Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What's your "go to" BG lure/bait?

We haven't caught a single bluegill in my big old pond yet this year. This is quite odd and slightly worrisome. In the past my best gill getter has been a yellow maraboo jig with a chunk of worm.
What else might I try next time I'm out there?

How about a healthy, wriggling garden worm on a size 8, or maybe #6 hook....just run the point through the worm's body in 2-3 places, leaving lots hanging off to move. No weight and no float. Simply swing the bait out gently, and watch the line for any movement. Set the hook immediately, as this setup is prone to be swallowed, or hooked deeply.

If you're concerned about deep hooksets, you might try the worm on a bare 1/64 oz, or 1/32 oz jighead instead of a hook.

Artificial wise, I like a slow fall presentation through the water column. A size 10 or 12 wooly worm, in black and red, tipped with a couple of lively maggots can be deadly. As can a micro plastic in red, orange, or pink.....preferably with a long, slender tail.

Crickets!

I'd go with as small a jig as you can get away with and a piece of night crawler.

Red worms always worked well, but the Quadapus is a recent favorite of mine

I like to use the smallest black leaches I can buy. Hooked once using a #6 or #8 red tinted hook. Sometimes under a float or with just a split shot up 12-18" casting into the shallows.

If prone to an artificial bait, a Berkley Nymph in toad color on a 1/100th oz jig head fished on 2# test line. Cast out, reel back jiggling the rod tip a little to give it a swimming motion. I like to get the knot tight on the eye, and have the line pointed towards the hook point. More action that way.

Vary the time from the lure hitting the surface to start of the retrieve by a few seconds until you've waited long enough for it to hit bottom. Then move on further down the bank.

Stubby Steve's brown pellet. After that a cricket. Use both on the same hook for a knockout presentation.

I would not insult the dignity of the mighty bluegill with any lure bait or fly unless presented royally by a fly rod.
My definition of a fly is all of the above favorites...
Bluegill were created with a special purpose for fly fisher person...
G/

My personal favorite is a black ant flie with no weight except for a bobber to cast further. Slowly reel it in with a small twitch and at least for me the BG go crazy!

Superworms (zophobas morio) can order them through the internet, clean, live all summer with little care. Bream love them. My wife would even bait her on hook with these.

I always use gitzit micro guys little lures man they are awesome. I caught over 400 BG this spring to stock ponds.

live cricket, super small cicrle hook, 2lb flurocarbo, tiny weight, tiny bobber

I agree with George, somewhat. However, there is a reason that they don't allow live bait in fishing tournaments. It's so effective that it just ain't fair to the fish.

Mealworms, crickets, earthworms, grasshoppers (my personal favorite).

Notice the theme common to most of the replies.......GO SMALL!!

If it's live bait, I really like wax worms. Grass shrimp are incredible in areas where they are found and even areas they are not...

For artificial bait I like some of the Berkeley baits, particularly the Gulp Alive Maggots, the Gulp Alive Hellgramite, the Gulp Alive Fish Fry and the Atomic Dogbone. These days they make so many awesome finesse baits just for BG and other panfish, it's awesome!

I usually use 2 pound fluorocarbon line but sometimes use braid, especially when drop shotting.

Cricket on small hook fished on top of the water like a floating fly.

I noticed that too.

If it works for you, do it. For bluegill, my most used hook size is #2. My next most preferred size is #1. I do occasionally use #4.

Maybe it is my geezer reflexes, but if I use a #6 or smaller, I get a lot more gill-hooked or throat-hooked fish. I've been doing it this way for about 50 years, and it seems to work pretty good for me.

Do you also have that issue with artificial Ken, or just natural baits? I rarely if ever have an issue with deep hooking BG with artificials.

For those of you who have fished RM, has anyone ever tried live grass shrimp in it? Since they are apparently present in it, I would think fishing with them would be very effective. They are my favorite bait to use in places where BG and them are found together...

Travis -- if I'm using something like a jig or curly tail grub meant for a small hook, I still use at least a #4, but usually a #2 or #1. Same if I'm using any kind of spinner. I guess I'm just set in my ways.

Although I've had great success with Mepps spinners and minnows, small spinner baits, and with panfish lures like Uncle Josh's small crawdad or frog baits, I find that the fish really suck down the small treble hooks.

As I said, it is probably my slow retrieve and slow reflexes. But, then that results in a real fishing slowdown if a fish gets hooked with both small treble hooks on an artificial.

Maybe I don't catch as many fish on big hooks, but I still catch quite a few. It may also be why I don't pull in many small fish.

I also use pretty big hooks for trout, compared to most people.

And, I prefer 4/0 or 6/0 circle hooks for bass and catfish, with even much larger hooks for pike and walleye.

I don't use any hook larger than a #6, and prefer a #8 for all-around BG use. But, I prefer a plain horizontal jighead over a regular hook. Also, I don't have any jigheads larger than a 1/32, and those seldom get used. Instead, I'll usually grab a 1/64 or 1/80th.....and I have 1/100 in the box for really finicky fish. I also do well with ice jigs in the warmer months.

Bait wise, If I had to choose one, it would be maggots. Very hardy, and lively on the hook. I like to use 2-3 at a time.

And Ken's right...I have to watch this setup closely. Matching, and balancing your rig to the proper float is crucial, and can help prevent sticking your fish too deep.

There's a world, no, a universe of difference between 'floats', and 'bobbers'

Ya mean floating beach balls?

Sprkplug, what's the difference?

Dave, when I think of bobbers, I picture those round, red and white plastic, or styrofoam doohickies from Wal-mart...with the spring-loaded clips that refuse to properly grip 2 lb line, requiring you to twist the line around the clip two or three times, thereby permanently kinking, (damaging) a crucial link between me and the fish.

When I think of floats, I picture center slider types, made from balsa, with a tapered profile that lends itself to proper balancing with a minimum of added weight. Whatever you use, floats or bobbers, properly balancing them is the key to making them work for you. And the less weight you have to add, the better.....if I have to add so much weight that when the float (bobber) touches down it creates a tsunami on the shoreline, then that defeats my purpose...I'm a believer in stealth tactics for big, wary, highly pressured BG.