10-26-2021, 02:58 PM
(10-26-2021, 04:15 AM)Therapist Wrote: The ultimate bluegill bait are Crickets !! if you can find em. I have been known to go to the pet shop and buy a dozen just to have some on Utah Lake for hunting gills. Unfortunately, they catch small one also, so I don't do it very often. But you want big gills, try crickets. A dozen doesn't last long if you find an area where they are spawning. Maybe if we get some decent water this winter and spring, I'll be able to catch some in the yard. Haven't been to many lately due to the dry weather !!!Over in central California you can buy crickets for bait in a lot of the tackle shops. The locals know about how effective they are. But they don't use any special rigs...just a hook and sinker...chuck it out and wait for in inquiry. However, a freshly hooked cricket will float up off the bottom and continue to kick and wiggle for a while. I'm sure that is part of the appeal. And it ain't only bluegills that eat them. Cricket soakers also catch catfish, trout and bass on them.
If the fish are holding near the surface...over deeper water...it can work well to fish crickets with a sinker, below a bobber...or maybe with a slip bobber rig. And if they are hitting topwater then don't use a sinker.
There are also a lot of caterpillars that work for bait...and even garden snails. So go debug and desnail your yard and then go fishing.