Shallow bluegill

Went straight out for big gills today, didn't even bother with the elusive crappie. Once again, no bruisers, but I got into good numbers again, and even a couple that pushed the 15oz mark.

Instead of goin deep on the bluffs, I stayed shallow, 5 to 12 fow, in the shade of a west facing bank, along a creek channel adjacent to a gently sloping mud flat. 6:00 am, mostly sunny, light south breeze.

7' 2" Berkley crappie pro, tiny light reel spooled with 6 lb Suffix Elite hi-vis to a swivel, 4 lb mono leader, with a split shot, to either a Aberdeen, or a super small circle hook, with a small piece of salted shrimp pushed to the bend. I like the tiny circles better, as I was 'catchin and releasin'.

Anyway here's some pics, thanks for lookin !

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Great job, and great pics, thanks for sharing.

Very nice, Indeed!

Good looking fish there, maybe some hybrids in there also? Never used shrimp for Gill bait, interesting....


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nice fish !!!
tell me more about the circle hooks vs aberdeen style, please.

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Originally Posted by fiveeyes

nice fish !!!
tell me more about the circle hooks vs aberdeen style, please.

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From what I understand, circle hooks were designed to hook the side of the mouth for catch and release fishing. The Gamakatsu octopus circles I use this time of year are #6, maybe #4, I believe, and seem to catch as promised in the side of the mouth, as opposed to being swallowed like an Aberdeen. I say they "catch as promised", but you still need to keep an eye on the bobber, cause they will swallow it if you let them. They just love these little shrimp nuggets, and suck em down !

I seem to spend too much time and effort tryin to remove the hook from deeply hooked fish, not to mention the toll it takes on them. If I had to guess, I'd say about 80% get hooked in the side of the mouth with the circles, as opposed to more than 50% swallow rate, with the Aberdeens, IMO, YMMV.

I'll see if I can dig up the thread here where I got the recipe for the shrimp. I'll also post up some scale pics of the circles I use.

Good catch.


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Originally Posted by svh

I seem to spend too much time and effort tryin to remove the hook from deeply hooked fish, not to mention the toll it takes on them. If I had to guess, I'd say about 80% get hooked in the side of the mouth with the circles, as opposed to more than 50% swallow rate, with the Aberdeens, IMO, YMMV.

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Using a jig head instead of a bare hook also prevents deep-hooking.

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Originally Posted by svh

I'll see if I can dig up the thread here where I got the recipe for the shrimp.

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Is this the one you're thinking of?

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/panf...ts-panfishing/

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

Is this the one you're thinking of?

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/panf...ts-panfishing/

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Yep that's it ! Thanks for findin that for me, I hadn't had the time to search yet. The only thing I did different was put a few shakes of garlic powder in as well.

Oh yeah, here's a little tip I learned by accident ….. I forgot a small baggie full on the front deck of the boat, and it sat in the sun literally all day. When I remembered to retrieve it from the boat the next morning, it had actually cooked, and turned pink !!! A result of the slow cookin was it made it extremely durable, and hard to get off (and on) the hook. I liked it cooked so much in fact, I have two more baggies solar cookin as we speak !

I suspect a minute or so in the microwave would have similar results as well.

Also, in regards to usin a jig head instead of a bare hook ….. Live (kinda) bait on a jig head ??? That's just crazy !!! I'm old and set in my ways, and have never done anything like that before !!! :bash Just kiddin !!! That's an excellent idea, and will try that tomorrow morning. Also that will simplify as were on the leader to put the split shot !!! :dono LOL, thanks !

I can attest to the jig head versus Aberdeen. Way less gorges with a jig head. Plus a jig head is way faster to re tye. You can use a loop knot. [emoji3] Couldn't help myself. When using Aberdeen's I opt for the tru-turn. Way more hook ups and mostly in the roof of the mouth. Good report and thanks for sharing.

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Thank you for posting that thread. Got some soaking now. Maybe if the crappie aren't biting I'll switch up and try for some gills. Momma said bring home some fish...

Nice report! have heard of people using small shrimp for trout bait as well.


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And shrimp also work well for freshwater stripers and hybrids. I got taken to school once by a guy with the only shrimp in a crowd. He caught fish while the rest of us watched and caught one now and then.

I never saw the green sunfish or hybrid looking fish in the mix but them are some nice fish , on a side note
I seen a trotline one time full of MAGNUM sandbass that all hit crawdads that it was baited with …..
and I mean like 40 of them all dead as a door nail :yikes