Thread: bluegill eating

I usually fillet them and I prefer plastics over minners, worms, grubs, or crickets

Hello bama647,
Well I have to agree with several of the other replies in that fillets are the way to go. Once you have the proper knife, and a very fine edge on that knife, you will lose very little meat and you will avoid all grubs and other bad spots that may not be seen when scaling and gutting a panfish. Once filleted
they can be baked, fried, steamed, or whatever you can think of to prepare them.
As far as bait goes the choices are almost endless. Worms will generally catch greater numbers of fish but various lures and other live bait often catch the true slab gills. I really like to use small to medium live leeches on a 1/32-1/80 oz. tear drop. The leeches tend to stay on the hook when the little pans are pecking at it but they get inhaled by those slabs in the 9-12 inch range.
I also like to use 1/32 - 1/80 oz jigs with a 1 1/8 inch micro shad or one of the many micro sized twister tail grub bodies.

Good luck and keep that pan hot