Giant Bluegills! Who loves them as much as I do?

If you know me then you know I love chasing BIG Bluegills! If you like to chase those BIG DISC that pull drag also this video is right up your ally! What is your favorite way to chase these guys?

James or any other admins? Can you delete the duplicate post above? Thanks!

It’s funny on how when I read the post title in the today’s topics area I can tell it will be a video from you. Thanks for sharing.

???? is it the bluegills lol I bet it’s the bluegill

I just recently put together a little bit of a helpful tip video to hopefully get more people out searching for the BIG Gills like I do!

Thanks for sharing. Don’t you use soft plastics – even under floats?

Spoon I have a plethora of plastics lol Under a bobber with a little wave action can be deadly!

Me too. Been modifying a lot of the plastics I own and catching a ton!
Float & lure combination is the most exciting way to fish IMO! ..but then again catching fish is exciting period especially on light tackle. I store all my mods on a photo site along with the fish they’ve caught. Nice way to keep track.

I have an old fashioned binder for keeping track of my fishing venture ????

DWSDave31 wrote:

I have an old fashioned binder for keeping track of my fishing venture ????

I had something similar:

Once digital cameras were available I decided to downsize that info and maintain simple photo logs centered around lure design. Example:
master folder:

dated folders and number of fish caught:


within that folder, shots of relevant info of the outing:

Pictures tell a lot such as sonar info (depth, structure, water temp),
lures used and the species they caught, scenic shots (weather and weather changes such as: a photo of sunny and calm: photos of fish caught; turned cloudy and windy with pictures of fish caught and then it poured and photos of fish caught during and after it cleared.

The lures used indicate presentation, lure size(s), lure action and colors – each photo a representation regardless of the numbers each caught. examples:
these lures caught fish on one outing:

There were more than 2 dozen photos in the folder. Most important, it tells me if the molds I bought were worth the money as in the case of the two different hand-poured swimbaits shown. One shows a weed guard I attached to a jig head and tested showing the fish caught.
As with this reply, the photos are posted on different forums as examples of lure design ideas supporting lure theory such as: match-the-hatch is BS; lure colors: a few will do, etc. They are much appreciated and never doubted.

Wow I’m really impressed Spoon Minnow. That level of detail is incredible and has surely put more fish in your boat over the years. Kudos!

Spoon that’s exactly what I’m looking for in detail! But now I need to go buy a new hard drive just for keeping this information

DWSDave31 wrote:

Spoon that’s exactly what I’m looking for in detail! But now I need to go buy a new hard drive just for keeping this information

Nah Dave, a 32 GB memory stick will store years of photo log outings.
Organization is now as easy as downloading the photos by opening the camera icon placed on the PC desktop, then using a photo app to improve sharpness, color and size and creating a dated folder with numbers of fish caught in the title.

I also have lure design folders organized into general categories for quick access : IE soft sticks, spike tail grubs, swimbaits, creature designs (many legs), misc. tips (weedless ideas, grub holder idea, transducer bracket), jig trailer designs, etc.

Thanks Steve. The challenge now is not to catch fish on the same ol lures year after year but to discover new designs fish always bite. The rest is just a matter of fish location.

The pictures by date and sonar temperature give me an idea of seasonal fish locations. Average fish sizes tell me what size lures to use: the smaller the fish, the smaller the lure. Lure action-by-design is determined by the fish of a specific water.

I came up with these composite wacky designs that were blasted in one lake, but not another that holds smaller fish on average that just nip the tails:


Small and medium size bass did hit them but the lake has far fewer bass than most waters due to overfishing.

…so I had to switch to this lure mod which caught fish of all size including small gills:

and this one:

This one did great in 2″ rigged on a lighter 1/24 oz ballhead jig:

Note: The lure was hand poured using clear plastic, brushed on a thin layer of Mend-It soft plastic glue and rolled in glitter. The glimmer and finesse action was all it took to hook a dozen fish yesterday.

Frank (aka senkosam on other forums)

I like that Ned-Rig on the bottom simple but effective! Those center hooked wigglers are 100% a gill magnet! I know a few lakes they would produce on!

Now that you mention it, I haven’t used the Ned rig for quite some time except for larger bass lures. Will try it next time out. Another is the drop shot that I haven’t used for panfish.

Have you used the Beetle Spin? I make my own bending light wire and adding a bead, swivel and #2 Colorado blade.

The original Beetle Spin with jig & lure included in the package:

Years ago I never thought of casting the split leg grub by itself. Two years ago I proved it works great after having caught a bunch on the Crappie Magnet split tail.
(bottom lure)(top lure is a mod.)

Casting just about any split tail can be an amazing Crappie fishing technique!

But get this Dave: a CONE tail grub will catch just as many fish of ALL species.

I cut the tail off a taper tailed stick I pour and fuse it to another tapered body. The action is a waddle that’s similar to a Zara Spook except beneath the surface when you twitch the rod tip.

I used to have some stuff like that when I was younger

I’m on the hunt once again for the mythical monster bluegill!

I did some quick think thank thunkin on this thread!

19 full sentences including header from Mr.Dave, and 17 of those 19 either a question or exclamation. So if you ain’t asking a question to someone, you’re yelling at em.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying!

Bacardi analytics are the best!

Lol!

Jk?

I like emphasis !!!