Does anyone have problems with bass swipping gills from under your boat??

[Joe Butler]

Does anyone have problems with bass swipping gills from under your boat?? Was fly fishing this weekend caugt a small gill on a popper. A bass came out from under my boat and engulfed the gill. I came up with a 3 pound bass and no sings of the gill. Anyone else had this type of thing happen to them? This is not the first time for me.

[Andre Sturkey]

Yes, matter a fact, thats how i target big bass when there hunting early mornig and late day. I will catch a couple small gills maybe 3 to 4 fingers long, throw them in a bucket until i see big mouth in the area. As soon as i do see the large mouth i'll hook the gill only through the lip so it is still unharm and fighting. It's not fair how easy those bass are turned on when they see those gills go into their twist. Funny thing is most the time the bass will get hooked and throw off the gill who survives.

[Jim Gronaw]

Joe, I like to hook a 5 in gill under the lower jaw and up through one nostril and fish it 18 in to 36 in below a foam, torpedo shaped float . When you see bass chasing your gills or running them down amoungst spawning beds, try to get a FRESH gill out in the area and see what happens. For more info on bait for bass you can refer to my article in the June/July issue of the InFisherman which shows Brandon Rawlings ' rig for golden shiners as well. Use circle hooks and heavier line to save the fish as we just want a few photos of Bubba and a quick release. Good Luck!

[Fish Chris]

Here in CA, it's illegal to use Bluegill as bait, although I've never understood why. Sure, they will work, but their are plenty of other live baits (crawlers and crawdads to name a couple) which will usually work just as well... if not better.

Oh, but yes, I've had Bass run up and try to swipe my Gill.... and Crappie too.

Big fish eat little fish. Always have, always will :-)

"Green Carp" :-) Chuckles. So what's wrong with "Carp" ? ....another great sportfish :-)

Peace,
Fish

[Alex G.]

Just the other day I was helping the Nebraska Game and Parks at a family fishing event as a Youth fishing instructor. Two kids were moving rocks like landscapers trying to get at a gill that they had accidentally dropped in the riprap. After moving a few big rocks, I was able to grab the gill, it was covered in dirt, but still alive. I toss it back in the water only to watch a 18-20" bass engulf it. Same thing about an hour later, gill get's released, only to be eaten by a bass with in 2' of shore. After all the families leave, another instructor has me catch a small gill with my fly rod. His son promptly tosses it on a hook, and gets himself two bass on it.

My daughter has caught her biggest bass on a bluegill head.

I love catching gills, I love eating gills, I love using them for bait. I'm just VERY selective on what size gills get used for what purpose.

[Steve Fleckenstein]

Here's a pic of that Bass

[Jim Gronaw]

Great bass Steve!

Fish Chris is right...there are some great baits out there besides bluegills for bass. I like his stuff on nightcrawlers as we have been using them alot this year for alot of different species. At my home lake at Piney Run, they are deadly on big bass, but a percentage of the bass anglers in the region think we are a bunch of cave men for using 'bait for bass'. Done right, bait for bass is a great way to target the largest fish in many systems, and release percentages are as good as with lures, if done right.

Provided it is a legal practice in your state, bait fishing options can be hard to beat on big largemouths.

[John Sheehan]

Yeah Steve Nice Fish!!!