Thread: How to catch cautious Bluegills?

Originally Posted by N00B

Issue 2, bluegills usually jump up the regular #14 hook with tiny bit of hotdog and i get hooked within a second, however after i pull about 5-10 from school and throw them far away since water is clear others see whats going on and start to be cautious they don't bite hook anymore.

Moving to new spot and the picture is exactly the same, at first they fighting for this sausage on the hook then after a witnessing me pooling their friend out of the water they loose all interest even free flowing pieces of sausage gets ignored and some lazy bluegill comes and eats it slowly, making sure its not a trap while others just stay away.

In highly-pressured waters like you describe, it's almost impossible to avoid this. You just have to "rest" the area and come back to it later or just move spots.

Originally Posted by N00B

Issue 2
I can raise interest in them if i keep throwing free pieces, but even if they start being active and i throw 5 free pieces my hook in between they never go for the hook, just eat free stuff and go away.

That means you are feeding (chumming) too much. Try this instead: mix bread crumbs with yellow cornmeal in 50/50 proportions. Add a little water and mix till it's light and fluffy. Add some of your hook bait to the mix. Throw in a nugget-sized ball of chum periodically. The fish will be attracted to the crumb/cornmeal mix, but there's not enough food to feed them off. Here's a quick video on how to mix the chum. (Ignore the part about the egg. Just note how he mixes and the consistency of the chum when he's finished.)