MY BEST BLUEGILL SECRET

[Frank Ribble]

AFTER YOU FIND THE GILLS, GO NAKED. JUST A SMALL HOOK WITH A PIECE OF CRAWLER. NO BOBBER OR SPLIT SHOT. I PREFER SIZE 10 LONG SHANK HOOKS, BECAUSE THEY ARE EASIER TO GET OUT. THE SMALLER HOOK I USE THE BETTER LUCK I HAVE & THE WORMS LAST LONGER. I FISH IN MICHIGAN. BUT I HAVE LANDED 14" TO 16" BASS WITH THESE HOOKS. IF YOU FIND BIGGER FISH, YOU CAN ALWAYS USE A BIGGER HOOK.  THIS TECHNIQUE IS BEST USED IN CLEAR WATER WHERE YOU CAN SEE YOUR WORM DISAPPEAR. BLUEGILLS SEEM TO LOVE HITTING THE BAIT ON THE FALL ON THIS WEIGHTLESS APPROACH IS VERY NATURAL.

   LAST JUNE, I CAUGHT ABOUT 50 BLUEGILLS, UNDER A MAT OF LOOSE VEGETATION THAT HAD BLOWN AGAINST A CEMENT WALL. ALSO, DO WELL IN THE HEAT FISHING WHERE THE WATER GOES UNDER THE ROAD, ABOVE A DAM. BLUEGILLS SEEM TO LOVE STRUCTURE & SHADE IN THE SUMMER. I ALSO FISH FROM DOCKS ON A WEEDY FLAT.

  MY FRIEND SAYS HE CATCHED BLUEGILLS ON RED OCTOPUS HOOKS WITH NO BAIT.

  I AM GOOD AT CATCHING OVER 25 IN A FEW HOURS, BUT WOULD LIKE TO CATCH SOME BIGGUNS.

  IF THERE ARE LARGE SCHOOLS OF 6" AND UNDER FISH ARE THERE BIG ONES NEARBY?

[John C Watson]

I tried the naked hook and night crawler today and did good with it.  It was fun just fishing with a simple rig.  The bream really hit the worms hard.  I started using a reel with 2lb test but it proved to light for my taste so I switched to a reel with 4lb.  Still had plenty of bites and no more break offs. 

Thanks for the suggestion Frank

[Vince Fusco]

I use to fish some old sand pits in Iowa. They were super clear and deep, with very little shorline cover. Boats and float tubes were not allowed, and the fish were super spooky. A 1/64 oz. bare jig tipped with a red wiggler on 4 lb test mono did the trick on the big gills that called these pits home.We would cast out and let the jig settle on the bottom then slowly start reeling it in till one grabbed it, and the fight was on. Most people fishing conventional floats and worms had little luck on these fish.  

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

It's rewarding when you figure out a location Vince....I have things that work on one river and not the next....Just have to put in the time and make good mental notes and you'll have testimony like the sand pits.....Cool Stuff

[Rude Alinska]

Good tips laddies.  Fish On!

[dick tabbert]

You know Jeffrey hit it on the head spend time on that body of water. The first thing I do when I go to a new body of water is find me a map of the lake. Now the first things I look for is depths, flats, vegetation and drop offs and feeder creeks. This is what I do at home before I even attempt to fish the lake. Now you have cut the fish locating by 75% at least. My rule of thumb and it works for me is to find a flat adjutant to deep water that holds a weed bed in that 6 to 12 foot depth range. Now you have a possible bedding area and if they are not on there beds you have the outside weed bed to concentrate on. Word of caution don't run your boat on the flats cause if the fish are bedding they then at that time will be almost impossible to catch. The map helps to refine your areas along with time on the water any notes you keep and I always keep a log.  Again the log is a very important tool with information you may be able to carry onto other bodies of water. Once you put it all together and that's where time on the water come in to play if you not getting big fish it may be time to move on to other waters. Not every lake has big fish in it but it might have lots of fish in it if you want small fish and I'm assuming you want quality fish so if you put your time in and the quality isn't there it may be time to move on. Frank you just keep the faith and keep prodding and with experience comes knowledge and soon I'll be asking you the questions.

[Rude Alinska]

Excellent tips.

[Sanford Hoyle]

Where would be one of the best places to fish for gill in Michigan right now?

[dick tabbert]

In southern Michigan you have 2 great chains one being the Coldwater chain my favorite and the Randell chain full of gills and crappies my 2nd best chain.