What Would You Use When Bass Are Biting Bluegill 2024

Clint C. reply :

Went out to my local lake yesterday. Most people use live bait at this place. There was a guy catching small Largemouths on minnows pretty consistently. Then more towards the evening 7-7:30 a guy next to me fishing for bluegill kept getting larger bass on the line when he had hooked a bluegill.

So my question is... What would you throw in this situation? Spinnerbait, swim jig, crank? There are weeds about 10 inches below the surface of the water and some floating weeds. Trying to figure out what would be the best bleugill imitator. I had a drop shot on at the time with a z-man finesse worm. The smaller bass would come up to quickly it then turn away.

NCbassmaster4Life reply :

Shallow crankbait, imitation of bluegill....or a fluke.

Xcalibur and Strikeking both have great imitations for the $.

Lucky Craft BDS 3 is awsume, but man quite $$.

Oh and Livetarget.

Clint C. reply :

I was thinking I might throw my Rapala x-rap shad shallow. I have it in a bluegill pattern.

I'll check out the ones you mentioned as well. Thanks. I get snagged a lot so I think I might have to stay away from the $33 crank =p

NCbassmaster4Life reply :

The x-rap is awsume too. You mentiond grass and weeds that's why I would go with a plastic swimbait of your choice and fish it weedless.

J Francho reply :

Mattlures Hard Gill.

buzzfrog reply :

Live target gills, and i have luck with the Dt 4 blue gill and the xcaliber sunfish color

Missouribassman95 reply :

A t-rigged worm, and try swimming it. I've had alot of succes on that in ponds where there are mainly bluegills for forage.

Clint C. reply :

Thanks for all the recommendations so far. I really like the way the live target bluegill wakebait looks. That mattlures hard gill is pretty amazing looking too, but out of my price range. Have you had much luck with it?

J Francho reply :

Quote
Have you had much luck with it?

Tons of fish, most over 3#. It's my go to bait in certain circumstances. I noticed that bass were blowing up on a Spro Frog, but missing by a foot or more. Turns out they weren't missing at all, but feeding on the curious and distracted blue gills following my frog. Toss the Hard Gill out there, and bang.

Clint C. reply :

I'm very tempted to spend the $60 on one. Do you use the baby hard gill or the full size? The average bass out of my lake is between 2-3lb. Unfortunately almost everything is sold out.

J Francho reply :

I use the floating hard gill. I think it's 5". Used is the way to go for that stuff. Keep your eyes peeled.

(null)

smalljaw67 reply :

Perfect scenario for a square bill crankbait. I have a Koppers Live Target Bluegill crank, it is 1/2oz mat finish and dives 3' to 4' and it is a killer when the bluegills are spawning. I remember when I got that crankbait, I was fishing a lake in mid July and it was calm and every once in awhile you would see a swirl on the surfce well luck would have it that it happen close enough to the boat to see what the disturbance was, bluegills were going to the surface to eat some kind of fly hatch and if it was near a hole in the weed bed a bass would come up and eat it. Well I tied on the Live Targe Bluegill and the very first cast I got 3 or 4 cranks and it got crushed, my buddy was catching them too on a perch colored big-o but the hits were nothing like I was getting on the Koppers.

MCS reply :

On 6/7/2012 at 11:57 PM, Missouribassman95 said:

A t-rigged worm, and try swimming it. I've had alot of succes on that in ponds where there are mainly bluegills for forage.

Same here, lots of ponds with bluegill as the main forage and a T-rigged weightless, just roll it slow throw the weeds seems to produce.

River Rat316 reply :

Swim jig, goes throught the weeds perfectly, hooking percentage is higher than any of the baits mentioned, you can do an infinite number of retrieves to get strikes, you can also vary trailers for a variety of different looks, by far the most versatile of all the baits mentioned. And you won't wanna sceam, cry, throw fits and generally act like a 3 yr old if you lose it like you would if you lost the swim bait...lol that is how I would act anyway.

Jake P reply :

Square bill crank in bluegill pattern. Always works for me.

Skeet22 reply :

Blue gill colored swim jig without question.

