One Day's Catch all on the Same Bait

[Bob Davis]

My brother, his son, and I went to one of the Madison Lakes to fish blue gills and got way more then we expected. By the end of the day we put 47 gills averaging 8" or more in the cooler, 4 legal walleyes, a 32" northern pike, a handful of perch, plus a legal large and small mouth bass all on the same exact bait! What was this wonder bait, you might be asking? A night crawler either harnessed or on a single hook with a small barrel sinker rigged as as slip sinker. That's it! Even the large northern pike couldn't pass it up. When I figure out how to post the picture of this catch I will try to add it to his post. Bob

[John Sheehan]

Great Bob! Amazing day for you!! I havent used full Nightcrawlers and barrel sinkers in years but I have done well with smallies and perch that way. ...I've been using worm and crawler pieces on spoons (Bill Musky Modica does this a lot)and catching WP,YP,,Crappie,BG,SF,Trout and Bass after a few catches at a particular spot I'll forego the worm tip and get em on the bare spoon.

[Bob Davis]

John, Thanks for the reply. I have tried a few spoons but still no serious luck with them. Any tips on a brand and weight I might zero in on? I've been using the small ones I used icefishing (Gapen "Flickers") but without any results to speak of. Bob

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Bob, Gapens flicker spoons in the 1/32 may be a bit too small...try the Swedish Pimple in 1/10, and 1/5 oz sizes

[Bob Davis]

Bill, I found a website for the Swedish Pimp but like most fishing baits, they come in a wide variety of colors. Are there any small group of colors I can try that work rather then buying them all and then using a couple? Thanks, in advance, Bob

[John Sheehan]

Bob -I gotta stress I'm fishin' a small home lake in New Jersey so my advice might not fit.I have good luck with numbers of panfish and bass using Swedish Pimples,Kastmaster,and Hildebrandt spoons in sizes ranging from 12th oz-8th oz.The Dardevle Skeeter which is very light has worked as well...The Hildebrandts are my favorites as they have all the hardware attached and a great sturdy single hook welded on so I just tie on and catch.They are extremely well made...hope they dont change now that the company is bought out .They've caught Trout, BassWhite Perch Crappies Sunfish Blue gills...they are great !!
I use Gold,Silver,White/Red colors mostly because I'm sceptical of the need for a lot of colors in the fishing box.I might be wrong though and you really gotta talk to guys in your area .Best of luck and pass on some tips to me will you please! Besides the camraderie thats why I'm here!

[Jim Gronaw]

Great catch on crawlers...I wonder if there is a specie of fish that won't hit a properly rigged worm on the planet. Matt and I have been doin the worm thing this season and we are smashing big gills and perch well into the heat. Congrats! Sounds like your rig is similar to the slip sinker rig we are using for our gills that have moved off the banks. Good Luck!

[Kiana Fitzpatrick]

Amazing day......fish on!!!

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Good job, good eating

[Bob Davis]

I live about 45 minutes from Racine, and about 20 minutes from Madison on the I-system in a small town called Lake Mills. I grew up on Rock Lake but seem to still be learning things about the fish that live there. Just ordered about a half a dozen Swedish pimples in the 1/5 and 1/10th oz. sizes in a variety of colors today. Hopefully I'll be popping spoons by the weekend. Mr. Mod sure knows his stuff and with his guidance, I hope to become a believer in the spoonin' for gills method very soon. Will keep everyone posted as things unfold. I heard about the triangle of Lake Monona last winter. It produced a lot of small gills this past winter but then maybe they weren't rigging for the big boys. Can't say for sure. I fished Rock Lake and Beaver Dam Lake. Bob

[Bob Davis]

2lb. shot you an email this morning. Great website you have there. Bob

[Howard Webster]

Hey Bob that is a great day fishing. I fish jigs, spoons, plastic, flys, and other assorted lures with fair sucess but for myself Ijust can,t go fishing without a good bucket of night crawlers. They always seem to work when nothing else will for me.

[Josh Holley]

that is an unbeliviable catch.