forced to down size today

[river scum]

as you all know the weather has been fickle the last couple weeks. we were hammering crappie and gills on minnows in the shallows. times were good till the cold and rain. last few times out have been slow with the minnows and the jigs have been the bait of choice. just the old 1/16 lead head and a power grub or baby shad plastic has done the trick. today it was nothing would do the trick! lol there was a guy playing with a fly rod in the wind. he had a lot of trouble in the gusts but he managed to catch 2 gills. he gave up after a while and i was contemplating doing the same. instead of packing it in and going home, i decided to look in the old tackle bag and see what i had in tiny chewy things. i found a ice jig box with some micro plastics from berkley in there. atomic dogbone or something like that. what kind is probably unimportant it was the size that was key. the plastics came with a 1/80th lead head and are only 1/2 to 3/4" long. it was kinda hard to cast in the wind but i made it happen between gusts. luckily i didnt need to cast far to get to the fish. the first drift scored a fat 7" gill. 5 more casts and 3 more gills, 1 keeper and 2 runts. that continued for 3 hours about 5 runts to 1 nice keeper. a few crappie in with the 7-8" keeper gills filled my bucket half way to the top with very little water. i figured i had plenty to clean so i packed it in and left them biting. im too tired and all warmed up now, so ill count them and clean them in the morning. lol

[Firehyd]

I'll be dang.....if anyone can figure out the bite it would be you...Good job man.. river scum guide service in the near future?

[jpdawg]

Way to stick with it RS.

[river scum]

no not hardly fire. i think guiding would kill my love of fishing. wouldnt want to jeopardize that. lol usually i just go home when they wont bite jigs or minnows. yesterday i had nothing better to do and the sprinkles had stopped, so i played their game.

ended up with 24gills 7"-8.5" and 9 crappie 9"-10". some bluegill cocktails, fried crappie fillets and fried taters for dinner tonight. and a few other cocktails to celebrate my last surgery bill(i freekin hope!). man im tapped out!

[Firehyd]

Bluegill cocktails? Something like shrimp cocktail?

[Locator79]

Good deal, I've had to go as light as a 1/64 to get bit. They'll always bite, just a matter of holding your mouth right

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[river scum]

Bluegill cocktails? Something like shrimp cocktail?

yes fire its like that. you can either cut fillets into slices(size of shrimp) or roll them up and tooth pick them before dropping in. boil till cooked then directly into ice water to stop cooking. after chilled dunk them in sauce and eat up. make sure to cut ALL the bones out. including the pin bones. you dont want any bones while your inhaling these. lol i can eat several more fillets this way opposed to fried also.

[jpdawg]

I have had bluegill that way. It is fantastic. Never thought about putting a toothpick through them. I will try that this summer.

I soak my filets in saltwater to toughen them up a little before putting them in the boiling water. Do you soak yours in saltwater RS?

[Tater140]

Yes, an excellent way to eat gills. Also makes a good appetizer tray to take to a party. I have a big bag of perch in the freezer downstairs, I may have to get those out soon for that purpose.

[Northforker]

I'll bet you could just soak those bluegill strips in a ceviche sauce such as lemon juice for 1/2 an hour or so and skip the cooking step, bluegill sushi!!!!