Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

Needed a presentation at the surface in shallow water at the dock to hit a large school of bluegill that was just cruising the shoreline… a slip bobber was doing catching a few but just not antagonizing the bite… im sure the fly rod and spider would have prevailed but was not available on this trip. The boat was sitting at the dock ready to pound the lake but how could I pass this many gills and above normal sizes mixed in. I tried a tiny Yozuri pin's minnow crank and it got their attention. Caught a few but missed a lot of strikes…. Then it hit me as I glanced over at one of my rigged rods with the ice slab jig and chain… take the chain off the jig and assemble on the back of the crank after I removed the treble of course. Tip with a pink GULP Maggot … instant action! The gills were actually racing to attack the lure! So easy to cast the G’sons were able to do with no problem… very little tangling.

... a recent outing where gills were cruising the shoreline early in the season this method proved successful and caught many small to medium gills and a bragger P'Seed

20150503-KERSWILL LAKE highlighting the bait dropper rig with Gulp Maggots

Views: 771

Replies to This Discussion

Think I need to try this with a 1/8 oz Phobe . Is the chain hook a #10

i had such a blast with this setup the other day... yep a size 10 hook

a good source of chain hooks...

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Hali-Chain-Hooks

Unique approach. May have to try this.

20150927 ~ Fishing the Bait Dropper Chain 'n Crank

experiencing a lull in slip bobbering the shallows i tied on the Bait Dropper Chain 'n Crank and got a flurry of action including a bonus chunk LMB

20150927-Kerswill Lake ~ Fishing the Bait Dropper Chain 'n Crank

Interesting Technique Slip!

20151011 – the great bite we had that day was provided by the UL Slip Bobber rig loaded with Pink Waxies and a surprising amount of fish caught on the Chain n Crank I caught so many fish on this rig we tried to duplicate the setup for Earl with a perch colored floating Rapala about 1.5” in length. It produced 0 fish to many with the Chain N Crank. When I designed or put that setup Chain N Crank together I was really looking for a floating rig… this rig suspends nearly perfectly and have detected and caught many fish on the pause.

20151011-KERSWILL LAKE

20151022 - doing a little research ive rediscovered the original price of the YoZuri Pin's Minnow at about $9.00...  a close or similar in appearance alternative XPS Minnow (not Tested) at less than half the cost. worth trying out buying and setting up before next spring.

20151022 - doing a little research ive rediscovered the original price of the YoZuri Pin's Minnow at about $9.00... a close or similar in appearance alternative bait (not Tested) at less than half the cost. Worth trying out, buying and setting up before next spring.

0414161916~ Chain n Crank ... crankin in the gills

20160414-found a huge school of gills that were packed into a small area of warm water and cranked em in with the modified crank bait... was the only presentation that would produce for me in this situation. Fish were small avg 6.5 or under. spotted a few jumbos mixed in and kept me there until i finished landing over 20 small B'Gills.

im going to exploit this bait more this upcoming year! really hyped on it...

 

RSS

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
8 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Black Crappie Daily Double…..3/11/2026

"Yesterday we had a heat index of 89 degrees, today a wind chill in the 20s……welcome…"
8 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
8 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
8 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Took 78 tidal crappie over the last three days….air temperatures in the mid 80s rapidly warming the shallows into the 60s"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

First Light Tidal Black Crappie…..3/11/2026

"You can see this fish has been shallow for a while…starting to get busted up in shallow…"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Got out for the third day in a row….plants blooming everywhere, pollen and insects moving around……surface temperatures sitting at 67 degrees"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Cleaned a Dozen Speckles Yesterday…….3/11/2026

My wife said she was ready for a fresh crappie fry…..knocked out a dozen yesterday for a treat this…
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Another beautiful late winter day….new river today….63 degree surface temperatures..five degrees less than yesterday’s water …"
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

A lot of Small Buck Bass Today…..3/9/2026

A lot of aggressive bass made for tight lines…
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday

© 2026   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service