Thread: 1/32 or 1/64 for Bluegill?

On 2# test line I cast a 1/64 ounce Trout Magnet more than 95 percent of the time for bluegill. It has served me well....but I would use whatever catches you fish. I have fished with as heavy as a 3/32 ounce jig head #6 hook and had steady results. This past spring I tried a lure that was fished on a 1/8 ounce jig head with a #6 hook. I was shocked at the results. I caught a ton of bluegill with it. It is a Midnight Blue ThunderHawk Dancer......a two inch long paddle tail. I thought it was way too big to catch a lot of Gills...but I was wrong. The Gills flat killed it. When I found out that Leland's Lures was discontinuing it my nephew and I bought 350 dollars worth of bodies and jig heads and split them up. The lure was not even on the market for a year. I fished it in many bodies of water and the results were same. The reason I brought this up is even at age 65, and catching thousands upon thousands of Gills I am still learning. While I still believe smaller is better for catching Gills there are other ways besides going small.

Regards

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

This past spring I tried a lure that was fished on a 1/8 ounce jig head with a #6 hook. I was shocked at the results. I caught a ton of bluegill with it. It is a Midnight Blue ThunderHawk Dancer......a two inch long paddle tail. I thought it was way too big to catch a lot of Gills...but I was wrong. The Gills flat killed it.

Get any bass with it?

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

Get any bass with it?

Yes I did. I bought them thinking it would be a great smallmouth bait.....and that it is. I was surprised it really produced for bluegill. Largemouth love it too.....and that's a problem for me. I hate hooking into big largemouth with 2# test. It's also a killer for white bass....which was no surprise. It is really a great all around bait. I also got a lot of the 1/16 ounce jig heads to go with it as I will use them more than the 1/8 ounce. I took the guy that designed this lure to Dale Hollow to fish for Smallies....he had never caught one. As a matter of fact he had never fished until then. He is from China and is a big producer of soft plastics for Daiwa Europe.


Regards


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Alphahawk - i have become hooked on 1/64 ozs jigs for BG and RE's, solely because of your posts. Normally, I used crickets or red wigglers in the past. Now my go to is a 1/64 jig, 2# test and a magnet or 1" plastic of some sort. Thank you. At 66, I am still learning too.

Originally Posted by cricket george

Alphahawk - i have become hooked on 1/64 ozs jigs for BG and RE's, solely because of your posts. Normally, I used crickets or red wigglers in the past. Now my go to is a 1/64 jig, 2# test and a magnet or 1" plastic of some sort. Thank you. At 66, I am still learning too.

Thanks for the comments. I love fishing with the Trout Magnet.......it just simply catches fish.

Regards

In the lake I primarily fish, I've had great luck with 1/16 and 1/8 beetle spins on 4 lb line....I don't think I've ever fished below 1/16. Have to try the smaller ones...

You can also look into ordering custom jigs in weights that you are looking for on ebay or other custom jig sites. I use a 1/32 oz ball head #8 sickle hook a lot, and even ordered some 1/16th oz ball heads on #8 sickle for tightlining tiny jigs deep 8-14' deep. To be honest though, a #6 hook isn't far off from that size and BG have no trouble eating hooks that size.

Bobby Garland also has a 1/48th oz #8 that I think casts better (maybe much better) than the 1/64 oz.

Once you get to 1/80 oz and smaller, casting really becomes an issue.

Casting may be an issue with the smaller size but a 1/64, or 1/80 slowly falling in front of a fish garners a lot of attention. A reel spooled with 1# or 2# test NanoFil will take care of the casting problem also. I have a lot of 1/48....1/24....1/32......1/16....and 3/32...with #6 and #8 hooks for when I need to go deep.





Regards

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

... a 1/64, or 1/80 slowly falling in front of a fish garners a lot of attention.

Agreed, that slow drop through the water column is irresistible.

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Casting may be an issue with the smaller size but a 1/64, or 1/80 slowly falling in front of a fish garners a lot of attention. A reel spooled with 1# or 2# test NanoFil will take care of the casting problem also. I have a lot of 1/48....1/24....1/32......1/16....and 3/32...with #6 and #8 hooks for when I need to go deep.


Regards

I know about casting small jigs, I tie 1/80, 1/100, and 1/124 oz jigs with nymph patters similar to flies for fly fishing for trout fishing with on 2lb and 1lb line. They are also killer for bream, but I wouldn't say they are a make or break piece of tackle for panfishing, just another tool that can work.

A 1/80 oz jig hook is about perfect for slow falling a cricket into place though.