BamaBassChaser reply :

Blue gill colored swim jig gets my vote too!

piscicidal reply :

Swimjig with a paddletail trailer

fowlskies reply :

I would throw a Sebile Magic Swimmer in bluegill pattern (only color I have as of now). Its usually my go to lure when nothing else will bite and I've thrown everything in the box. My other go to when the bite is slow in a good olde in-line spinner. But if the bluegill bite is on nothing works better than the magic swimmer. In fact I went out yesterday evening for a couple hrs with a buddy and the only lure to boat a fish was this one and we threw the entire box at them, including my friend throwing out bluegill cranks.

For weeds (as long as they haven't grow right to the top of the water) you can swim it just above them all the way to the top of the waterline to the point its a wake bait or let it sink and swim it just above whatever depth the weeds are at.

Scorcher214 reply :

I would throw a 3.5inch yum money minnow in bluegill.

K_Mac reply :

A wacky-rigged Senko/knock-off in green w/red flake is a great bait in this situation. Add a little split shot weight crimped near the hook eye to vary the fall rate (I use a 2/0 EWG in all but the heaviest of cover). I have caught many nice fish that were feeding on gills using this method. It is a slower technique that some don't like, but if you have the patience for it you will catch fish.

Gangley reply :

I would throw a live bluegill on a hook

fowlskies reply :

On 6/9/2012 at 3:53 AM, Gangley said:

I would throw a live bluegill on a hook

Haha. Best answer yet why use an imitation when you can use the real thing.

Clint C. reply :

Thanks everyone... I'll be trying out all the suggestions for sure!

A-Rob reply :

KVD 2.5 bluegill color

Zoff reply :

This...

Clint C. reply :

Who makes that Zoff?

Zoff reply :

On 6/10/2012 at 4:47 AM, Clint C. said:

Who makes that Zoff?

Storm Lures

gobig reply :

If you want a good bluegill swimbait that does not cost a fortune try the Black Dog G2 shell cracker.

lavbasser reply :

Also, LC Kelly J in Sunfish or Ghost Baby Bluegill.

Clint C. reply :

Well to start I ended up getting these lures.. From left to right.

1. Jackall Iobee Frog - Bluegill

2. LIVETARGET Bluegill Squarebill Crankbaits

3. Bandit Crankbaits - 100 Series - Bluegill

NCbassmaster4Life reply :

Sweet let us knows what works the most sufficient.

einsteins reply :

We have absolutely killed the larger bass in our fishing hole with the Storm bulegill swimbait and the Storm Crappie swimbait.

Today the Bass and Northern Pike were just crazy over the bluegill.

We caught 6 Bass over 4pounds, 12 bass over 3 pounds, and a bunch of ones we didnt weigh.

Northerns, 2 over 7 pounds, and 3 over 4 pounds.....I went through two 3 packs of the lures but it was worth every bit of it.

Here is what we were using:

Primus reply :

On 6/7/2012 at 11:34 PM, J Francho said:

Mattlures Hard Gill.

My choice as well.

Clint C. reply :

I've never used swimbaits before. Might have to be a whole new adventure for me this summer =0)

Pepul reply :

I have the same question but instead of bluegill they are eating tilapia

Tim Cianciola reply :

i like the strike king kvd swim jig in bluegill with a rage chunck myself

Jig Meister reply :

Dirty Jigs Gil Swim Jig

ClackerBuzz reply :

On 6/8/2012 at 12:18 AM, Clint C. said:

I'm very tempted to spend the $60 on one. Do you use the baby hard gill or the full size? The average bass out of my lake is between 2-3lb. Unfortunately almost everything is sold out.

swimjig and cranks are much easier/cheaper and you should have just as much success as hard swimbaits. if you do decide to drop the money on higher end hard baits make sure you have the right rod/line set up and learn how to cast the heavier weight properly w/o a back lash. nothing worse than the sound of a backlash followed by the "crack" of ur line snapping (aka use mono; i had braid with mono leader but braid cuts itself in backlash) followed by the "PLOP" of ur lure sinking to the bottom of the lake. also recommend casting hard baits from a boat/canoe/kayak b/c you can paddle over and use lure knocker to un-snag them. then you won't be faced with the question "do i want to take a $60 swim today?"

BassThumb reply :

I would try a swim jig. 1/4 oz with a 5" single, curlytail trailer. The trailer will have plenty of resistance to fish nice and slow, and the fall will be slow enough to fish over those weeds.

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What Would You Use When Bass Are Biting Bluegill 2024

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