About three weeks ago, I was fishing in a local lake when my son caught a fairly small bluegill. Before tossing it back, my wife suggested I use it as bait. Since I fish for bass, I thought it might be worth a shot. I quickly Googled this to see if (a) I was the first person to think of this (I wasn't), and (b) if it was legal in my state to use bluegill as bait (it is). I hooked it through the lips like I would pretty much any live bait, attached a bobber, and threw it in. I've repeated the process many times, as I am trying to completely replace the need for buying bait fish such as worms or shiners/shad.

To this day I've caught four bass on bluegill as bait. Not crazy numbers, but enough to consider that bluegill might be just as effective as shad (which is the choice of freshwater fishermen in my state).

I prefer using a bobber, about a foot and a half above the hook to give me a clear indicator of predator fish. At times, the bobber dips when the bluegill attempts to dive, but after a while it resigns to its fate. I tried freelining but both times the bluegill managed to wrap himself around an object and I was out the bait and the hook.

Advice Needed

Google does not provide a lot of information regarding using bluegill as bait fish. What few sources I find are usually forum posts dating back five to ten years. Obviously fish haven't adapted or evolved too much in that amount of time, but the fact that there isn't anything recent might be telling.

There are a handful of interesting YouTube videos wherein a fisherman attempts the feat, often catching fairly large bass. But the lack of prolific videos regarding this subject could suggest that it is harder to fish using bluegill than, say, shad or worms.

Does it work for you? Did you try it and it was no good? Have you never even considered it?

Looking for any and all advice on this topic. TIA!

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by gracegunn