A- Rigs in bluegill lakes

[IntroC]

I live in ND and there probably isn’t a shad in the state at the moment and definitely not in the two bass lakes I have been fishing. The lakes I fish are primarily Bluegill carp and bullhead for forage. Anyway I hear a lot about the effectiveness of A-Rigs in winter down south and am curious if anyone uses them with success in lakes that have bluegill as the primary forage. I’m sure you could catch a couple here and there but is it worth adding a few to the arsenal? Thank

[Pat Brown]

I use a very small single skirted hook finesse a rig with a single Colorado blade and do quite well at spots like you're describing.  😉😉😉

[Jig-Man]

You’ll never know unless you try it.  You might try some colored blades instead of the usual silver.

[Big Swimbait]

Just use a Bluegill colored swimbait. Keitech makes a couple. The gold blades are a great idea, also. I would do both. That being said, I have caught bass in ponds that had zero shad on shad colored baits. If they think it's edible, they will eat it.

[gim]

The primary forage here in most Mn lakes (largemouth) is sunfish.

 

I have no use for an a-rig here because 1) there’s no shad, and 2) only one of the minnows can have a hook.

 

Something else resembling a bluegill would be a better option, and has been productive for me.

 

[MN Fisher]

^ May not have shad - but shiners are plentiful and they're close to shad in looks....which is why white/light colored plastics work here.

[MediumMouthBass]

I would throw a shad colored A rig.

For one reason, if you dont have any shad and only sunfish then most likely everyone that fishes the lake fishes sunfish patterns.

Bass are feeding for survival, if they see something different they will eat it.

 

Just look up big bass caught on giant trout swimbaits, in lakes with 0 trout.

[ww2farmer]

Most of the lakes I fish DON'T have shad (a couple have Alewives) and shad colored swimbaits work well. Like MN Fisher said, many if not all lakes have some kind of shiner/minnow type schooling bait fish that behave and look similar to shad that it's not a concern color selection wise.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Shad colors will work.  

Most lakes around here are here lack shad and I dont fish without shad colors.

Crappie, white perch, shiners are prey too.

[casts_by_fly]

I'm fishing mostly natural lakes and/or lakes with high bluegill populations as the main forage base.  Shad colors aren't the problem.  A-rigs are the problem.  Maybe I just need to fish them more, but I have yet to have a fish commit to one.  I've had a follow or two and that's about it.  

 

You'd probably need a pretty heavy one to fish it in the winter in Bismark.  Probably would take a pound or two total weight and a tall lob cast to crack the ice.

[Mr. Aquarium]

There’s a lot of other baitfish out there than just Shad.  Out here in Ma. We have perch, sunfish, golden shiners and banded killifish. Some lakes do have alewifes, blue back herring and smelt. You’d be surprised what you will have in your lakes. Look up a fishery survey they should tell you what you have. Northern lakes will Have emerald shiners too. 

[txchaser]

If a white spinnerbait works for you then maybe an a-rig would. But whenever the idea fairy tells me to try what you are suggesting (and I do) it hasn't worked out for me with shad colored baits. Mayyybe with GP trailers and no blades. Or gold blades. 

 

Give it a shot, if it works I can say I was in the thread when @IntroC invented it and it ultimately was banned from tournament fishing for being too good.