Bluegill as bait?

[bdorman]

Hi guys,

New member here. Just got back into fishing after a brief, 35-year hiatus. My new house is just two blocks from a 110-acre lake so I can get in a couple of hours fishing before work.

Anyway, all the anglers on this lake (LGM bass, crappie, northern pike, perch and bluegill) are experiencing the summer doldrums. I fished this morning for an hour before even getting a bite. It was a 6-inch bluegill which I would normally just toss back. But he had swallowed the hook so deep that he died on the dock.

Instead of throwing a dead fish back in the water I decided to cut him up and tip my grubjig and bare-hook-on-bobber with bluegill chunk. I got three big crappie strikes in five minutes!

Was it the bluegill bait, or was I just lucky that a school of crappie happened along?

[BigRiverMarine]

I'm waiting on a good reply to this one also. I thought about using the same on my walleye bait rigs only whole bluegill or pumpkinseeds under 4" in AR.

By the way, Welcome to the board from West Memphis, AR.

[CrappiePappy]

Hi guys,

New member here. Just got back into fishing after a brief, 35-year hiatus. My new house is just two blocks from a 110-acre lake so I can get in a couple of hours fishing before work.

Anyway, all the anglers on this lake (LGM bass, crappie, northern pike, perch and bluegill) are experiencing the summer doldrums. I fished this morning for an hour before even getting a bite. It was a 6-inch bluegill which I would normally just toss back. But he had swallowed the hook so deep that he died on the dock.

Instead of throwing a dead fish back in the water I decided to cut him up and tip my grubjig and bare-hook-on-bobber with bluegill chunk. I got three big crappie strikes in five minutes!

Was it the bluegill bait, or was I just lucky that a school of crappie happened along?

IMHO -- your "meat" trailer seems to be all it took to get a response from the Crappie. That being the case, I'd have to say that the "scent" was most probably the biggest factor in attracting hits. While we can never rule out the "lucky .... happened along" possiblity, it stands to reason that the addition of the "meat" did increase your strikes, so I'd vote on the scent being the more likely factor.

... cp

[PBUG2009]

The scent was the factor I believe also.,

[luv2wade]

Be sure to check your local game laws about using bluegill as bait. Some states are different than others. But if it worked once I would try it again to see.

[Pegleg]

I use bream that are gut hooked for catfish bait. Lots of times gills and bass eat the bait. The scent of fresh fish turns em on. Its legal in Fla. to use sunfish for bait as long as your the one that catches them.

[LunaticFringeInc]

I use Bluegill for bait quiet often especially when I am targeting brusier sized Catfish. I usually use them whole and alive and nose hook them with a small wire hook attatched to a larger hook. It allows me to keep the bait lively but still leaves the bigger hook free and clear to be buried on a hook set as soon as one picks it up and takes off with it. Most of the catfish I catch like this are in excess of 25 lbs and the biggest so far on rod and reel has been a 77 lbs Flathead. Now that was a fun tug a war!!!

[G.Gordon]

I used to cut strips of bg and put them on my jigs and grubs for bass. It really works for that night bite. Throw a good strip of bg meat on the hook of a texas rigged worm and your bite goes up every time. Turns that reaction bite into a "hey... they smells good... CHOMP" type bite.

[BigRiverMarine]

Great for catfish and bass, but does it really work for crappie? I agree with the scent thing, but if that's it why not just spray scent on your jig.

Has anyone ever pushed or dunked rice slicks for crappie and done any good with them? Don't care about catfish. We all know they eat soap if ya use it, and will hit slicks etc. Just want to know about crappie or maybe walleye.

[bdorman]

Thanks for the replies and thoughts.

I think it's more than just scent. This morning I got a 17" bass and 12" perch on a bare hook on a bobber; just a chunk of crappie on the hook (I saved some of the trimmings from yesterday's crappie to use as today's bait). Since it was just a bare hook laying dead in the water, the fish had to be striking at it for more than just its scent (maybe...I'm a very inexperienced angler who finds fish more confounding than women).

Also got three other LGM bass, one perch and one crappie on a 2" grub also tipped with a crappie chunk (casting, although most of the strikes occurred in the last five feet of my retrieve - from the boat dock). We have to release all gamefish in this lake (mostly bass and northern pike) but are encouraged to keep ALL the panfish we catch.

All in all, it feels great to catch fish after two weeks of very slow fishing.

BTW, thanks for the tip about checking local regulations on using baitfish. Will do. In the future I think I'll just use the leftovers (ribs, etc) from the previous day's cleaning.