Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

Well, I had never done it before, but today I decided to try tipping my 1/64th oz shad dart jighead with two different baits to see if it would make a difference. I fished a small public lake in Adams County, PA from 3 to 5 pm. Weather was splendid...68 degrees and partly sunny skies and calm and the fish were biting.

Last week I had to go to the drop-shot/live worm rig to catch fish that had settled near the bottom of 6-8 feet of water after a cold front. Not today, as I found fish 5 ft from the surface over a submerged creek bed. Using the jig with a small piece of garden worm, I caught fish steadily until I reached a count of 19 fish, then decided to try the Gulp! minnows as a tipping bait. Since the entire 1 inch minnow would make a bulky, oversized offering for the gills, I decided to use the back half of the minnow as a tipping option, suspended just like the jig/worm option. Here are the results...The first three fish I caught on the Gulp minnow tipped jig were the three largest of the day at 10 to 10.5 inches. I don't know why this is, maybe a small group of bigger fish just cruised in at this particular time, but the top three were on successive casts. Maybe the jig and Gulp presented a slightly larger offering that only the bigger fish would approach...just a guess.

I caught the same amount...19 apiece...on each tipping option for a total of 38 released fish. Most of the fish on the Gulp tipping were 9 inches or better, and the worm offering fish were just slightly smaller. I fished each option for one hour.

Worm fish tended to take the bobber under with more gusto, and would make the bobber dissapeer. The fish that took the Gulp tipped jig tended to 'trail off' with the jig, not always pulling the bobber below the surface. Sometimes, they would just 'tilt' the bobber and you had to be able to recognize the strike. Most fish were caught over the creek channel, which is easy casting distance from the shoreline.

So what did I find out? Probably, not much. The fish were on the feed as a warm 70 degree November day had them going and action seemed just as fast with either bait. Water was at 56 degrees and clear. The only noticable differences was the 'trailing off' bites on the Gulp and the larger fish on same. Need to experiment more...maybe this Saturday at another lake!

No, didn't prove much today, except it was a beautiful time to be out and those lovely fish made it a great time.

Views: 9203

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Mr. Gronaw, i must say that was a great tip i'll use it in texas and let you know how it proved out

Interesting, food for thought, I'll give it a try.

Have had good results with Gulp Alive Hellgrammite's the past couple weeks in Southern Illinois while visiting my son. All I had were the chartruese and black ones. One day the black worked better, another the chartruese.

Also tried other Gulp Alive like waxies, crickets and minnows. All did catch some fish but the Hellgrammite's were the ticket.

Am now back home so am looking forward to trying them here. Oh, used the 1/32 Shad Dart jig in pink.

I have pond fished like this a lot. When  "The fish that took the Gulp tipped jig tended to 'trail off' with the jig, not always pulling the bobber below the surface. Sometimes, they would just 'tilt' the bobber and you had to be able to recognize the strike", I find this to be BG babies, usually 2" or 3" .

When we lived in Wisconsin we caught bluegills,crappies ,perch ,walleyes up to 27 in ,northerns up to 32 inches ,after using gulp I haven't had live bait in my boat . Moved to Tennessee and same thing . I am  sold on the one inch gulp minnow in chartreuse shad .I use a 1/32 ounce trout head jig , orange first choice and no float. Cast out let it sink and twitch it back.   

Anybody use Berkeley Powerbait Honey Worms and your success?

RSS

Latest Activity

Bruce Tomaselli commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Sunrise Shellcracker…..7/23/2025

"I love your kind of fishing!"
23 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Sunrise Shellcracker…..7/23/2025

"I’m very fortunate that the fishing  in coastal North Carolina is so great and most…"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

JULYWP

"Summer colors on this white perch!"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

JULYP

"Nice Yellow John….good colors"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Often bass fisherman will catch Warmouth on 9” worms……..they. don’t fight…"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"This is a great comparison John…..I added another photo to give perspective….."
yesterday
John Sheehan posted photos
yesterday
Bruce Tomaselli commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Sunrise Shellcracker…..7/23/2025

"I sure envy you, enjoy!"
yesterday
John Sheehan replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Hey Jeffrey! Does the Warmouth have about the same sized Mouth as a Black Crappie of equal size, or…"
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Some quality Warmouth I caught in my early years on the Albemarle….."
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Thanks for sharing John……you have patterned your available species pretty good over…"
Wednesday
John Sheehan replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Only caught five of these Species up here in New Jersey. Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Red Breasted…"
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Crackers Saved This Morning Behind A Cold Front…..7/23/2025

If I get out the remainder of July it will probably be a crappie stalk on the coastal marsh……
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Slow Moving Cold Front Went Through Overnight and Shifted the Wind to the North so our rivers were dumped, but we wanted to go anyway…."
Wednesday

© 2025   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service