Best baits to throw in no shad, bluegill only areas.(Literally only bluegill) 2024
Moonlander34 reply :
Hello, I’m an angler in the marin county area, and over here, we have no shad. I was wondering what baits to throw in areas like this.(I’m sure this can help others, too!)
Scott F reply :
I wouldn’t be too concerned about there not being shad in your waters. Shad baits will still work. There probably aren’t many worms in there either, but I’d bet they’ll still catch bass too.
papajoe222 reply :
Welcome to the forums. 
Matching the hatch can make a difference in bass fishing similar to finding what color will catch them when others won’t. Unlike trout fishing, that is rarely the case. Plastic worms and spinnerbaits don’t resemble anything in a bass’ world, but they will frequently be caught using them. Even shad shaped lures in oddball colors will, at times, produce results, so don’t limit yourself to only bluegill imitating lures.
You will learn overtime, that it’s much more productive to use the ‘wrong’ lure in the right place (where the fish are), than to use the right lure in the wrong place.
swhit140 reply :
All different lakes have all different bait fish & creatures in the water. Fish will bite anything if presented well and in the right location. Many of our lakes have lots of bluegills, bass will pretty much eat anything. I think you can never go wrong with a spinnerbait or plastic worm. You never know what they want from one day to another or weather conditions.
waymont reply :
Bluegill patterned swimjigs!
Bluebasser86 reply :
Bass aren't smart enough to see a shad imitating bait and realize there's no shad in the lake. Maybe even the opposite where they see an out of place baitfish and see it as a possible easy meal. Besides, baby bluegill have a lot of white on them similar to a shad, and so do crappie if they're present.
Catt reply :
6th Sense Movement 80X
Chart Black Back works pretty much everywhere
Harold Scoggins reply :
Although mine has long been retired, I've landed bass on trout colored baits where there were no trout. The same goes with shad and blue gill style baits. Bass are opportunistic predators and will go after almost anything you put on the menu. Matching the hatch is always something to think about, but don't be afraid to stray outside that box.
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Fishes in trees reply :
I'd probably lead off with a wacky style senko in some shade of green pumpkin or watermelon. I'd probably use some chartreuse dye on the tail. I'd lead off targeting deep edges of weediness.
Jermination reply :
On 11/7/2019 at 6:03 AM, Moonlander34 said:Hello, I’m an angler in the marin county area, and over here, we have no shad. I was wondering what baits to throw in areas like this.(I’m sure this can help others, too!)
swim a jig, this is usually the type of jig i use around slips when they are on bluegill here in east tn. Something with a flash of chartreuse should work well too. if the water is too clear for a crankbait throw a chatterbait. deadly nedly is always a good contingency plan when all else fails
stratoliner92 reply :
On 11/7/2019 at 12:13 PM, waymont said:Bluegill patterned swimjigs!
X2
Also swimbaits in forage size/color.
TriStateBassin106 reply :
Try chatterbaits! They work in almost any water clarity and I fish ponds here in NJ that have no shad! Only shiners and sunfish. Here are some brutes I managed to get this past summer with chatterbaits! Try the zman version in Green Pumpkin and Black and Blue. Works in almost any water clarity!
On 11/7/2019 at 10:42 PM, Jermination said:swim a jig, this is usually the type of jig i use around slips when they are on bluegill here in east tn. Something with a flash of chartreuse should work well too. if the water is too clear for a crankbait throw a chatterbait. deadly nedly is always a good contingency plan when all else fails
is the trailer the rage swimmer 4 inch in electric shad? great clear water swimbait!
TriStateBassin106 reply :
Also, for good bluegill color swim baits I would go with the sun gill color, it works in almost any water clarity like GP.
Jermination reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 1:47 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:Try chatterbaits! They work in almost any water clarity and I fish ponds here in NJ that have no shad! Only shiners and sunfish. Here are some brutes I managed to get this past summer with chatterbaits! Try the zman version in Green Pumpkin and Black and Blue. Works in almost any water clarity!
is the trailer the rage swimmer 4 inch in electric shad? great clear water swimbait!
you bet---also works good in lightly stained 
boostr reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 1:47 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:Try chatterbaits! They work in almost any water clarity and I fish ponds here in NJ that have no shad! Only shiners and sunfish. Here are some brutes I managed to get this past summer with chatterbaits! Try the zman version in Green Pumpkin and Black and Blue. Works in almost any water clarity!
is the trailer the rage swimmer 4 inch in electric shad? great clear water swimbait!
