The lake I'm fishing now has forage mostly comprised as bluegills. I was wondering if you guys had any experience with baits the mimick the gills well, that's cheap (ish), durable, and catches fish. Thanks.
Quote from: FishnJon on March 10, 2011, 06:15:29 PM
The lake I'm fishing now has forage mostly comprised as bluegills. I was wondering if you guys had any experience with baits the mimick the gills well, that's cheap (ish), durable, and catches fish. Thanks.
Well, if you don't want to pony up for some Mattlures Extreme Bluegill Swimbaits, you could always go with a crankbait.
Just got my KVD 1.5 and 2.5 in the mail today...and of course, they're the hottest crankbait on the market right now. The bluegill pattern looks great too.
Zoom swimming fluke is a good alternative. Also a swim jig in a blue gill pattern is a good choice too. If you get a chance to take a look at your blue gill you could also fish a tube or senko in similar colors...of course traps and cranks are always fair game!
Live Target crankbaits makes a really good bluegill crankbait.
Are they true bluegills? Or are we talking sunfish, etc?
I have been buying the H2O cranks. Livetarget has an awesome bluegill and pumkinseed crank out.
+1 on the KVD square bill in Bluegill. Looks good. Not as good as my Deps Buzzjet Real Bluegill looks though . . . but you mentioned cheapish ;D
look at the third one down in this post. he sells them too
http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/index.php?topic=85250.0 (http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/index.php?topic=85250.0)
I got the KVD 1.5 and 2.5 in silent and rattle and love em... :D
Yo-zuri hardcore drum bluegill
Quote from: Broskee on March 10, 2011, 09:38:26 PM
I got the KVD 1.5 and 2.5 in silent and rattle and love em... :D
I think I'll get a KVD, I don't fish enough cranks anyways. Should I get the rattle or silent?
Quote from: FishnJon on March 11, 2011, 06:35:24 AM
I think I'll get a KVD, I don't fish enough cranks anyways. Should I get the rattle or silent?
What is your water clarity?
I have a lot of bluegill colored products and I use them in late spring and summer; I have had a lot of success with them. I have the new KVD 1.5 Squarebill, I have some Bandit 100 & 200 series cranks, Ratl' Traps, Spro Baby Shad swimbaits in Killer Gill, and I even have some Jig Monster jigs in the Screamin' bluegill color (I had my personal best day ever fishing those jigs) with a V&M mudbug Flippin' Blu trailer. Bluegill in one of my go to colors.
We've got a tiny little 2 acre tank that I fish at after work when I only have an hour or two, and it's loaded with bluegill. The water in it stays crystal clear, and it's so small and has been fished so many times that every fish in there stays spooked. The KVD Silent 1.5 in bluegill pattern has been the best lure I've ever used in that tank. After I took one out and had that kind of luck I went out and bought a bunch of 'em and repeated that success in other lakes where I'm in a situation with clear water & bluegill. Done well for me in tough conditions when others were struggling. Looking at some of the baits listed above, they look great as well.
I forgot to mention in my first post that I just bought some IMA Squarebill cranks in bluegill. I can't wait to try them out along with the KVD's.
Quote from: -Shawn- on March 11, 2011, 06:37:41 AM
What is your water clarity?
In this particular lake the water is stained, but most bodies of water here are muddy.
The Skinny Bear SB5 Swimbait is a 5 inch hand poured line through swimbait and it's about 8 bucks. Probably the best on is the MattLures Ultimate Bluegill but it's 23 dollars.
Quote from: FishnJon on March 10, 2011, 06:15:29 PM
The lake I'm fishing now has forage mostly comprised as bluegills. I was wondering if you guys had any experience with baits the mimick the gills well, that's cheap (ish), durable, and catches fish. Thanks.
yep...get yourself some tube baits...green pumpkin, black neon...I like STrike King's KVD 3.5" tube a lot...double-dpped, fat...
love pitching/flipping this into brush piles...and working it through...when it comes up to a branch...I like to shake it there...mimicking those smaller 'lunchable' sized bluegills picking food off the branch/algae...bass love to ambush them there...
something with a subtle purple fleck works wonders around here as a bluegill imitator...
Bluegill are the main forage on the lakes around me and 2/3 of my baits are designed to look like bluegill. I like cranks and watermelon candy soft plastics such as small worms, grubs, and senkos do a great job matching bluegill.
I've had a lot of success with Strike King Pure Poison in Bluegill color.
Quote from: willthebad on March 10, 2011, 07:23:30 PM
Zoom swimming fluke is a good alternative. Also a swim jig in a blue gill pattern is a good choice too. If you get a chance to take a look at your blue gill you could also fish a tube or senko in similar colors...of course traps and cranks are always fair game!
I have taken some green flukes, and used the silver paint pens and sharpie black markers to alter their looks. Made some with stripes and silver bellies and they work really well in these ponds where bluegill are the primary forage.
If the waater is stained youre probably worring way to much about color pattern. Try a Norman Thin N. It is shaped like a very small bluegill, and comes in several colors. Under 5 bucks, and has a very eratic action. Jim
Quote from: FishnJon on March 10, 2011, 06:15:29 PM
The lake I'm fishing now has forage mostly comprised as bluegills. I was wondering if you guys had any experience with baits the mimick the gills well, that's cheap (ish), durable, and catches fish. Thanks.
