the pond behind my house to catch bluegill until I was just tired of catching them.

I used it in another private pond to catch channel catfish the other day, and I'm convinced it'll fool any species that was raised in a pond or hatchery.

That means no more frustrating days during the winter trying to catch rainbow trout that simply aren't interested in our hand-tied flies. It means no more watching helplessly as big, fat tilapia eat everything except the bait we're dangling in front of their noses.

I've already talked with some people who think Stubby Steve's is cheating.

One guy said, "That's not fishing, that's just catching."

Some folks think it'll take a lot of the challenge out of the sport.

But honestly, who cares?

I've never heard a bass apologize for biting during practice and then disappearing on tournament day.

I've never heard a crappie say he was sorry for developing lockjaw all because of a simple change in the barometric pressure.

They'll hear no apologies from me either.

I've got a drawer full of Stubby Steve's -- and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Check out Stubby Steve's Artificial Fish Food Lure online at stubbysteve.com."

To reach reporter Bryan Brasher, call 529-2343; e-mail: brasher@commercialappeal.com.

And just this morning on facebook I came across this:
(from Valley Creek Outdoors in Selema, Alabama)
"We just came across a great fishing bait/lure: Stubby Steve's Fish Food Lure. It looks like a fish feed pellet, but it's artificial. It smells like real food and stays on your hook all day.

Mike Cutler, with Valley Creek, tried one (yes, ONE) on some bream beds last weekend and outfished our friend, who was using crickets. Then, at the end of the day, Mike took the pellet off and put it back in the zip-lock bag that it came in to use another day!"

Stacy:

That's good news. See you there!

I almost never use live bait at all and it's not convenient to go to the bait store on the way to my pond if I've just got a couple of hours to fish but, there is a pet store right near my house and they sell crickets and wax worms. They are slightly more pricey than a bait store but I figure I save money since they don't sell anything else that I want - unlike the bait store where I will almost always pick up a few more items that I've already got too many of...