# Finicky Big Bluegill Baits



## eboll (May 6, 2008)

I was wondering what you guys prefer to do when the big guys arent biting? I usually fish a 4mm yellow fiska jig, and it catches most of the fish. But my question is, what do you throw at them when they arent interested? I have read that sometimes anglers can be too subtle and sometimes a really aggressive approach works. I have 2 rods on standby to switch out, my question is what other baits should I have on? I have seen a lot of bull 'gills pass through the hole uninterested. I have caught several around 9, but none of the real brutes want to bite. 

I am sight fishing in shallow, weedy flats

Thanks for any input


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## Cobra (Jan 19, 2000)

What's in the 9"ers stomach? If small/subtle and/or big/aggressive isn't the answer they may be into something very specific at the moment. With the influx of of all the water rushing in lately, there's a good possibility of some new food source becoming active and that's what they're after. Bull 'gills can get as finicky as Trout


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Wigglers.


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## wintrrun (Jun 11, 2008)

Eboll,
Had the same problem today myself and here are two things I did to remedy that.
I slammed the jig and waxworm on the bottom. Bulls would go nose down and suck it in.
I lip hooked a minnow on a #10 bare hook and ran it about 4-6 inches off the bottom. The bigger fish 10 - 10 1/2" would come in and suck em in head first.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## raisinrat (Feb 9, 2006)

Cobra said:


> What's in the 9"ers stomach? If small/subtle and/or big/aggressive isn't the answer they may be into something very specific at the moment. With the influx of of all the water rushing in lately, there's a good possibility of some new food source becoming active and that's what they're after. Bull 'gills can get as finicky as Trout



I like this thought process.

Yesterday we had to change up lakes and found the lake that had the worse ice had the most active fish due to lots of warmer water coming in. I got a really nice inland perch also yesterday at that lake.Video coming soon of that. We had a tough bite all day yesterday also. I think I throw everything after them. 3mm fiska chartreuse black spot epoxy was the best color for me.


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## eboll (May 6, 2008)

I don't know what is in their stomachs. Never opened them up. Never noticed though, I usually do check. Tomorrow I will buy some wigglers and minnows and see if I can entice them.


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## jacktownhooker (Apr 7, 2007)

i have had the gills slamming the 1 inch gulp alive minnows .....not a 10 though


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## newaygogeorge (Aug 16, 2006)

For me, when the big gills are picky I go too my smallest dark plastics with an even darker bead and 2-3 spikes. Good luck, just fried up some big gills last night mum mum good.


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

I agree with Bonney. The other day I was picking up gills on wigglers and other guys were getting skunked on spikes. Didn't matter the color of their jigs or spikes- they would only touch wigglers. I think its just a different look they haven't seen? They are a pain to deal with since you usually only get one fish per wiggler, but well worth it when they get tight lipped.


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## jasomx6 (Mar 28, 2010)

stupid question......what the heck is a wiggler??? Worm?? Plastic?? What??


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## ficious (Aug 28, 2002)

Aquatic insect. Larval stage of the Fish Fly

Harry


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## jasomx6 (Mar 28, 2010)

OK, what does it look like compared to a wax worm, compared to the size of a waxy, where can you get them, and any special way to rig/fish them??

thanks for any info regarding, could probably google it but nice to get info from one fisherman to another rather than JOE SMOE somewhere else.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

It's a mayfly larvae, they actually look like a little dragon, IMO. You can bare hook 'em, or put 'em on a tiny jig. If you get some,, get plenty,, blue gills just CANNOT resist 'em.


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

William H Bonney said:


> blue gills just CANNOT resist 'em.


I'm not sure any fish can.


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

This is a wiggler....







But be very careful. They bite like hell. So make sure to grab em behind the head. One time I wasn't paying attention and left my container of wigglers open. The next thing I knew, I had one of them crawling into my ear like that Star Trek movie with Conn in it. I never got it out, and haven't been the same in the head ever since. That image is actually from a CAT scan of my brain. The first time one of them latches on to your finger, don't say I didn't warn you! 

Another, safer, alternative to using wigglers is using a tiny ice fly tied above your jig about 6 inches. I don't mess with it too often because its a pain to tie and keep track of, but sometimes gills will kill that fly and not touch a jig.


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## iLiveInTrees (Jun 29, 2010)

If the fish aren't biting, I like to go small. I put a very small jig on, usually with a waxworm, being sure to completely cover my hook. 

Flashers have made such a difference in the way I fish, I can watch the fish approach, and decide what presentations they like best. Great tool for learning about finicky fish.


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## boutdun (Nov 6, 2010)

I've been using a small fly above teardrop for years just make sure the difference between fly an teardrop is shorter than depth of ice or you'll be gettin hung up on bottom of hole,there have been days when they wouldn't touch jig but tore the fly up,saved my bacon more than a few times


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## pzoch (Jan 21, 2009)

I always thought a wiggler was a woman who didn't stay still bed...
Oh fishing bait wiggler....my bad


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## Capnhook (Feb 14, 2004)

ieatantlers, you're killin me with the biting, ear crawling wigglers:lol::lol:. Now hellgramites!!! Theres your biting bait. We'd use them for smallies. I heard the bite can give you polio. Capnhook


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## tsr770 (Mar 3, 2010)

My ice flys a couple feet up the hook from a teardrop have caught a lot of my bigger fish this year, unbaited scud patterns in size 10-14 with a small copper colored bead head. We also filled almost an entire 2 man limit of 8"+ gills with some of my own steelhead jigs... big, gaudy, 1/8 oz heads, sz2 hooks, with black and orange marabou... probably 2.5" long when they're in the water, the big ones just couldn't get enough of that jig.


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## eboll (May 6, 2008)

Yes, the ice flies worked great last year, but they haven't touched them this year for whatever reason. I never found any good looking scud patterns though. Fished this weekend and we caught a lot of big ones, but nothing broke the 10" barrier. My brother caught a huge 9.5" sunfish. Saw some monsters, they liked the wigglers. The wigglers we had weren't fresh, and they weren't very lively. But they loved the ones that were nice and lively. Lost a wallhanger sunfish at the hole; broke my line


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## Richard Cranium (Feb 27, 2008)

Ieatantlers,

You weren't down on the Rabbit River about 20 years ago were you? That sounds almost like the same line of BS I told a friend of mine when we were steelhead fishing. I told him that they would dam near tear a finger off:SHOCKED: and he spent over a half hour trying to put one on his hook with a pair of sticks:lol:. I think he went through about 8 or 9 wigglers before I couldn't take it any longer:help:


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

Richard Cranium said:


> Ieatantlers,
> 
> You weren't down on the Rabbit River about 20 years ago were you? That sounds almost like the same line of BS I told a friend of mine when we were steelhead fishing. I told him that they would dam near tear a finger off:SHOCKED: and he spent over a half hour trying to put one on his hook with a pair of sticks:lol:. I think he went through about 8 or 9 wigglers before I couldn't take it any longer:help:


:lol: No. I guess all great minds think alike. I was hoping he would walk into a bait shop and ask the bait guy in front of about 5 other customers "So, umm, do those things bite?"


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