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what bait to use for perch and bluegill 2024


fishing user avatardinnerbait reply : 

don't know what to use for perch or bluegill. Any suggestions?


fishing user avatarPenguino reply : 

worms, worms and more worms.

 

In all seriousness though, bluegill will hit anything. I've caught them on stinkbaits, raisins, bare hooks etc.

Perch however, are much more finicky, and in terms of live bait, the only things I've had them hit are nightcrawlers and small shiners.


fishing user avatarYeajray231 reply : 

^ exactly. 


fishing user avatarBluebasser86 reply : 

Perch love leeches in my experience, which is unfortunate when you're walleye fishing and keep catching small perch. 


fishing user avatarCrestliner2008 reply : 

I've had a great deal of success using standard 2" soft plastic crappie baits on 1/16 oz. ball head jigs. I prefer the Bobby Garland's Baby Shads for straight tails and Charlie Brewer's Slider Grubs for paddle tails. Perch will usually stay close to the bottom, so a long cast, let your bait hit bottom, then a slow retrieve, will usually get bit. Bluegills can be everywhere and will hit anything. You do not have to use live bait. The plastics cited will catch them just as well.


fishing user avatar00 mod reply : 

Crickets almost 100% of the time for bluegill!

Jeff


fishing user avatarHog Basser reply : 

Worms, nightcrawler to be exact.  Bluegill all day long or as long as my kids will fish with those.  


fishing user avatarwisconsin heat reply : 

Live bait is best. Worms are easy.

As far as artificial lures go, Berkley gulp plastics work well. I keep a jar of the worms and minnows with me in case the bass aren't biting. The fish don't hold on to them as long as live bait most of the time, so you have to be quick on the hookset. It also means you will gut hook less fish.

1285361_IS_BR_G_Earthworm_Jar?$pdp-main$ 570362.jpg


fishing user avatarPourMyOwn reply : 

2 inch white Mister Twisters catch more perch for me than anything.


fishing user avatardavecon reply : 

In these parts, in order - grass shrimp, wiggles, crickets.


fishing user avatarTracker22 reply : 

Wax worms


fishing user avatarsoflabasser reply : 

I have caught big bluegills on bread.


fishing user avatarBankbeater reply : 

1/16 ounce white Rooster Tail when I want make casts.  Live worms when I don't.


fishing user avatarscaleface reply : 

You know those Bagworms you see infested on evergreen trees and shrubs .If can you find some of those and cut them out with manicuring scissors you will have one of the best live baits there is . Bluegill , catfish , carp ...

 

6Q10PQT08QD0EQV0EQLSPQWK2Q6KPQZSIKOKWQLS


fishing user avatarBluebasser86 reply : 
  On 9/20/2016 at 7:39 PM, scaleface said:

You know those Bagworms you see infested on evergreen trees and shrubs .If can you find some of those and cut them out with manicuring scissors you will have one of the best live baits there is . Bluegill , catfish , carp ...

 

6Q10PQT08QD0EQV0EQLSPQWK2Q6KPQZSIKOKWQLS

Never thought of doing that. Those things are everywhere right now. A lot less work than catching grasshoppers or crawlers. 


fishing user avatarscaleface reply : 
  On 9/20/2016 at 7:58 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Never thought of doing that. Those things are everywhere right now. A lot less work than catching grasshoppers or crawlers. 

I put them  in a  container and  cut them out when needed .  They may be empty or in the pupa stage right now . Pupa stage is good too .


fishing user avatarRed Bear reply : 

bluegills love trout magnets...


fishing user avatarYeajray231 reply : 

Bluegills eat anything.. I've caught them on crawlers , bread, waxworms, live minnows , a jelly bean, bare hook (although I wouldn't suggest that) , they are not picky and IMO fairly stupid. 

I picked up a jar of powerbait crappie magnets , never caught a crappie on one. But the bluegill love em. I like the chartreuse. But the gills don't care. I honestly don't think there is an easier fish to catch than a bluegill. 


fishing user avatarPenguino reply : 
  On 9/20/2016 at 7:39 PM, scaleface said:

You know those Bagworms you see infested on evergreen trees and shrubs .If can you find some of those and cut them out with manicuring scissors you will have one of the best live baits there is . Bluegill , catfish , carp ...

 

6Q10PQT08QD0EQV0EQLSPQWK2Q6KPQZSIKOKWQLS

Do Crappie and Perch Hit 'em?


fishing user avatarblckshirt98 reply : 

I used to catch bluegill as a kid with homemade doughballs - flour and water on a tiny hook.  You could see the balls of dough disappear into the fish's mouths.


fishing user avatarCmp240 reply : 

Waxies, or real wax worms on a slip bobber for gills,,,, or crappies,,,, wigglers work good also,,,, 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

This time of year the perch are going on minnows up north.  Crappie minnows or small fatheads.  Get your bait inches off the bottom to target larger jumbos rather than just small ones pecking all the time (if you're planning on keeping some).


fishing user avatarCatch 22 reply : 
  On 9/20/2016 at 7:39 PM, scaleface said:

You know those Bagworms you see infested on evergreen trees and shrubs .If can you find some of those and cut them out with manicuring scissors you will have one of the best live baits there is . Bluegill , catfish , carp ...

