Bluegill lures

[Jonas Staggs]

What's your guys recommendations for the best weedless bluegill bait? I have been looking at the savage gear pulse tail weedless bluegill, but I have read a bunch of bad reviews about it swimming on its side.

 

Wondering what you guys would recommend?

 

Ps. Also if you know of any very small bluegill baits? Savage gear new structure gill is only 2.5" but it looks a lot like a dark sleeper IMO.

 

Pss. I have the storm bluegill in both the smallest and bigger one. Caught fish in different bodies of water with the small one, but it's not weedless

[WRB]

Goes against my grain to suggest something I haven’t used...the Berkley MAX Scent Gilly should work.

I have fished Huddleston weedless Bluegill and Matt lures soft Bluegills they work.

Tom

[Catt]

Smash-Tech Little Weedless Bluegill 

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

Bluegill colored swim jig ?

[NorthernBasser]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Goes against my grain to suggest something I haven’t used...the Berkley MAX Scent Gilly should work.

 

I haven't used them yet, but I have a pack I can't wait to try out (110mm size). They look amazing in the videos I've seen. No doubt they're gonna work. Kind of crazy how you rig them with a belly-weighted hook sideways yet they still swim upright. 

[Hammer 4]

Have always used Mattlures Bluegill swimbaits, both weedless and exposed hook types. And as Tom said, they do catch fish.

[Revival]

I bought the Structure Gills when they first came out.  They do work and they also choke it.

[Brett's_daddy]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:52 PM, NorthernBasser said:

Kind of crazy how you rig them with a belly-weighted hook sideways yet they still swim upright. 

I believe you can texas rig the Gilly too...doesn't have to be hook on the side.

[Bluebasser86]

I have a few of the Savage Gear weedless gills and really like them. As long as they're rigged straight and you don't reel them too fast, they swim great and fish smash them. 

[softwateronly]

19 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have a few of the Savage Gear weedless gills and really like them. As long as they're rigged straight and you don't reel them too fast, they swim great and fish smash them. 

 

I'm still new to this bait, but switched to a beast hook after a couple missed strikes and I've had a lot more success in the hookup ratio.  The hits have been violent!  Now is the time for this bait to shine on my water and I'm gonna have to give it some more time.

 

scott

[Jonas Staggs]

Anyone's thoughts on the 13 fishing bluegill bait?

 

 

 

Also the bamf shad?

 

[Big Hands]

On 5/13/2022 at 6:18 PM, WRB said:

Goes against my grain to suggest something I haven’t used...the Berkley MAX Scent Gilly should work.

 

I picked up some of the middle sized Gilly baits and two of the Megabass Sleeper Gill baits and went to the lagoon for a few hours of casting practice about a month ago.

 

The Megabass Sleeper Gill baits had a nice swimming action right out of the package. 

 

The Gilly baits just come with no rigging at all. I watched some YT videos and had an idea of where I would start and went from there. 

 

Straight out of the package, I rigged a wide gap worm hook horizontally, and the bait wanted to flop over on it's side. I re-rigged the hook to be inline with the diagonal position that is molded into the side of the bait. That was better, but not great.

 

Next, I pushed in a tungsten nail weight diagonally into the bottom of the bait and now it was getting there, still left room for improvement. I pushed in a second tungsten nail weight and that's when it was swimming pretty nicely. It did want to swim up near the surface and it was a bit of a balancing act to keep it swimming nicely, and still under the surface. Overall, I think the bait could get bit as is, and it has a lot of potential. I can't wait to throw it some more under better conditions. 

 

I actually got the Wild Eye Sunfish with the crazy idea of putting one or more on an Alabama rig mixed in with the Keitech Swing Impacts. . . .

 

 

 

 

[Jonas Staggs]

24 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

 

I picked up some of the middle sized Gilly baits and two of the Megabass Sleeper Gill baits and went to the lagoon for a few hours of casting practice about a month ago.

 

The Megabass Sleeper Gill baits had a nice swimming action right out of the package. 

 

The Gilly baits just come with no rigging at all. I watched some YT videos and had an idea of where I would start and went from there. 

 

Straight out of the package, I rigged a wide gap worm hook horizontally, and the bait wanted to flop over on it's side. I re-rigged the hook to be inline with the diagonal position that is molded into the side of the bait. That was better, but not great.

