Bluegill Fishing Tips: 13 Tricks Guaranteed to Work

The bluegill is a freshwater sunfish species, native to North America.  Bluegills have blue-green or blue-violet backs and silvery sides with blue and purple spots near their tails.  They are typically yellowish on the belly. The bluegill can grow up to 12 inches long and weigh up to a pound. These bluegill fishing tips will help you catch bluegills easily.

Bluegill are found in the Mississippi River basin from Montana to Texas and Arkansas to Oklahoma.  They live in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, backwaters of rivers with muddy bottoms that have weed growth or submerged brush for cover . The bluegill are mostly active at dawn and dusk.  If bluegills get too warm, they will enter a state of lethargy called aestivation .

These bluegill fishing tips will help you catch bluegills in lakes:

1.  Stage bluegills on structure

Bluegills can be easily fooled if you know that bluegill have a small brains.  Therefore, bluegill fishing tips suggest staging your bluegills by the brush in lakes to catch bluegills easily.  You can make a perfect bluegill stage using lilypads, fallen trees, rocks or even the brush stumps.  Bluegills will be around blues structures when bluegill fishing and bluegills will also stage near bluegills using bluegill structures for ambush purposes. It is easy to fish blue gill structure because bluegills do not school but they tend to feed in groups.

2.  Use a jig or plastic worm on the surface

Bluegills will feed by sight, so they can be fooled easily when you are fishing bluegill near structure and on top of the water column. Bluegill fish prefer to forage on the top of surface because it is easier for them to see their prey.  Therefore, it is easier to catch bluegills near structure in the open water column. All you need to do is paddle your boat towards the blue gill feeding and jig or cast a plastic worm on the surface, if they bite you can use braided line on spinning reels because nylon will break easily when bluegill bite it.

3.  Use a 4-inch plastic worm on bluegills near structure in the back of lakes

If you are targeting bluegills near structures, let your boat drift towards the structure and use 4-inch worms or crawlers to catch them. Bluegill like small prey such as this because they can catch them easily.  You can also use a 3-inch plastic worm on bluegill in the deep water (20–25 feet below the surface).

4. Use soft baits on bluegills

If you are planning bluegill fishing tips, you might have to try using a small soft bait such as nightcrawlers, mini-worms and small leeches in the back parts of lakes with structure. Bluegill prefer to forage for prey in deep water .You can try using soft baits, especially on lakes with access to deep water.

5.  Use light line and spinning reels

Bluegills are small and light, so spinning reels with braid line can work well for catching them. They do not have heavy mouths like largemouths. So thin or fluorocarbon lines work well for this fish species. You should use light-action spincast (spin) reels for bluegills and bluegill fishing tips suggest that medium-line test works well for them.

6.  Use shad or large nightcrawlers on jig heads

Bluegills have a strong jaw, so they can crush the shells of crayfish and crustaceans with ease. As blue gill fisherman, it is easy for you to catch bluegills and bluegill fishing tips suggest that you should use large nightcrawlers on a jig head instead of small minnows.

7.  Use a salted minnow an hour before sunset

Bluegills can hunt during sunrise or at dusk because they have eyes located on the side of their head.  Therefore, you can use salted minnows or other large forage fish to cover more areas during bluegill fishing.  You will find bluegills near structure feeding at dawn and dusk if they are hungry but if they are not hungry then you have to use a larger bait such as salted minnow.  Bluegills can see the reflection of salted minnows and they will attack the salted minnows if blue gill fishing tips work for you.

8. Try night fishing for bluegill.

Bluegills are often quite active at night, especially in the summer months when it is not as hot. They will often bite right on top of a bobber-and-jig set so it can be quite productive to fish for them once it gets dark.

9.  Don't be afraid to use your hands to catch bluegill.

It is quite exciting when you feel that nibble but there may not be a bobber-and -jig set where you are fishing. Don't worry—just grab the fish and put it in your bucket as you would any other catch.

10.  Use a "drop-shot" rig to go after bluegill on deeper waters.

A drop-shot rig is when you use a monofilament fishing line that has a three-way swivel on the end and then attach your bobber-and -jig set to it. This way, as you raise or lower your line ,you are less likely to snag weeds.

11.  Use live bait for your bluegill.

Chances are you will not have a lot of luck catching bluegill with bait that is already dead, but live bait can be very effective at enticing them in. This may even make it easier to catch larger fish since they won't be so cautious around the bobber-and -jig set as they might be with a fishing line.

12. Be patient when you fish for bluegill.

Don't worry that your bobber-and -jig set has not become active after you have been sitting in one place for a long time. Bluegills are often rather skittish so they may take their time before approaching your line. Eventually, they will come around; you just have to be patient.

13. Remember that the weather can affect bluegill activity.

Bluegills are very active in hot or sunny weather but might be less so when it is rainy outside or there are strong winds blowing across the water's surface. To make sure that you catch active fish, try to plan your fishing trips for the middle of the day and make sure that you have a little bit of sun out.

Conclusion:

I hope these bluegill fishing tips will be helpful for many fishermen.

Especially beginner fisherman. You can use my tips in your fishing process, it will be nice experience to fish for bluegill with these tips.

 

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