Thread: kentucky lake bluegill tips

Check into learning how to use a drop-shot rig. Put a small jig or bare hook about 18 inches above a large split shot weight and fan cast the backs of coves and creeks with creeks running into it. 90% of the time you will have to find a sand/pea gravel bottom. Sometimes they will bed on a hard clay bottom. Bait it with wax worm or red worm. Pieces of crawler will work also.Berkley maggots work well.

My man Chaunc got me into using a popeye jig under a tiny bobber a few years ago when he wore my butt out from the back seat of my boat. I am smart enough to know when what I'm doing is being out-produced several times over, it is time to change.

Last year a buddy of mine and I pulled into a protected cove that neither of us had ever fished but it looked good. We were both using the popeye jig/bobber with a wax worm. There was barely enough room for us to maneuver my boat into the back of this tiny cove with about 4 feet of water where the beds were. We started catch huge gills and I caught my largest ever redear out of a very small area. Several other boats watched us and some decided they were going to push past us. None did after I put a block move on them. Never had to say a word.

We had 2 older guys come close to us but behind us. They sat there for several minutes. Finally one of them asked what we were using to catch those. He then told us they had fished that same bed the day before and had not caught ANY gills as big as the ones we were throwing back. I asked if he had ever used popeye jigs. He said he didn't know what they were. I told him to come closer to my boat and I would give him a pack of them. I threw a pack of 3 on his deck and you would have thought I had thrown a $100 bill to him. We could hear the 2 guys talking as they idled out of the cove that they would be back as soon as we left. We left soon after that with all the 9"+ gills we wanted to clean. No telling how many channel cats we had caught and thrown back.

Word of advice; spool your gill reel with clear or dark mono. I got worn out one day by a buddy using clear line and I was using hi-viz mono. Same everything but he was catching 5-1 over me. made a believer out of me. Clear mono now for gills.