 

Next, I pushed in a tungsten nail weight diagonally into the bottom of the bait and now it was getting there, still left room for improvement. I pushed in a second tungsten nail weight and that's when it was swimming pretty nicely. It did want to swim up near the surface and it was a bit of a balancing act to keep it swimming nicely, and still under the surface. Overall, I think the bait could get bit as is, and it has a lot of potential. I can't wait to throw it some more under better conditions. 

 

I actually got the Wild Eye Sunfish with the crazy idea of putting one or more on an Alabama rig mixed in with the Keitech Swing Impacts. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried all those rigging tips with the gilly and wasn't happy with it. I actually fished it today just on a big jig head rigged like a normal bait. Not bad but overall not happy with the bait. Well see if they get bit this spring. Something I was thinking about, everyone is concerned with it running upright. Maybe it running flat is fine. The bellows gill runs flat, catches fish, and is supposed to be a bluegill imitation. So maybe it's meant to run that way. 

 

I'm a big fan of the wild eye. They are cheap and they work, I have caught fish on them on multiple different bodies of water. I bet putting them on a A rig works! Removing the treble helps make them alot less snaggy. I got the larger crappie one as well and put a underspin on it in place of the treble. Looks really good too. Tons of flash. You have to trim that little tail fin for the blade to spin correctly.

[Big Hands]

3 minutes ago, Jonas Staggs said:

I tried all those rigging tips with the gilly and wasn't happy with it. I actually fished it today just on a big jig head rigged like a normal bait. Not bad but overall not happy with the bait. Well see if they get bit this spring. Something I was thinking about, everyone is concerned with it running upright. Maybe it running flat is fine. The bellows gill runs flat, catches fish, and is supposed to be a bluegill imitation. So maybe it's meant to run that way. 

 

I'm a big fan of the wild eye. They are cheap and they work, I have caught fish on them on multiple different bodies of water. I bet putting them on a A rig works! Removing the treble helps make them a lot less snaggy. I got the larger crappie one as well and put a underspin on it in place of the treble. Looks really good too. Tons of flash. You have to trim that little tail fin for the blade to spin correctly.

 

I am looking to creep the Gilly along the bottom, stopping it occasionally to rest it in one spot here and there. Like a jig or plastic worm. It does sometime rest in an upright position.

 

I was looking at the Bellows Gill, and I still might try them. Thanks for the tip on the Wild Eye Sunfish. 

[FishTank]

I like the Sleeper Gill but the paint on a few of them has not been very durable. 

[PotatoLake]

4.8 Deps Bullflat. You can either use a sweep and stop motion to get it to glide off the bottom, or use it like a weightless senko, pitch it into docks, laydowns, etc. and wait for it to flutter down. Most of the fish I catch on this are bigger than the average fish in my bodies of water.

 

They have other sizes, but I've found the 4.8 is the sweet spot for getting enough bites to stay confident with it yet upping the size of fish you're catching. Although, I do dig using the little 2.8 on a free rig.

[WRB]

At our local lakes Bluegill are not a prime prey source. Crappie with softer spines and more slender shape to swallow are preferred over Bluegill. 

The exception is when bass are spawning, Bluegills are egg eater and a enemy to bedding bass.

Any young of the year fish under 4” are bass prey including Bluegills, adult size Gill over 6” are generally safe.

Try to keep your Bluegill lures 3” to 4” size, 5” max outside the spawn. I prefer crappies colors in 5” swimbaits in lieu of Bluegill.

Tom

 

[Aaron_H]

15 hours ago, Big Hands said:

 

I picked up some of the middle sized Gilly baits and two of the Megabass Sleeper Gill baits and went to the lagoon for a few hours of casting practice about a month ago.

 

The Megabass Sleeper Gill baits had a nice swimming action right out of the package. 

 

The Gilly baits just come with no rigging at all. I watched some YT videos and had an idea of where I would start and went from there. 

 

Straight out of the package, I rigged a wide gap worm hook horizontally, and the bait wanted to flop over on it's side. I re-rigged the hook to be inline with the diagonal position that is molded into the side of the bait. That was better, but not great.