Molix Cursor Magnum and Molix Cursor Hard mimick the gills but are not yet sold in USA, you can try with some internet shop.
go on ebay look for storm bluegill it will bring up. Wildeye Swim Shad Fishing Lures BLUEGILL color get them we have great luck with these lures very sharp hooks and great hookup you will need needle nose pliers to unhook the fish
Quote from: LURECOLLECTOR on March 16, 2011, 12:13:02 PM
go on ebay look for storm bluegill it will bring up. Wildeye Swim Shad Fishing Lures BLUEGILL color get them we have great luck with these lures very sharp hooks and great hookup you will need needle nose pliers to unhook the fish
This is why I asked if they were bluegill or sunfish. I bought the small sunfish version of these and can't believe the swim action of them! I haven't actually fished with them, so I can't vouch for their effectiveness... but after watching them work in the water, I can't tell you how excited I am to get busy with these.
link: Storm Lures Wildeye Sunfish (//http://link:%20Storm%20Lures%20Wildeye%20Sunfish)
(https://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stormlures.com%2Fimages%2Fflash_files%2Fsoft_lures%2Ffreshwater%2Fwildeye_live_sunfish.jpg&hash=4a4bb7df7bde8e98b93200d04f4dbedf7eab468b)
BTW: I found mine at Walmart.
i can tell you they will catch fish we have the one you have and the longer versions in my link you will be happy with them we use scents also $12.00 gulp cray and Baitmate Fish Attractant Classic Crappie and Panfish Fish Attractant $8.00 good luck this year
They also seem to be targeting small bass. There must have been a hefty one smacking the surface, because whatever it was (Largie, most likely) was chasing a 10 inch bass, which was jumping for it's life. Caught a couple dinks after that on a rapala x-rap, 5 dinks in 2 1/2 hours, not very good.
Mattlures U2 Bluegill
(https://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi203.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa313%2Flowrider120482%2FMaleBluegillFlatTail.jpg&hash=a848d65c61fb58ca141e5808e82aa923507b02c8)
hands down....the best bluegill....not cheap, but for $17.99....worth every penny!!
Quote from: Band1t on March 16, 2011, 08:29:29 PM
hands down....the best bluegill....not cheap, but for $17.99....worth every penny!!
Did you remove a treble off the bottom?
Quote from: Pharticus on March 16, 2011, 09:01:20 PM
Did you remove a treble off the bottom?
nope...they come without one, but you can add one if you want to swim it....most people use them in the feeding position on beds and don't want a hook on the bottom.
(https://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi203.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa313%2Flowrider120482%2FAquarium20pic.jpg&hash=c11ff9f0b00b75adbf0d8e866afc45f699e3dc2b)
this is how they look in the feeding position
^^^ That's like $175 worth of swim baits in the tank!! :shocking:
Quote from: Band1t on March 16, 2011, 10:13:47 PM
(https://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi203.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa313%2Flowrider120482%2FAquarium20pic.jpg&hash=c11ff9f0b00b75adbf0d8e866afc45f699e3dc2b)
this is how they look in the feeding position
Whoa...those look good. So they work fine when swimming? I fish from the shore so beds are a little hard to spot. I wouldn't be surprised if you can catch fish jigging them along the bottom in "feeding position".
Quote from: FishnJon on March 17, 2011, 05:48:24 AM
Whoa...those look good. So they work fine when swimming? I fish from the shore so beds are a little hard to spot. I wouldn't be surprised if you can catch fish jigging them along the bottom in "feeding position".
yeap! the boot tails are for swimming and the flat tails are for jigging. and once the floating ones come out...they will be for waking and dead sticking!
just found these today they look pretty good click on links to see different fish northlandtackle.com LIVE-FORAGE™ FISH-FRY MINNOW™ JIG
better yet after you go into there website click on new items then LIVE-FORAGE™ FISH-FRY MINNOW™ TRAP bluegill with two hooks
FWIW, I went out back to the pond today and fished for a bit. Tried a lot of different lures and presentations. Nada.
Then I tied on my Storm Lures Wildeye Sunfish (see post #25) and caught my first largemouth of the year on my 3rd cast! I can't wait to see what these baits can do when the temps rise.
Well crankbait wise I slayed the bass with a KVD Square Bill Crank in blue gill color.
Quote from: gillrod2728 on March 24, 2011, 04:24:30 PM
Well crankbait wise I slayed the bass with a KVD Square Bill Crank in blue gill color.
Curious if it had the rattle or not? Jim
It was the 1.5 model with rattle. I will be buying some2.5 and 1.5 in both rattle and non in the bluegill color now that I no how well the color worked.
Northland makes the LIVE-FORAGE baits, but they also make a real nice spinnerbait in "bluegill". And if you are looking for plastics, ROBO worm makes a good "bluegill" dropshot worm.
I have good luck with a KVD swim jig in the blue gill color and add a Yum 3.5" Money Minnow in the bluegill color for a trailer. You can swim it, or work it like a jig; very versatile.