I busy trapping bull head but meanwhile I am having a heck of a time catching bluegill using gulp waxies and a bobber. All the small bull head keep biting before the bluegill do. I know that the bluegill population is strong in my pond because I can see plenty of them feed on pellets that float. The pellets float to the top so the bluegill bite on them quickly while the bull head are near the bottom and rarely bite the pellets.

My thought is that if I can use some type of bait that floats I would stand a better chance at catching the bluegill. Any ideas on float bait that works good for BG?

Try crickets and see if that works.

Trout flies, poppers, and you can make fake pellet lures from the little brown "pom poms" you can buy at the craft store. I've not made them, but I have read about them here at PB.

poppers for sure

Thats funny, my bg typically eat the small sinking pellets in my feed while the bh hammer the large floating pellets. I'm about to start shooting the bh while they feed so the snapping turtle can eat them up

I will try the poppers, trout flies and some crickets and see what happens.

Matz, I feel your pain the BH are frustrating. I am in the process of making more traps. I set one trap out for less than 5 minutes and it was full of BH. Wife an I probably caught close to 100 of them on the cane poles and chucked them far into the woods. Hoping to at least put a dent in them. The bigger ones are good on the grill

What are you using for bait in the bullhead traps?

I've had over 500 removed from my pond in just over a year...its starting to show signs of slowing down. Just keep running that trap and rod/reeling them out. I'm hoping all of the HSB and LMB I added have started eating the smaller ones

Red: On my new trap that i'm making I plan to use chicken liver... on my current trap, I just have been throwing in a hand full of catfish pellets (they would normally float) but inside the trap they have no choice but to sink.. they flock to it after just minutes of sitting on the bottom in about 4' of water.

I’m using Stubby Steve’s on BG but have no reason to believe that the cats wouldn’t also get them