#1 Gill/Cracker Bait

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Originally Posted by tnvol

Tip a 1/64 oz Popeye feather jig with a nice white or
chartruse crappie nibble...and hang on ! :)

But crickets always seem to produce, too...if you are out
of nibbles. ;)

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2nd that except a 1/32 oz jig tipped with a 1" orange and white tube

Red worms have worked best for us.

I would like to figure out a solid performing artificial in Florida for panfish, but when I try I catch as many buck bass as blue gill.

Best artificial i've used was a blakemore road runner with a green/chart tube and crappie nibbles squirted up inside it. Caught more bass with it than pan fish though :P.

I prefer to use artificial lures, mostly home-brewed jigs, #0 Mepps spinners, small grubs, or tiny crankbaits like Rebel's Crickhopper, but for catching numbers, redworms and crickets (or small grasshoppers) get the nod.

Tom

I can not believe no one has mentioned the keystone minnow. Excellent bait for gills and crackers. They use to make a bait called a tator bug that was awesome. I have not seen one in years and heard they are no longer made but I do not know.

I have reall good luck with 1/16 oz jig head and add jig spinner. Attach small black grub. Looks like a beetle spin but I think they are cheaper to make. Bluegill and crackers attack viciously. Casts a mile on 4lb line, so you can stay away from bed too.:D

Simple for Bluegill it's crickets here and for shellcrackers it;s red wigglers all day long.

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Originally Posted by slabsrus

these are by far my two favorites for both gills and specks.. with the nitro trailers you can see we only use about half of the original bait, for some reason we have had far better luck that way than using the entire thing. all I know is these work, most of the picks i post here are caught on these two baits from ice out until it starts to freeze over. that is this year any ways ,, last year it was the mister twister exude micro shad but they are not really wanting it this year, dont know why .

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i love and use those micro wigglers myself :D,plus a bunch of other plastics

My favorite is a black mini microspoon tipped with a couple maggots, fished under a bobber. Second is a black ant that grandpa bob makes. I fish it tightline. Add a waxworm or few maggots and cast and let it fall into the beds. Third is a green and black 1/32 popeye hair jig. I can catch gills in any water i fish with these three baits. This year i've tied my own hair jigs. Will report back after i give them a try.

chaunc, we use to catch those black ants live right off the trees and slap them on a hook and BAM, the gills would kill them, great bait.

Enough with live bait, real men use white or firetiger rooster tails! :p