 

Next, I pushed in a tungsten nail weight diagonally into the bottom of the bait and now it was getting there, still left room for improvement. I pushed in a second tungsten nail weight and that's when it was swimming pretty nicely. It did want to swim up near the surface and it was a bit of a balancing act to keep it swimming nicely, and still under the surface. Overall, I think the bait could get bit as is, and it has a lot of potential. I can't wait to throw it some more under better conditions. 

 

I actually got the Wild Eye Sunfish with the crazy idea of putting one or more on an Alabama rig mixed in with the Keitech Swing Impacts. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up some of the small 90mm Gilly in that same pumpkinseed color (dead ringer for a shellcracker IMO) and finally got to play with it a bit today. Have it rigged with a 1/0 EWG in the same diagonal position, with 2/3rds of a 1/16 oz nail weight in the belly.

 

It runs upright, and (mostly) swims at a slow retrieve, but it blows out really easily and if you go too slow the tail doesn't engage. It does have a very natural action when it's doing what it's supposed to do, but I don't know if I'm impressed with it so far, need more time. It looks pretty good on a twitched retrieve, too.

[Jonas Staggs]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

At our local lakes Bluegill are not a prime prey source. Crappie with softer spines and more slender shape to swallow are preferred over Bluegill. 

The exception is when bass are spawning, Bluegills are egg eater and a enemy to bedding bass.

Any young of the year fish under 4” are bass prey including Bluegills, adult size Gill over 6” are generally safe.

Try to keep your Bluegill lures 3” to 4” size, 5” max outside the spawn. I prefer crappies colors in 5” swimbaits in lieu of Bluegill.

Tom

 

 

Thanks wrb this is great knowledge your sharing my friend. I just grabbed a gantarel and gantarel jr. 

 

 

5 hours ago, PotatoLake said:

4.8 Deps Bullflat. You can either use a sweep and stop motion to get it to glide off the bottom, or use it like a weightless senko, pitch it into docks, laydowns, etc. and wait for it to flutter down. Most of the fish I catch on this are bigger than the average fish in my bodies of water.

 

They have other sizes, but I've found the 4.8 is the sweet spot for getting enough bites to stay confident with it yet upping the size of fish you're catching. Although, I do dig using the little 2.8 on a free rig.

 

Seen those baits, didn't know the name. They are next up

4 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

I picked up some of the small 90mm Gilly in that same pumpkinseed color (dead ringer for a shellcracker IMO) and finally got to play with it a bit today. Have it rigged with a 1/0 EWG in the same diagonal position, with 2/3rds of a 1/16 oz nail weight in the belly.

 

It runs upright, and (mostly) swims at a slow retrieve, but it blows out really easily and if you go too slow the tail doesn't engage. It does have a very natural action when it's doing what it's supposed to do, but I don't know if I'm impressed with it so far, need more time. It looks pretty good on a twitched retrieve, too.

 

The lure might not be half bad, but at it's best, it doesn't live up to the hype. It's got to be the most over hyped fisherman catching bait I have experience in the past 5 years since I started fishing again 

[Fat Ika]

19 hours ago, PotatoLake said:

4.8 Deps Bullflat. You can either use a sweep and stop motion to get it to glide off the bottom, or use it like a weightless senko, pitch it into docks, laydowns, etc. and wait for it to flutter down. Most of the fish I catch on this are bigger than the average fish in my bodies of water.

 

They have other sizes, but I've found the 4.8 is the sweet spot for getting enough bites to stay confident with it yet upping the size of fish you're catching. Although, I do dig using the little 2.8 on a free rig.

I've had the same experience with the 4.8 bullflat. Catch larger than average size largemouth vs. any other soft plastic presentation. I do prefer free rigging the 4.8, hopping/stroking, and getting hit significantly harderthan with most other soft plastic presentations. Agreed too. Amount of bites significantly decreases with the 5.8.

[Pat Brown]

When bass are hunting and ambushing bluegill, it's really hard to beat a 1/2 oz jig with a bulky trailer.

 

I like a siebert brush jig and a rage menace or bug a lot.  When it's cold I do a chunk or beaver.

 

Green pumpkin and dip the tails in chartreuse.

 

Bluegill dead ringer.