As small as bluegill may be, their fishery is far more expensive than most people can imagine. In fact, all across the United States, bluegill is caught not only for recreational purposes but also for sport in events such as tournaments. In addition to this, while I have never actually partaken of it myself, I hear that bluegill is actually quite tasty to eat, especially if prepared right. In this article, I’m going to take you through the best bluegill baits and lures so that you can find success on the water—even with these finicky panfish. So, if you’re ready to learn more about bluegill, take a seat, relax, and enjoy.
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Understanding Bluegill Behavior
A Brief Description of Bluegill
- Habitat: Bluegill inhabits almost every type of body of water that you can imagine. This includes lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, creeks, etc. They love warmer water because they can be more active and move around more easily. Moreover, bluegill loves having good hiding places. They prefer areas with lots of cover, whether that be aquatic vegetation, stumps, downed trees, weeds, etc. Additionally, when bluegill spawns, they move into shallower flats with sandy and/or muddy bottoms to make their beds. One last thing before I move on. Bluegill can be found at just about every depth, and this is very temperature-dependent. The colder it gets, the deeper they will go, and vice versa.
- Diet: Bluegill is like a garbage disposal in a pond or any other body of water. They eat just about anything that they can get in their mouth. This could be small minnows, crustaceans, snails, worms, small insects, zooplankton, insect larvae, some aquatic vegetation, eggs of other animals, plant seeds, mussels, and even more. The general rule of thumb for bluegill: if they can fit it in their mouth, they’re probably gonna try and eat it.
- Behavior: Bluegills are very aggressive predators. Bluegill mostly feeds in the mornings and evenings in shallower water. There’s really not much to say about it in terms of behavior because they are like a dumbed-down piranha. From my experience, they will actually eat anything, Which makes it a fairly easy target to catch, which is good news for all of you readers.
Seasonal Changes in Bluegill Feeding Habits
From both personal experience and research, there’s really not all that much to understanding the seasonal habits of bluegill and how they relate to their feeding. Essentially, it goes like this: the warmer the water, the hotter the bite will generally be. This being said Spring and Summer are going to make up the hot months for bluegill fishing. Now, yes, you can catch them throughout the Fall and winter, but it will be substantially more difficult as their metabolism drops in conjunction with the falling water temperatures.
How Bluegill Size and Location Influence Bait Choice
- Size: Size is a pretty obvious distinction here. The bigger the bluegill eats, the bigger prey he can fit in his mouth. If you’re trying to target bigger bluegill, try using bigger baits.
- Location: Location is generally a tad bit trickier. You really have to learn where these fish are and draw connections from them to see what they are eating. Take one example: you just had a big rainstorm, and the water around the pond is up a few inches. You then notice a bunch of bluegill hanging out close to the bank, appearing to nab stuff in the water. That’s probably a good sign they’re picking up stuff that was swept into the water from the rain. If the bluegill are congregating around what looks to be frog eggs, you guessed it, that’s probably what they’re eating. Bluegills are always going to eat what is readily available, and they never seem to get full. The trick is to get into the head of the bluegill and ask why I am hanging out in this spot. Generally, it’s not too hard to put this together—especially if the fish are in shallow water.
Live Baits for Bluegill
Why are Live Baits SO Effective for Bluegill?
Simply put, the answer to the question is almost the same as just about any other species. Bluegill and just fish, in general, want something that is as normal and natural and as alive as it can be. This gives them far greater comfort in eating the bait because it looks exactly like something else they would eat naturally. In my over 15 years of fishing experience, very rarely have I seen bluegill turn down live bait. They just can’t. It’s been hardwired in their DNA to attack prey that looks natural to them. This is why I absolutely prefer live baits over artificial baits if we are trying to either catch numbers or size.
Read also: Most Common Types of Fishing Lures
Best Live Bait Options
- Worms: An all-time classic. While they don’t generally stay on the hook too well, they are great bait for bluegill. To rig these, the best practice is to hook them multiple times so that you get longer use. Another strategy I frequently use is hooking very small bits of worm so that the bluegill can’t miss the hook.
- Crickets: Probably my second favorite on this list. Crickets also make great bluegill bait, but they also tend to draw out the bigger ones too. The big downside is that you rarely get more than one bite before the cricket is ripped off the hook. This being said, I would recommend a small hook with a long shank and thread the cricket on the shank through the abdomen for the best results.
- Minnows: Another very good bluegill bait, but definitely harder to get. From my own experience, it can be hard to get minnows small enough that bluegill can readily eat them and hook them through the lip, just like any other live bait.
- Frogs: This may sound dumb, but these are my absolute favorite bluegill baits, especially for ponds. If you’ve ever seen all those tiny little frogs bouncing around near the edge of the pond, that is exactly what I’m talking about. They are smaller than the size of your fingernail for the most part but are extremely effective and stay on the hook very well.
- Grubs and Maggots: I’m not gonna lie; I’ve never actually used either grubs or maggots when fishing for bluegill. They are simply too gross for me. I will say that based on my research online, a ton of people love to use them and say they are highly effective.
Pro Tips for Using Live Bait
- Keep the hook as small as possible. Even big bluegills have small mouths. The worst thing that you can do is use a hook that is too big.
- Use small bait and expose the hook as much as possible to maximize your hookup ratio.
- Use whatever bait is readily available at the place you are fishing. There is a good chance that whatever you find for bait is what the bluegill there are already tuned in to.
