Question about crickets for bluegills

[BluegillslayerfromWi]

Hi Everyone,
Just had a quick question. I never thought about using crickets before for bluegill but what a great idea. I might have to try it next time I go. Just a quick question.
Where do you hook crickets?
I have never used them before but I am willing to trying it out and see what I can catch. Let me know
Thanks
Scott

[Brian Snodgrass]

Scott, crickets make excellent bait for bluegills and all types of sunfish. The gills, crappies, green sunfish, and the pumpkinseed seem to really relish them in the ponds and small lakes I fish in here in Northern Kentucky. The problem is, no matter how I hook them they don't seem to stay on the hook very well. I have tried hooking them on all parts of their small bodies but it has not really made much of a difference for me. Just have A LOT of them on hand. They are great bait and I have caught my share of large gills and the p-seeds with them. Good luck!

[John Sheehan]

Thanks for this topic Scott,Jack and Brian. Never tried crickets. What size Hook do you suggest ?How about a long shank#12?

[Glenn Sampson(Pegleg)]

I've kind of gotten away from useing live bait like crickets but I'm not a dyed in the wool purest yet. Teachin my grandkids to fish has brought me back to the fun of simpler methods. When we fish with crickets I tie on a #6 or #8 sickle hook and hook the cricket thru the collar on the back of its neck. Like Brian said, bring plenty because you'll get your hook cleaned often. When the kids are cricket fishin with me the boat usually fills up with escapees and when they jump ship it brings lots of brim & bass close to slurp them off the surface. Keeps the kids from gettin bored. lol

[Kiana Fitzpatrick]

Good info, as I am thinking of trying crickets this year too!!

[B. Waldman]

Crickets rock! There are lots of ways to rig crickets. The couple mentioned already work well. Here's another to try that I got off a couple local bluegill sticks this year. Simply thread the bluegill on the hook starting at his rump and running the hook point through the body and out his head. The head is the toughest part of a cricket and so the hook holds extremely well by doing this. Very rare to ever have a cricket sucked off the hook this way. The cricket will die in short order, but if you're around a good group of gills, the bluegills will finish him off before the impaling does (LOL).

Adjust your hook size to the length of the crickets when riggin this way. I usually use a slightly larger hook than normal, typically a long shank #8, give or take a size depending.

[JIM SIMKINS]

I catch almost all of my bluegill on a marabou jig and a cricket. The breast plate of the cricket is tough, run the hook through the breast plate and out the back. The bait stays on just fine

[Bruce Condello]

Interesting! I wasn't aware of this. Jeremy R. Mayo should be all over this one.

[Jeremy R. Mayo]

Nobody brougt it to my attention but im goin rite now to the shed to get a cricket and a hook to give a photo demo. IM ALL OVER IT BRUCE! IM ALL OVER IT! Crickets Crickets Crickets.

[Bruce Condello]

Good for you, buddy. It was only a matter of time until this website turned to cricket impaling. It IS ratings week however.....

[Jeremy R. Mayo]

Whats a ratings week? Oh yea did I forget to mention Bruce that it was 74 degrees here today and me and the wifey went out to the dock at the local boat launch and caught us 17 nice gills. Woulda had more but we ran out of crickets! haha. True story. Soft slow bite off the bottom. 9in of swing from weight to line watch for a slidin cork. Bottom fishing leaves no room for the cork to go down. Paying very very close attention is the only way to catch em when its cold.

[thomas j swank]

Greetings Jeremy, I have tried crickets many times with limited luck. I hate bait stealing! Many times I'll have just the head missing. Can't figure it out. I've not heard of fishing them on the bottom. My guess is so you can see better bobber movement. Let me know. Also, what is the best bobber for crickets? I usually catch 1 out of five with crickets and the go to worms or flys. I catch many more gills when I tip my fly with a spike. They stay on forever. The heck with the purist!

[bluegillboogieman]

Thomas, I haven't seen anything from Mayo for sometime. He dropped his brand new I-Phone or something in the drink awhile back and his wife may have taken away all his electronics.

Let's see if he's just lurking! I'm gonna steal his bait and answer for him. Maybe he'll come out of hiding and nail me.

Fishing on the bottom with a float means the fish will swim away with the bait and the float will slide in the direction of escape. SET THE HOOK NOW! If you are going to mess with crickets, get over your hatred of bait stealing. It goes with the territory. There are more crickets. Most cricket thieves are small. The big boys suck 'em on in down south. I like the skinniest float I can get. Porcupine quills, available at most bait shops and even Bass Pro are great. So are the skinny red and white so called pencil floats. # 8 hook works good and a single "B" sinker makes a real slow descent for the cricket. You still have to get the crickets where the gills are, but when you do, you will see why we like them so much.