# fair to use bluegill 4 bass



## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

so i have been trying to top my wife biggest large mouth a 4 lb 2 0z and have had lil luck seen some ppl getting big bass with bluegill they claim to catch big ones all the time i have never tried this and was thinking about doing so i fish at the same place most the time and get 1 or 2 lbs often mostly with tubes these ppl said they catch 6-8lbs there on the bluegill so if i try this and beat her 4 lbs should it count ? Also if i get a big one i want to have a replica made any suggestions there? thx


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Is it fair to use a minnow for crappie or a shiner for a smallie? 

All's fair in love and war and fishing in my opinion.

I would also take the story with a grain of salt that people catch 6-8lbers' "all the time" on gills. Fishermen tend to stretch the truth at times.
Personally, I think a nice big fat creek chub would be a better bait than a gill.


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

Lewzer said:


> Is it fair to use a minnow for crappie or a shiner for a smallie?
> 
> All's fair in love and war and fishing in my opinion.
> 
> ...


I'd take it with an entire salt shaker.

It is a lot easier to just use a bluegill type lure...that way you can spend your whole time targeting bass


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

Just learned a trick from an old fishing buddy I don't see much anymore. For using live BG for bass. I haven't tried it yet but sounds solid. LMK if you try it!

Take a trebel hook and a regular hook, attach the treble to the end and the regular hook up the line a few inches (compare to the bait fish).

Then hook the gill with the regular hook thru the upper lip and put one of the arms of the treble hook through the rear of the fish behind the fins but forward of the tail fin. Kinda makes a lure out of a real fish!

A

I don't always fish for Bass, but when I do, I prefer big'uns. Fish hard my friends....


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## BFG (Mar 29, 2006)

What's the kill rate for bass that eat a bluegill? I would think a circle hook would be the only solution to this problem.


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## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

mr.a my friend told me the same trick last wk but i have yet to try never used a gill b4 thanks 4 all the advice i do have some lures tht look like gills it just made me mad tht these guys had 10 poles in the water with gills on them catching nice bass and cats and i only got one i no 4 ppl 10 poles is a lot but its private property so i was not sure if it was allowed thinking about trying it a few times my best is only 3 lbs and my wife wont shut up about her 4 lbs i got 116 large mouth and she has 30 but has the big one lol


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Hey Bigmike. It's legal to use a gill for bait a long as you catch them with a rod & reel.

As BFG said you will probably gut hook the bass with live bait like a gill. 


By the way, I would be proud as hell if my wife would catch bigger bass than me. Heck, I would be very happy if I could just get her to go fishing with me. Just smile at her and say yes dear. You're a lean mean fishing machine. Play it up and make her happy. A happy wife is a happy husband or at least not a miserable husband.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

The premise of this thread is cracking me up.....you must by all means out fish the wife! I suggest electricity or perhaps dynamite


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

when i was growing up in tenn we had a farmer as a neighbor. he had this huge pond on his land. it was sopposed to cover around 16 acres. our best live bait was small gills. one of the biggest bass i ever caught out of there i was fishing for bait. i had a short stick about 4" long with about 8' of line and a small hook baited with about a 1/4" piece of worm, i was pitching it out in the edge of some lilly pads and this 23" bass hit it and i just pulled it out. we never weighed fish back then, we just measured them sometimes. so i dont have a clue how much it weighed. but i was maby 12 or 13 yrs old, so it was really huge to me. crap a 23" bass is still huge to me,LOL.
sherman


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## selfproclaim (May 19, 2011)

I utilized bluegill to catch bass out of a quarry that was difficult to fish. Once I learned the bass pattern and began to realize the stress it caused the bass I stopped. I saw some legit monsters with the bluegill, pretty exciting watching a biggun attack a live fish the size of my hand.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

It is only sporting if the bass is on a spawning bed.


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## "chillin" (Apr 20, 2012)

Used to do it all the time in a small pond by my house when i was a kid. The bigger the bluegill the bigger the bass. We used bluegill that were 8 9 inches and caught hawgs.

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## Weekender#1 (Mar 25, 2006)

Little Crappie work better !