I can't get anything to bite my chatterbaits up here.
TriStateBassin106 reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 2:35 AM, boostr said:I can't get anything to bite my chatterbaits up here.
they work really well during the spring and summer months, I burn them through the water column and the reaction bite can be great if you found a school of fish, this time of year honestly I would start throwing spinner baits and cranks or fish the chatterbait slower.
My last chatterbait fish I caught was in the beginning of October since then it's been spinners and jigs which has been catching fish and soon the NEDs will have to come out since the water temp is dropping.
Jermination reply :
rip them through the grass, i torched a few last week on the chatterbait paralleling grass lines on the main channel up river. Use a heavier rod and it's much easier to rip through the grass. 80% of the chatterbait fish i caught that weekend came on the rip through grass, let a little bit of slack in your line and just pop it. they would suck it in before the blade started flapping again
TriStateBassin106 reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 2:46 AM, Jermination said:rip them through the grass, i torched a few last week on the chatterbait paralleling grass lines on the main channel up river. Use a heavier rod and it's much easier to rip through the grass. 80% of the chatterbait fish i caught that weekend came on the rip through grass, let a little bit of slack in your line and just pop it. they would suck it in before the blade started flapping again
When you say grass do you mean weed beds? I tried fishing them through weed beds earlier in the summer in a tournament and I got snagged up a lot.
Jermination reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 3:29 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:When you say grass do you mean weed beds? I tried fishing them through weed beds earlier in the summer in a tournament and I got snagged up a lot.
no i mean grass lines on the main channel. typically on the main channel of grass lakes the grass extends 10-15 feet off the bank, line the nose of your boat up on the grass line and parrallel down them. the super thick stuff is a waste of time trying to throw anything but a frog or swim a worm above them--this is what a lot of creeks look like on chik and there arent but a couple different ways to attack it
On 11/8/2019 at 3:29 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:When you say grass do you mean weed beds? I tried fishing them through weed beds earlier in the summer in a tournament and I got snagged up a lot.
adding pics
Jermination reply :
trying to find a good pic of the main channel grass lines i'm talking about, this is probably about the best i have but you still can't really see them great
TriStateBassin106 reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 4:08 AM, Jermination said:trying to find a good pic of the main channel grass lines i'm talking about, this is probably about the best i have but you still can't really see them great
ah that type of grass, yeah that stuff is a problem here in NJ at this one place I go to, can't throw anything in there and it almost takes up the entire lake during the summer months, nothing gets through it.
On 11/8/2019 at 3:58 AM, Jermination said:
This is the grass I'm talking about, it's from this once place in North Jersey, bass are in there but not a huge number of them, it's actually out of control and they finally started treating this body of water in September for it.
Jermination reply :
yeah man theres not much you can do with that kind of stuff, especially in shallow water areas. I never feel comfortable punching because its so thick from top to bottom. Every now and again you can catch some absolute studs out of it(like this nice little 11.3 largemouth last year ), but they've always come on a frog when the mats are full. in the winter its pretty sparse back there and catch a bunch yoyoing and ripping rattletraps
Mobasser reply :
I fish a smaller lake that has bluegill as the main forage fish. The best bait is always a Zoom 4" finesse worm in any purple, grape shade. I never know if it's the size or color of this worm , but it's nourished everything else I've tried
TriStateBassin106 reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 5:36 AM, Jermination said:yeah man theres not much you can do with that kind of stuff, especially in shallow water areas. I never feel comfortable punching because its so thick from top to bottom. Every now and again you can catch some absolute studs out of it(like this nice little 11.3 largemouth last year
Can the fish even move around in that thick matted stuff? or they just suspend in it?
Harold Scoggins reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 2:46 AM, Jermination said:rip them through the grass, i torched a few last week on the chatterbait paralleling grass lines on the main channel up river. Use a heavier rod and it's much easier to rip through the grass. 80% of the chatterbait fish i caught that weekend came on the rip through grass, let a little bit of slack in your line and just pop it. they would suck it in before the blade started flapping again
On 11/8/2019 at 4:08 AM, Jermination said:trying to find a good pic of the main channel grass lines i'm talking about, this is probably about the best i have but you still can't really see them great
On 11/8/2019 at 5:36 AM, Jermination said:yeah man theres not much you can do with that kind of stuff, especially in shallow water areas. I never feel comfortable punching because its so thick from top to bottom. Every now and again you can catch some absolute studs out of it(like this nice little 11.3 largemouth last year
Dagnabit, I've been a fan of Bill Dance since 1967, I'm going to buy me one of those hats!
