Thread: Jug fishing trip

Yes, sir, I did say salted bluegill. I love bluegill fishing, but there isn't enough meat on them to clean for eating. I fillet the bluegill, then chop off the head. The rest of the body and guts get thrown away. Leave the skin on the bluegill. Depending on the size of the bluegill, one fillets can net four pieces of bait. e.g., four pieces on a large bluegill, two pieces on a small bluegill. So two fillets per bluegill divided into four equal pieces plus the head equals nine pieces of bait off one 6 inch bluegill.

Use pickling salt or kosher salt. No iodine. After a trip, stop buy the Wally World and pick a box or two. I use Morton's brand salts. Get some kind of storage containers if you don't have one. Add 1/4 to 1/2 inch of salt to the bottom of the container. Then add a layer of fillets. I usually leave the fillets whole until I use them. Then add another layer of salt. alternate between salt and meat until the container if full. Over night the salt will pull the water out of the meat. Pour off the water. If you can leave the top off so it will dry out, but there's no problem if you let is stay on the boat in a sealed container.

I don't like fishing with the heads, but it's too much bait to throw away. Pack the meth same way, but you'll notice a lot more fluid because the eyeballs are nothing but water. Just drain them the same way. I usually keep the heads in a separate container.

You can also cut the fillets long and narrow for trolling below the dam. You can also do this with drum, carp, shad, skipjack or kind of fish you'd want to do with bait.

The salt preserves the bait. Saltwater guys do this all the time with bait.

Thank you for posting. Will give salted bream a try. Noodles/jugs are my favorite way to catfish. Georgia allows all the jugs/noodles that you want to put out.