The Phenomenon of the color PINK in Brackish Waters for Sunfish......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

As an active member of Bigbluegill.com the last several years, I have learned a lot and shared many ideas that have proven successful for Sunfish in the waters I fish. Prior to becoming a member I had several secrets that remained in my pocket and only my closest fishing buddies had ever even shared in this success. This isn't to say others weren't fishing the same baits in a similar style and catching fish or using baits of their choice and finding similar success.  I was a young kid with numerous anglers in my extended family and I learned early from my grandpa Foster Abney, who always told me to listen when I got around fishermen and think about things that might help me or work where I was fishing.  I was fortunate to be pretty close with an Uncle on my mother's side of the family that lived one town over in Southeastern Louisiana. He grew up and lived near the banks of the Tcefuncte River in the small town of Madisonville, Louisiana and only fished two bodies of water during his eighty plus year life.  A fact that many folks close to him never knew is he fished live grass shrimp for some 60 to 70 years and I couldn't begin to tell you how many Bluegill, Shellcracker, Warmouth and Crappie that he caught over the years.   One Thanksgiving day in the early 1970s as our 100 member family assembled in Folsom, Louisiana for the best dinners we ever ate, Uncle Kenny walked out to an acre pond that was dug on the family farm to stock with fish for the 20 plus grandkids in the Sharp family.  I was there casting a beetle spin when he asked if I had a scoop net with me. I did and we went over to some grass beds near the shore and made a quick scoop and filled a bucket up with little crustaceans called Grass Shrimp. He said put a cork and a bream hook on there and let me show you something. I eagerly followed his instructions and a few moments later we were pulling out big bluegill one after another.  This went on for quite some time and my Uncle explained if you ever run out of Grass Shrimp "Jeffie" and can't find more, take a pink soft plastic jig and fish that in the same areas. He explained that I wouldn't be disappointed and don't be afraid to tip the hook with a worm, grasshopper or a cricket if you have some.  I went home armed with the advice and went through seven or eight tackle boxes my dad and I had but no pink in any of them. I couldn't believe it but surely I'll find some the next time at the bait shop.  A few short days later my dad and I visited the local bait shop and I rushed the fishing tackle, both shelves and found two packs of little curly tails that had a mix of white and pink, they were mine and I was excited to let Uncle Kenny know I had found some and was eager to try them as soon as I could. His only clue was Pink was the best match for live grass shrimp in our brackish waters. He explained saltwater anglers have realized it for some time but freshwater fishermen have failed to make the correlation and they are truly missing out. In the weeks ahead I will go into detail how I fish these jigs and hopefull answer many of the questions I have received about the mystery of pink.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

The gills are pounding the pink baits yet again this Spring........Several hundred fish in eight different species this Memorial Day weekend and pink was the ticket......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I would be interested to know if anyone that has tried pink has done any good with them......

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HECK YA AND NEVER WOULD HAVE TRIED EM WITHOUT YOU BUDDY...... MY BIGGEST TO DATE GILL CAME ON A #10 SILENT IN THE NEW "HOT PINK" AND RED RIB JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO .... SEEMS here though that mainly it is a spring color for me ,at least at great pond .......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Nice gill for sure.....the key as I point out often is each body of water has subtle differences and the angler that figures that out is sure to prosper.....thanks for the feedback Tooty! Glad I have these in my secret box!

[Allen Morgan]

I haven't really had a chance to use anything pink lately.  I haven't been fishing much, and what fishing I have been doing is with natural-colored ants, skeeters, etc.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Over 8,800 hits on this discussion.......I've received quite a bit of positive feedback over the last year.......glad this post has helped some members in their pursuit of our favorite fish....the beloved bluegill!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I started with a glow pink 1/16th ball jig yesterday morning and it was too good to consider changing......often just fishing the jig naked tipped with a live minnow.........abundant crappie bites.......several nice gills and multiple predators including channel cats and largemouth bass..........

[dick tabbert]

Vary interesting Jeffry. You were truly blessed to be brought up into a fishing family and I'm a believer in your never to young and your a perfect example of that. Its always a thrill so see a smile on a young persons face when that 1st fish is caught. Both my boys were brought up fishing and we have many quality hours on the water. Now I have a great granddaughter who like me obsessed with fishing and I'm loving it. Jeffrey keep the info coming my friend its all so interesting. GOOD FISHIN...

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Another discussion with more than 10,000 views........and to think I was just hoping to share information with a couple folks that had requested additional information at the time......Crazy!

[Bill Cappelli]

Hello Folks,

I'm a new guy here and actually found this GREAT site by doing some online research regarding the use of Grass Shrimp for Gill bait in our local brackish rivers of the Tidewater VA. and NE Coastal N.C. areas. Which in turn led me to this post, and this site. I realize this is an older post, but the information it contains is an absolute Goldmine ...... the Mother Load ...... of info I was looking for regarding this subject. And I would like to express my gratitude to Jeffrey, and the many others here who freely share their wealth of panfishing knowledge in such a respectful manner amongst each other. What a great place this is! I look forward to becoming part of the community and contributing when I can.

The only downside to having found this site is that I've been loosing ALOT of sleep these past few nights scouring through all the interesting commentary.

Tight Lines,

Bill Cappelli     

[dick tabbert]

Glad your enjoying the site as we do. The site is loaded with information and made possible by our members who love nothing more than to share as you can see. Feel free to enjoy the wealth of knowledge and don't be afraid to participate that's what made this site what we are today. Enjoy and indulge my friend we all love to fish and with so many methods available it don't hurt to be a little more knowledgeable, it all helps in our pursuit of Mr. Bluegill.

[Bill Cappelli]

Thank You Dick.

I've been enjoying this site immensely, such a valuable resource for the Bluegill fishing community.