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Top Five Baits In The Albemarle For 2013........A Tribute to The Bug/Jig Makers on Bigbluegill.com

Being a lifetime bluegill fisherman I often reflect on the past and what baits worked well in what type of conditions.....For many years, I would often just fish a plain hook with live bait or a plain ball jig tipped under a float and experienced great success in many different settings, whether that be the swamps and canals in southern Louisiana, farm ponds of friends and family, lakes and reservoirs throughout the south......I always had pretty good luck......I would occasionally pick up a new bait off the store shelves to try but more often for crappie or bass than gills......That all changed when I became a member of bigbluegill.com several years ago......I began networking with some of the lure creators and this evolved into testing a few baits at first in 2011 and that was soon replaced by routine use in 2012 and beyond.......I began fishing in 2013 with a wide selection of custom baits and it's very interesting to me how effective the various ties were throughout the year.......I thank the guys that have been gracious enough to allow me to fish some of their "go to" baits.......I caught gills every month in 2013 and wound up with a total of 6,082 on 51 different baits of many different colors and sizes but here are the top five in the brackish waters of North Carolina's Albemarle.....

# 1.......The Filament Jig in 1/32 ounce.......From the "River Critter" line created by Jim Gronaw.....These baits were employed under a float tipped with live crickets or grass shrimp for the best results......Almost two thousand sunfish were landed on this seemingly simple bait including over 1,400 during the three week Abney family vacation....

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Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on January 14, 2014 at 6:35pm: THANKS JEFFREY AND OF ALL THE FOLK ON HERE WOULDN'T WANT TO INSULT ANYONE WITH MY CANDID OBSERVATIONS, ESPECIALLY SIR JIM AND SIR JEFFREY ......

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 14, 2014 at 5:40pm: No worries Tooty.....none taken.......the proof is always in the fishing as you know and all of these have proven their worth........

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on January 14, 2014 at 5:31pm: HEY JEFFREY WAS'T MEANT TO SLIGHT SIR JIM OR ANYONE ELSE BY CALLING THESE SIMPLE . HAVING MADE A FEW BUGS MYSELF THEY JUST LOOK STRAIGHT FORWARD AND SIMPLE TO ME . IF IT WORKS NO USE IN MAKING EM MORE COMPLICATED THAN THEY NEED TO BE.

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 14, 2014 at 5:27pm: Jim went and made it a lot harder to select the right filament jig in a recent order of River Critters.......Most of these are already tied on a long pole as I gear up for late winter and early spring.....

Look at some of the combinations in this batch.........These are all very similar to the bait that finished 2013 as my # 1 lure........previously pictured in this blog......Thanks again Jim for the opportunity to splash these in the black waters........

And I'm also excited about my newest batch of hair jigs from Jim Gronaw......I really like these too!

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 13, 2014 at 5:01pm: I'm funny about calling any of them simple out of respect for the craftsmen......but it would appear that way......These baits are very appealing to me as I most often fish with a telescopic pole.......they all work well under a float.........

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on January 13, 2014 at 11:09am: ONE THING STANDS OUT WITH YOUR BUG SELECTION JEFFREY : THEY ALL LOOK FAIRLY SIMPLE AND DURABLE TOO ........"..SO MANY BUGS AND SO LITTLE TIME "

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 13, 2014 at 9:55am: It's very diificult Carl and it doesn't help when the arsenal continues to expand with quality baits from the likes of Rick King, Dick Tabbert, James Gillete, Tooty, Jim Gronaw, Leo, David and yourself......but it's certainly a good problem to have as an angler......

Comment by carl hendrix on January 12, 2014 at 10:21pm: a great multitude of real good looking baits jeff!! just how can you determine which one to use? just put your hand in the tackle box- close your eyes - and hope for the best?? LOL

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 12, 2014 at 7:15pm: #5.......And finally a bait I didn't even see until just after Labor Day rounds out the top five.....the Pink Powder Jig from Tripp Carroll........still grossing over 800 sunfish during the Fall and early Winter....this bait will also challenge in 2014 when fished all year.......

These jigs were also tipped for the best results.....most often live grass shrimp or crickets......

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 12, 2014 at 7:10pm: #4.....I still have boxes full of commercial baits and many favorites.......An old favorite of mine and a new bait to me tied for number four last year......the tri-colored ball jig in 1/32 ounce and a #8 bro bug made the cut........I most often refer to the tri colored jig as a "Splash Jig" and Tony Livingston gets the credit for my introduction to the Northland Bait Company, the manufacturers of the Bro Bug Collection.....

This is one of my favorite colors of Splash Jigs....

And here's a #8 Bro Bug from Northland in meal worm color tipped with a live grass shrimp.....