Artificial Baits and Lures for Bluegill
Why Artificial Baits are Popular
While there are a few different reasons why artificial baits for bluegill are so popular, I actually think the number one reason is that people don’t want to get their hands dirty. In addition to this, I think artificial intelligence is just more convenient. There’s no complicated rig or baiting; you simply tie a knot and are ready to go. In addition, artificial can also offer unique bait presentations that live bait simply can’t do. It’s not that I’m saying artificials are better in presentation than live baits; they are just different.
Best Lures for Bluegill
- Soft Plastics: In terms of soft plastics, you’re gonna want to use some small curly tail grub or something similar. Reel slowly and steadily and let the curly tail do its thing.
- Spinners and Jigs: This is my second favorite artificial to use for bluegill because of the shine and or vibration that spinners and jigs put off.
- Poppers and Topwater Lures: I can always get on board with Topwater for virtually anything. Just remember that you need to fish small because the mouths of bluegill are tiny.
- Fly Fishing Lures: My favorite of all the artificials here. I prefer using dry flies that look like mosquitoes for the best results. Twitch on the surface and wait for the bluegill to spank it.
Color and Size Considerations
Just like bass fishing, the color of your artificials should correspond to the color of the body of water. In murkier water, use darker colors, and in clearer water, use lighter colors. This strategy has worked for years for me, and I would suggest giving it a try if you haven’t already. In terms of size, you want to be using small baits. There’s no need for a Zoom finesse worm. In general, I would say your soft baits need to be under 3 inches and your hard baits under 2. If not, you’re going to end up extremely frustrated with how many bites you’ve had but no fish have actually landed.
Techniques for Using Lures
Just like when fishing for bass, if one type of retrieve isn’t working, switch it up. Maybe go slower, faster, or even twitch the bait. Send baits in all three columns of the water to determine where the fish are if you can’t tell off the bat. The last thing I would say is that if you know bluegill are in the Area and they are not biting your artificial, it’s safe to say that you can change. Then from there, just keep changing until you find something that works.
Seasonal Strategies for Bluegill Fishing
- How Bait and Lure Choices Change throughout the Year: For the Fall and Winter, you’re most likely going to have to go deep with your bait approach. This often means using artificials with bills to get down deeper. Live bait can work, especially in the earlier stages of fall and later stages of winter, but for the most part, artificial bait will be the way to go. For Spring and Summer, anything goes. Live or artificial bait will both yield results, but I can almost guarantee that the live bait will outperform the artificial.
- Spring: Pre-Spawn Feeding Frenzy: Spring is a great time of year to take advantage of the bluegill going extremely shallow to spawn. They will swim around in groups, and some pairs will even make nests to lay their eggs. During this point, the bluegill is literally feral and will eat anything.
- Summer: Hot-Weather Tactics for Deeper Waters: Summer is pretty similar to the fishery for bluegill in the Spring. Both live and artificial will continue to work throughout the Summer months as the bluegill pushes very shallow. Again, live bait would definitely be the preferred option if you are open to that.
- Fall: Transition Periods and Opportunistic Feeding: Fall marks the shift of bluegill to deeper water. The bite will inevitably slow down a tad bit, but they can still be caught.
- Winter: Adjusting for Cold-Water Behavior: Good luck…no, I’m just kidding. In all seriousness, it will be challenging to convince a deep-water winter bluegill to bite. Especially when that is an artificial you’re throwing at them.
Read also: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Winter Fishing Destinations
Tips for Success with Bluegill Baits and Lures
- Using the Right Gear (Rods, Reels, Line): There isn’t really a specific formula in terms of gear for bluegill. If I were specifically targeting bluegill, I would recommend an ultra-light rod with a size 2500 spinning reel with a 6-pound line. The lighter the set-up, the easier it is to have finesse and feel out bites. However, if you’re like most people and don’t want to dedicate an entire rod to bluegill, you can easily use a smaller spinning combo that you might usually use for bass. Again, there’s no specific formula. At the end of the day, it’s really all about what you’re comfortable using.
- Matching the Hatch (Observing Natural Food Sources in the Area): I’ve already touched on this above, but this strategy of matching the hatch can spell the difference between a good and bad day. This effectively means that you observe where you are fishing for a little bit by looking at the bugs around the water and in the water and determining what bait to use based on these factors. This often results in using a bait that the bluegill is already tuned into, which is often a recipe for success.
- How to Experiment with Bait and Lure Combinations: Just keep switching. That’s my method. If something isn’t working for a little bit, keep changing until something does. Remember, more than one cast is required to determine if something works.
- Common Mistakes to Avoid: If you are switching baits but these baits are targeting one column of the water—that’s not the greatest idea. You need to dial where the bluegills are sitting and then target them where they are. Another common mistake anglers make when fishing for bluegill is trying to set the hook too quickly. Bluegill will often nibble on the bait for a second before they really commit, so just be patient. The last thing I will say to avoid is using big hooks. I have certainly learned this lesson the hard way over the years. Find a super small hook and use that. Most of the hooks I use for bluegill are less than the size of the nail on my pinky.
Conclusion
I hope you guys enjoyed reading this article and the information that I have provided. Remember, if you have any questions or comments about things in the article or literally anything, please feel free to reach out to me. I wish you guys luck on your future fishing endeavors and hope you have greater success on the water when targeting all species—but specifically bluegill. As always, good luck and tight lines!
