I tried one for the first time last week and caught a couple of nice gills (my two biggest of the day). I trolled slowly just beyond the drop off. I'm anxious to give it a better try - I have to learn to use it more effectively but it seems to have good potential for larger gills. The one I use is the Bo's Bluegill Buster and was designed specifically for bluegill fishing.
Yes they are great and fun to make. I have used both willow blades and colorado blades #8 baitholders and I have used octopus hooks. I don't care for the octopus hooks as much the fish are lible too be hooked to deep.
No I haven't but I'm sure they would still work in that application....the lake has seen an increase in the rock bass population, and it is sometimes difficult to keep them off the line.
Yes, I did homemade something like that but smaller! Size 0 bright orange blade is nice! Spinner rig with a small nightcrawler on slow trolling. Many channel cats, too! Farther out make the rig run deeper!
Absolutely they work. My avatar picture shows an 11"er that took a spinner. Actually, I use spinners for a "search lure" when looking for gills. Once found, I'll go to other presentations. Check out Cabela's and/or Bass Pro for spinner components or go directly to Northlandtackle.com.