 

6Q10PQT08QD0EQV0EQLSPQWK2Q6KPQZSIKOKWQLS

I cringe to look at that pic.Every year I do battle with baggies to save my trees. Hold a lighter to the end of the bag===they come out.Hard to beat a piece of nite crawler for panfish.Bloodworms catch just about everything too[very messy]


fishing user avatarscaleface reply : 
  On 9/21/2016 at 3:01 AM, Penguino said:

Do Crappie and Perch Hit 'em?

I've never caught crappie with them but I'm sure they would work on a jig head . I have never caught a perch , so dont know unless your referring to sunfish and sunfish will eat it like candy .


fishing user avatarJigfishn10 reply : 

Perch have been banging on a small 3" jerkbait and a Bayou Boogie I've been using lately.


fishing user avatarfishballer06 reply : 

Fathead's.

Perch, crappie, bluegill, white bass, rock bass. They will catch them all.


fishing user avatarBig Bait Fishing reply : 

don't know about perch since there are none where i live but for blue gill , i find that the best bait is raw shrimp !

i go to the seafood counter in my local grocery store and ask them for a dollar or two of medium size peeled shrimp ( about 6 or 7 shrimp) , take them home and dice them into tiny pea sized chunks and throw them in a zip lock , at the end of the day , just throw them in the freezer to use for another day !!


fishing user avatarYeajray231 reply : 

Are we still talking about how to catch bluegill lol.. anything on a hook. They can fit in their mouths, they will eat. 

The perch techniques are a ittle more interesting IMO 


fishing user avatarNYWayfarer reply : 

I was fishing on a dock this weekend for smallmouth when along came a group of young ladies to fish. They were using live nightcrawlers and were catching both perch and bluegill.

I was nice to see girls interested in fishing and how many perch they caught. My ego was saved when I pulled in a keeper bass that looked like it could have swallowed their biggest fish.


fishing user avatar2tall79 reply : 

Best bait I have ever used to catch perch?   Perch.   After you catch a couple on worms or whatever, fillet the last 3" off the tale.  Leave the skin on and hook right thru meat and skin.  You might have to use a swivel and leader to prevent line twist.


fishing user avatarYeajray231 reply : 

Interesting ^


fishing user avatarIndianaFinesse reply : 
  On 9/29/2016 at 4:23 AM, 2tall79 said:

Best bait I have ever used to catch perch?   Perch.   After you catch a couple on worms or whatever, fillet the last 3" off the tale.  Leave the skin on and hook right thru meat and skin.  You might have to use a swivel and leader to prevent line twist.

Yep, the nice thing with using perch meat for bait is it only takes one worm to catch a limit of perch.:)  I have also done this for rainbow trout in light current, except I put it on a drop shot. 


fishing user avatarMikeWright reply : 

Why has nobody said, CORN! Canned corn is so awesome and cheap....you'll pull in so many off a dock that it'll be annoying taking them off the hook. 


fishing user avatarNYWayfarer reply : 
  On 9/29/2016 at 12:25 PM, MikeWright said:

Why has nobody said, CORN! Canned corn is so awesome and cheap....you'll pull in so many off a dock that it'll be annoying taking them off the hook. 

Amen! I have so many memories of catching Sunfish with canned corn at the end of a bobber line as a kid. Cheap and 1 can will last the whole day and then some.


fishing user avatarN Florida Mike reply : 

Try worms.?


fishing user avatarfishwizzard reply : 

 I fish for white perch a lot and have the most luck with small spinnerbaits or inline spinners.  Chartruse seems to be the magic color around here. 


fishing user avatarBassun reply : 

Can't beat a nightcrawler around here... course, you may end up with something other than a small panfish, and we wouldn't want that, lol.  But, artificial wise I have the best luck for gill's with flies.  Popping or any floating really, work amazingly well.  

For spinning gear, I prefer tiny grubs. 1 to 2 inch works well, scale size vs numbers, and mix up colors.  White, yellow, pink are the three I toss the most though.  Perch will nab the 2" variety pretty well too, especially white.  But, honestly, I do better with small thin baits like a countdown rapala etc for Yellow Perch.

Crappy, well, I'm a crappy Crappy fisherman.  My best luck has always been minnow shaped, silver rubber.  (Live minnows are king locally though.)  2" rubber minnows have done the best for me, occasionally I've done well with rooster tails, but tend to loose too many brushing the cover.  If they are hungry, you can catch some slabs on bigger grubs though.


fishing user avatarS. Sass reply : 
  On 9/19/2016 at 9:42 AM, Penguino said:

worms, worms and more worms.

There is one pool we named perch pool because of the large size and number of perch. We ran out of worms and caught grasshoppers. When we got tired of chasing grasshoppers I tried a small tube on a 1/8oz jig and never missed a beat. But worms are the irresistible meal here. 


fishing user avatarclayton86 reply : 

I've been drop shotting for gills and perch lately with gulp 1" minnows, gulp crickets, gulp 1" leaches. Went last week and caught 30 keepers pie plate sized and threw back twice as many. 


fishing user avatarMolay1292 reply : 

A small piece of split shot, a small hook and a small piece of worm will catch you a lot of bluegill/sunfish.


fishing user avatarOutdoor Zack reply : 
  On 10/24/2016 at 1:42 AM, Molay1292 said:

A small piece of split shot, a small hook and a small piece of worm will catch you a lot of bluegill/sunfish.

This all day long.

But hooking them with lures and flies can be more fun




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