Jermination reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 6:44 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:Can the fish even move around in that thick matted stuff? or they just suspend in it?
they move around, at least in there because its shallow--that spot where the big one is from there's a creek channel that runs way back and holds about 8-10 ft of water. you'll see them chasing bait everywhere back there
On 11/8/2019 at 7:35 AM, Harold Scoggins said:
Dagnabit, I've been a fan of Bill Dance since 1967, I'm going to buy me one of those hats!
you catch more fish the better you look!
boostr reply :
On 11/8/2019 at 5:23 AM, TriStateBassin106 said:ah that type of grass, yeah that stuff is a problem here in NJ at this one place I go to, can't throw anything in there and it almost takes up the entire lake during the summer months, nothing gets through it.
This is the grass I'm talking about, it's from this once place in North Jersey, bass are in there but not a huge number of them, it's actually out of control and they finally started treating this body of water in September for it.
At that point I'm just punching and frogging, the struggle is real man lol.
WRB reply :
According to the DFW Phoenix lake has Largemouth bass, bluegill, Green Sunfish and Pan Fish. The LMB fishing is rated good and local fish reports are available.
This is a no boat lake so shore fishing only.
What type of fishing tackle do you have?
Tom
TriStateBassin106 reply :
On 11/9/2019 at 12:24 AM, boostr said:At that point I'm just punching and frogging, the struggle is real man lol.
I know other anglers who fish that lake, it's actually a tributary that connects to a brackish river, at the beginning of it some people catch crabs, also can find eels and stripers chasing gizzard shad. big carp in there aswell
OCdockskipper reply :
One thing i have noticed about lakes that don't have any shad is it changes where the bass are, but not necessarily what they will bite.
For example, my home lake has only bluegill & crayfish for forage (and the occasional small carp, catfish, bird, etc). The bass relate to the forage, so in the fall, when shad eating bass are going to the backs of creeks and busting up schools of shad on the surface of middle of coves, the bass in my lake aren't. They are where the bluegill & crayfish are at that time.
A bluegill colored or shaped lure may fool more bass than one that looks like a shad in your lake, but the latter can still catch a boatload. What is more important is how the different forage is changing where the bass are and how they are oriented to eating.
Angry John reply :
Dont limit good choices just because that bait is not present. I have caught tons of fish on huddleston shads and grass minnows on ponds with no shad. What kind of fish does a keitech or rage swimmer look like. Both are huge catchers for me. If your instant on matching the hatch you have hard and soft mattlures gills, and hud gills.
scaleface reply :
Describe your water pond , lake , clarity , shore fishing , boat , cover ,structure... omit nothing .Then we can get you line up with some effective lures .
Moonlander34 reply :
Extremely clear, small lake, called Phoenix Lake, large weed beds right next to deeper weed beds, which in turn are next to a muddy drop off, a lot of duckweed coming down a channel. Lots of overhang in the form of oak trees, some bushes.No boats, no structures, as it’s a reservoir. I like throwing popping frogs, and weedless things, and the bass seem pretty nonagressive.
Angry John reply :
On 11/9/2019 at 6:38 AM, Moonlander34 said:Extremely clear, small lake, called Phoenix Lake, large weed beds right next to deeper weed beds, which in turn are next to a muddy drop off, a lot of duckweed coming down a channel. Lots of overhang in the form of oak trees, some bushes.No boats, no structures, as it’s a reservoir. I like throwing popping frogs, and weedless things, and the bass seem pretty nonagressive.
Sounds like a place for weightless watermelon red worms, very light weight natural color creatures like grubs and craws, and ayu keitechs. Tubes would also be high on the list.
Moonlander34 reply :
On 11/7/2019 at 12:14 PM, Bluebasser86 said:baby bluegill have a lot of white on them similar to a shad, and so do crappie if they're present.
Wow! I didn't think of that, even though the bluegill are everywhere.
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