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## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

me and my fishing bud went out there last night with a pole 2 catch gills a pole to use with a gill on it and 2 poles 2 use while we waited 4 something to take the gill we had big hopes who going real in the big bass first ha nothing even hit it we used a few different size gills ranging from small to big and nothing i got 4 on my lip-less crank bait and he got one on a split tail minnow so i will keep with the sport of using artificial i might try the bluegill again some time kinda boring if u ask me as far as beating my wife i am killing her in overall fish and no i will get the big one some day soon i go at least 3 or 4 times a wk


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## cattin15 (May 3, 2010)

The circle of life:
Wax worm = bluegill
Bluegill = bass
Bass = flathead

Caught some really nice bass on bluegill. Use a circle hook for sure. I only ever use farm pond bass for flathead bait cuz trophy bass are hard to find in public waters. Good luck man!!

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## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

thanks i never thought about using bass 4 flatheads


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## Rod Hawg (Jan 13, 2011)

I just use creek chubs or shiners for Bass. Bluegill from what I've experienced don't stay alive to long.


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## Bucket Mouth (Aug 13, 2007)

cattin15 said:


> I only ever use farm pond bass for flathead bait cuz trophy bass are hard to find in public waters. Good luck man!!


LOL. Stir it up.....


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## DeathFromAbove (Oct 21, 2008)

bigmike419 said:


> thanks i never thought about using bass 4 flatheads


I dont think thats quite legal .As far as using live bait for bass, I think it boils down to what you're into bass fishing for. To most of us its a sport. You against the bass using artificials, and then back in the water they go.
If you consider it solely a meat hunt, then you're really not a bass fisherman.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

cattin15 said:


> The circle of life:
> Wax worm = bluegill
> Bluegill = bass
> Bass = flathead
> ...


Smallmouth bass stay alive longer then largemouth bass. Thats why I prefer to use smallmouths for the circle of life.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

bigmike419 said:


> me and my fishing bud went out there last night with a pole 2 catch gills a pole to use with a gill on it and 2 poles 2 use while we waited 4 something to take the gill we had big hopes who going real in the big bass first ha nothing even hit it we used a few different size gills ranging from small to big and nothing i got 4 on my lip-less crank bait and he got one on a split tail minnow so i will keep with the sport of using artificial i might try the bluegill again some time kinda boring if u ask me as far as beating my wife i am killing her in overall fish and no i will get the big one some day soon i go at least 3 or 4 times a wk



Not trying to tell you something you already knew but since you never mentioned it..

When using gill for bait I would fish it live as ling as you can. If it dies cut the gut so it let's out a scent trail. If you use a float and keep it off the bottom it may halp as well.....

I don't always fish for Bass, but when I do, I prefer big'uns. Fish hard my friends....


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## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

yeah we used them alive lol the guys there hook them threw the tail i think it is so if they swallow it they can remove the hook from the tail let the bass keep the gill and release it bass only eat gills head first


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## BFG (Mar 29, 2006)

I used my sister's guinea pig to catch a big bass one time. I put a zip tie around Squeakers belly and then added a 2/0 siwash on a bimini twist w/ shrink tape over the connection. 

Big 'ole bass gulped her right down. My sister wasn't too happy though...but like Quint says..."we delivered the bomb..."


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## cattin15 (May 3, 2010)

DeathFromAbove said:


> I dont think thats quite legal .As far as using live bait for bass, I think it boils down to what you're into bass fishing for. To most of us its a sport. You against the bass using artificials, and then back in the water they go.
> If you consider it solely a meat hunt, then you're really not a bass fisherman.


If using bluegill, a gamefish, for bait bass fishing is legal so is using a legal size bass for bait. Im not trying to stir the pot but no matter what you guys think its not illegal. Its actually better for the trophy population to use smaller barely legal bass or any fish in that matter. Less competition for food = bigger fish!! And this is coming from a "part-time" bass fisherman!!

Needless to say the bass i have pictured was not used as bait. Caught on a crankbait imitating a bluegill in a public water in NW ohio.

A fun method to use during the bass spawn is catch some creek chubs and rig up a flipping rod and an ounce egg sinker. Carolina rig a octopus hook. Hook the chub thru the tail and sight fish the nests. You can set the hook by sight and you never deep hook if set correctly. Good method to catch a big fish

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## bigmike419 (May 9, 2012)

thx again 4 all the info care to share this public spot in northwest ohio cattin


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## cattin15 (May 3, 2010)

Lima lake in ottawa metro park. Its a pretty big lake pry 80 acres. 3 LM over 4 lbs this spring. Im sure they would take a live bluegill

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