Thread: Best way to catch teeny tiny blue gill.

Panfish in general are too easy to catch once I find them - but - only if the right tackle within a range is used.
I would start out with unpainted jigs in different weights in a few hook sizes. Why distract attention away from the lure with a bright colored paint job making a lure appear longer larger unless preferred.

These are standard in by box:
A handful of 1/32oz, 1/24oz, and/or 1/16oz are basic sizes along with proper hook sizes #4 and #6 for lure sizes from 2.5"-1.5" and #8 hook for lures near 1. Lure selection is wide open. Here are just a few that have caught all size panfish as well as other species:

A Beetle Spin a small grub catches them:


Spike tail grubs work great:


...as does a Crappie Magnet grub:


Caught them on Slider Worms which you can shorted for very small gills:


Wacky rigged mini-sticks work:


Here's one of many that struck a Joker Grub:


Two grub bodies fused together:


Another wee sunnie on a thin flapper tail:


...and Bass Assassin grub:


Curl tail grubs do okay such as Mr Twister, but my preference is a PowerBait Ribbontail grub:


A light action rod 5.6-6' works for me as does using 8# test braid (2# test diameter) with a 4-6# test fluorocarbon leader for best lure action and light strike detection. If the fish are generally 4" or less, consider using 1/32 oz. ball head jigs with lures such as the above between 3/4 - 1". Light line and jigs allow for very slow retrieves with pauses. Any lure example posted can be jigged on bottom or, my personal preference, worked horizontal to the bottom at different depths.

When it comes to lure colors, the only one I don't use because of poor water clarity 5' from a fish is black. Other than that, what matters more is lure size, tail action (if any), hook size and your retrieve. All of the above will catch far more than live bait hands down in water over 40 degrees. Floats can be used with many of them, but I want to be able to cover different depths as well as more areas quicker even if slowly - if that makes any sense.

Go light/ go slow/ go small

I use small Ice jigs with a #12 hook and a bit of slim Jim smoked links as bait. It's a killer. You can use Crappie nibbles also.

I've had my best success for tiny bait size perch with a #12 or #14 hook loaded with 1 live maggot under a quill slip float. Deadly.

Try some of the “ Itty bit “ jig heads made by Bobby Garland
I hand tied some black ones with the skirt barely longer than the hook .
Use a float and light tackle.




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I would use a size 10 or 12 hook with tiny piece of red wiggler worm.

So it seems I was using too big of a hook and too big of a bait. I will downsize to a 10 or 12 and try crappie nibbles and worms I dug up. Then onto to catfishing!

Unless crappie will take whole live bluegill!

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Your question and Pap's response reminded me of a time I helped a friend of mine reclaim a small three acre pond that was overtaken by small bluegill and other sunfish that never seemed to get over four or five inches long due to overcrowding. I used bread crumbs to bait 'em up in an area and a cast net to catch net fulls of them at a time on each cast... the majority of which were interned into the garden spot, as skeet did. I also took some of the gills to the nearby Cape Fear River where I would catch stringers of big mud, blue and channel catfish that I took back to the pond and released. After a trip or two... I probably put about thirty good sized catfish in the pond. Then, I let nature run it's course for about a year... and the gill population was brought completely under control. Later, I added sixty crappie, thirty bass and four grass carp.

Sorry for straying a bit off topic there brother... but I'm a geezer with lots of stories.
Yep, I would definitely agree with Pap that a cast net is the way to go... even if you have to find a friend (who has one) to make a quick cast or two for you.

Originally Posted by Special K

Your question and Pap's response reminded me of a time I helped a friend of mine reclaim a small three acre pond that was overtaken by small bluegill and other sunfish that never seemed to get over four or five inches long due to overcrowding. I used bread crumbs to bait 'em up in an area and a cast net to catch net fulls of them at a time on each cast... the majority of which were interned into the garden spot, as skeet did. I also took some of the gills to the nearby Cape Fear River where I would catch stringers of big mud, blue and channel catfish that I took back to the pond and released. After a trip or two... I probably put about thirty good sized catfish in the pond. Then, I let nature run it's course for about a year... and the gill population was brought completely under control. Later, I added sixty crappie, thirty bass and four grass carp.

Sorry for straying a bit off topic there brother... but I'm a geezer with lots of stories.
Yep, I would definitely agree with Pap that a cast net is the way to go... even if you have to find a friend (who has one) to make a quick cast or two for you.

I love fishing stories so that's awesome!

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