Thread: whats your fav bluegill rig

I have been fishing off the bank since November here in Eastern Tennessee (open waters no ice) and catching good numbers of gills with a few other species mixed in. The biggest change from my normal warm water patterns is size of my offerings. I have sized down from 1/32 to 1/48 and 1/64 jig heads and 1.5in baits or smaller. I am fishing shallow flowing waters of creek mouths, nothing over 5ft deep and around whatever cover is available to cast at but mostly mud and rock bottoms. Main lake temps are in the low 40’s. Here are some recycled pics from various dates this winter.
Dec 1st, Trout Magnet Bison Color on 1/64 head
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Dec 4th 1/48 head Bison Trout Magnet tipped with Berkeley Gulp Wax worm.
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Day after Christmas 1/48 head with Lunkerhunt Spade Grub tipped with Larvae.
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New Years Eve same bait as above, with a Crappie or two mixed in on the Trout Magnet.
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January 5th same baits and nice size for this particular lake.
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January 8th
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Then 2 weeks ago using a 1in Mayfly plastic bug.
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Last Friday after zero degree wind chills and frigid temps a nice gill on a Green Trout Magnet with red flake tipped with the Berkeley Wax worm.
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In the winter, down size baits and jig heads when fishing shallow. It has worked here and I hope this will help you in your pursuit of this scrappy little Panfish.


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It’s hard to beat a squirrel tail jig tipped with a small piece of red worm!


Or a piece of night crawler in the winter months on a #6 hook with real small split shot !

These were from last saturday

i wish they sold wax worms here iv never used them or mealworms they look like theyd b amazing bait since dont come off a hook i think the greatest bait is catapla worms though fish love them but they are so hard to find!!!

even buying them onlines a pain foudn a site cost 6 dollars a bag but you have to atleast buy 4bags wat robbery

I use a 1/64 black jig with a nibble, catch all I want.

1/32 road runner with 1 inch black slider grub for casting . Black gnat for fly rod use . Meal worms / crickets on hand pole or bottom fishing .

Great pics, Coach!!

I catch more gills on mealworms,honey worms or artificial maggots.That said,I equally catch numerous gills on jigs,and beetle spins often tipped with worms I mentioned.When I was a kid,I would catch copious amounts of gills using a worm like burr growing around ponds.This burr resembled a chartreuse wooly bugger,boy did the gills hammer them.

I am very one dimensional in my fishing and rarely stray from using a Bison colored Trout Magnet. I use it for Gills........shell cracker......crappie.....trout.....smallmouth..... .white bass....KY bass. It has served me very well

Regards


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