How do i catch bigger bluegill?

Question

I always seem to catch the smallest bluegill. I usually fish with a bobber and wax worm, should i be fishing on the bottom instead? Any additional info would be great.

Answer 1

So far the answers are right on the $$$. If you want to catch the bigger bluegills you need to use bigger baits like nightcrawlers, small minnows, inline spinners, 1/8 oz. jigs and floating minnows like rapalas. Yes the same small sized lures used for smallmouth bass will catch bluegills... and big bluegills at that! These are the big gils that fill up your hand. The smaller gils have a very hard time getting the treble hooks into their mouth but the larger gils have no problem. A floating minnow in chartreuse is deadly for big gils, bass, crappie and pickerel. Give it a try and find out for yourself. Tight lines.  

Answer 2

First, your lake has to have a good blue gill population or all the big ones will be fished out. Then fish in the mornings 20 ft. deep around standing dead trees. I like to use meal worms.

In the evening, troll over weed beds with a chartreuse green crappie lure that looks like a grub with a flat curved tail. Let out 15 - 20 ft. of line and move barely fast enough to make the tail wiggle.  Sometimes a pure white lure works.

Remember, if a blue gill is under 12 ounces, throw it back so it can grow.

Answer 3

  Machman4 is right... try going a little deeper with a worm but here's a bit more to help.

   Try fishing as close to cover as possible (Stumps,Trees, Grass) in the water. These structures serve as a dual purpose. 1. They help the smaller fish hide and evade the bigger predators. 2. They help the bigger fish, who are ambush predators, to lay in wait for the fish they eat. Bluegill are not much different. They feed both in an opportunistic and predatory way. Also, another good way to catch the bigger gills is to use small live minnows. on a bobber. Personally what I do is use nothing but a worm on a hook, no weight or bobber, on an ultra light rod and reel with 4lb test line. this enables me to cast out farther and get to where the bigger ones are. I've yet to break the 1lb bluegill mark but I'm close.

Answer 4

all good information but remember these panfish can cycle their population: some years there are big and little fish, some years lots of little fish and very very few big fish.  

Answer 5

using bigger bait gets bigger fish..

and put on a jig and put the waxie on there.

Answer 6

fish deeper

Answer 7

if you're using bait and not lures set the depth of your bobber deeper. the small bluegill will usually feed at the top(if you throw bread out for example) and the big ones will hang out under them and eat the scraps that fall. they are older and smarter and this saves them energy.

Answer 8

try a small trout fly 3 feet from your bobber. cast it out, and twitch it slowly back in. and remember, if it weigh less than 1.5 pounds, throw it back

Answer 9

use more gernades

Answer 10

deeper and it doesn't hurt to fish areas that don't have much fishing pressure...that do historically produce large bluegills, nothing like a nice slab on a bbq!!

Answer 11

Try a nightcrawler and a mid-depth setting with your bobber. This has given me results. If you want to catch the big ones, fish for something else, the bluegill ALWAYS show up when they aren't wanted.