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gabowman, I have used shrimp on a plain hook and cork setup for bluegills and have done very well with them.Quote:
Originally Posted by gabowman
I am not much for using jigs either but I am hoping to get better with them so as to not have to mess with the live bait as much.
I have done good for gills and google-eyes with the tube jigs.
Shadow
Croppy, and you others as well, here in N. La. I'd say 98% of all bream fishermen use cricketts or red wigglers for Blue Giills. When fishing for Chinquapin bream, the bait of choice is small crawfish. Do you guys ever catch Chinquapins on the shrimp? Also, fill me in one more time on artificial baits you guys use for bream...including Chinquapins. I have never used anything other than cricketts or worms and would love to find an artificial that would work as well as they do.
CROPPY1, Howdy and welcome to the pond, from California. I am going to try that shrimp for bait it makes sense to me.
First, I am new here...less than a week. Half my posts and replies get deleted, saying I am not logged in. I've tried to post a lot more than you've seen. I think I am going to start writing this in MS Word, logging in a second time, and posting. If it doesn't work, I'll still have the original in MS Word that I can try again. Oh, well.
First, Sandman. Crickets and worms are the traditional standards for bluegill, and have worked great for years, but I've seen other things work much better. Remember, I wish for bluegill mostly in farm ponds. I just a solid black hair jig, tipped with shrimp or meal worm, and can't find a way to beat it. I tried crickets and worms and all of it. In a natural lake, such as you have in Louisiana this might not hold true. But it does for me here. I have dock fished side to side with a cricket man, and the jigs out produce, if tipped. I feel that about the best you can do per hour is 30 bulls. It takes about two minutes to get the hook in the water, let it settle, have the fish take it, take the fish off and put in the cooler, and start over. I don't think it is mechanically possible to average much more that one fish per two minutes.
Sandman asked about other artificials. In the spring spawns (full moon), I like the Beetle Spins with chartreus and orange color. You can't hardly pull them through a bed without getting a strike. A small Rebel crawfish in crawfish color (Tiny Wee R I think it's called) is just as deadly. You can't hardly fish either without a strike of some kind.
I am a jig pole man, but use the light spinning tackle in the spring for variation. I love pulling that tiny artificial through a bed and feeling that strike, and feeling the action on the ultra-light rod. Fine action. You'll do well with bulls and small bass.
I've fished them all, and I can only tell you how I do it here. The best artificials I have used is a small Beetle spin in the chartruese and orange colors, and the tiny Rebel crawfish in crawfish. And, the small Rooster Tail.
As for jigs for all forms of bluegill and their cousins, it's the black-black-black hair jig, small, tipped with shrimp or a meal worm. A bluegill is a lot like a bass. With action lures you can trigger a strike. With jigs, you need a tipping. I believe this is equally effective for all types of bream, including Chincapins, Red Ear, Florida strain, northern strain, ect. You have to tip your jig with a natural food to get the best action for any "form" of panfish/bluegill.
wrest. Try the shrimp formula. It's pretty fool proof. Many good baits out there, but this is about the most effective and easy. Works great. Use lots of salt to toughen them up. I also think the salt gives a natural scent in the water that fish like. Thanks for welcoming me to the pond. Feels good here.
gaboman...try jigs....they work. When you get the hang of it you will never go back to the other way. Remember...jigging is not jigging. You swim the jig slowly and gracefully around the stick up, just like a lazy minnow or water bug would. Slow and graceful. Easy does it. Try all depths. Fish it around the stump, drop it 6-12 inches, pause, swim it some more...and work it on down to the bottom. Swim....pause...tick...swim...all slow and easy. If they are there, they will take it.
The lures/baits I've mentioned here will work, and work well. This is single line jigging. Trolling is a whole nother story. The year I fished seriously to learn this stuff on the public reservoirs, I averaged 40+ crappie per trip, over about 75 trips. I think it was nearly 4,000 crappie from October to May. Many good ones, too. Most, I released. I was trying to learn the game, and had more than I could eat, and just liked turning most back. I was not trolling with a spider rig. Single line jigging. But that was an exceptionally good year. But catching fish is what teaches you, and you can only do that when the fish are there. Learning how to find them is half the game. That's a whole nother story, too.
Be patient, but in moderation. If you thoroughly fish an object, move on. Don't waste more time there. I always say, if people are not catching fish then they are in the wrong place, fishing the wrong way. Never park on a spot if you are not catching fish. Fish it throughly, catch a fish, and if not, move on.
I saw two boats on Grenada today, in the late afternoon, passing the good stuff, and fishing too fast. They could have fished two weeks with this method and not caught a fish, except my accident. And the fish were right there. Then came an old john boat, beat up, worn equipment, two guys, going slow, and they had a cooler full. It seems to always work that way.
Just my .02 worth.
Don
this thread is excellent! Lots of info for me to try! I am going to try shrimp.
Bill
I picked up a jar of berkley powerbait maggots for trout. They look just like the real deal. I think I will try them on bluegill here in a couple of weeks. I heard maggots work well but they give me the heebe jeebes, so the fake ones will have to do.:D
Croppy 1, does slater's hair jigs have a website or a telephone number?
I ordered some. Just Google up Slater's jigs. It's on the first page. Hope this helps. Mike
Yes, I found the web site at:
http://www.slatersjigs.com/contents.html
I checked the catalog numbers. Maybe this will help when ordering.
Crappie:
Slaters Special: Orange-yellow-black, # 643T
Dallas Cowboy: Gray-blue-gray, # G9SGT
Miami Dolphin: White-chartreuse-orange, # 156T
Pink Panther: Pink-silver-pink, # 7S7T
Bluegill:
Black Panther: Black-black-black, # 444T
Another good one is white-silver-pink. Not sure of the number. It's a cousin to the Pink Panther.
Green and black is a real favorite here in north MS, especially on Grenada. That number is 545T.
I noticed on some of my packs the #8 has a 48 at the end of the number. I assume this means it is a 1/48 ounce. The #6 has a 32, I assume for 1/32 ounce.
These are just our favorite colors here, and yours may be different. We've found the Slaters to be very well balanced, and using a hair jig you don't lose any time fumbling with tubes.
Mr. Slater will recommend the #8. Get some, and some #6, also. A number 10 for bluegill is mighty small. I rarely use them.
Ask for Mr. Eddie Slater or son Jimmy. Tell them Don in Coffeeville sent you. Jimmy will surely remember because he and I ran bird dogs together, and he even judged a field trial for me once. And Mr. Slater was a SEVEN time state crappie champion, just using a single line, unlike the Four time I mentioned. If you go to this web site, read the "About Us" section. Oh, and he likes 4# test, as I rember.
Hope this helps!
Don
This is another good link that shows some of the colors better.
I emailed Jimmy Slater that you may be calling. I sent the information I posted here.
Pink Panter is 3rd top.
Black Beauty is far right.
Green Hornet, green-black is 2nd bottom.
Slater's Special is 3rd bottom.
Dallas Cowboy is far right.
Miami Dolphin is not shown.
These look like #4, which is probably a 1/16. The 4's have sort of a longer head, not round like the 10's, 8's, and 6's.
Oh, and if you want to get fancy, use Testor's model car paint in those small bottles and paint contrasting color eyes on them, red or black, with a tiny brush, just a dot for the eye.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...equestid=62672
Don