Bluegills on the drop

[FreeFlySpy]

Why do I catch more finicky bluegills on the "drop" to the bottom rather than the rise off the bottom? I am fishing the same strike zone. What's going on down there. Maybe somebody with a Aqua vu could let me know.

[cisco kid]

early season got them on lift. as of late have been getting more gills on the drop also and fewer of them ,time to move to deeper h20. was hitting in 8-10 ft now will hunt in 15 ft on the vex.

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[icehousebob]

When the sunnies go neutral on the bite,they often won't hit a jigged lure or a stationary one, but one slowly falling, they will. I would rig one to slowwwwly fall as if it were getting away from them.Ice buster bobbers are great for this. You can trim them to fall, maybe one foot in 20 or 30 seconds. Sometimes this will trigger a bite when nothing else will. Also, go with a dark colored jig, black or gray, or even purple. Sometimes, thats worked for me. Experiment and see what works.

[Matt Johnson]

The drop will trigger a strike on those neutral gills sometimes. It acts as a darting baitfish or prey feeding off the bottom and gills will react to that. Pounding the bottom works well too on finicky fish. Although causing too much debris to float around might turn the fish away if you are on a very subtle bottom. Even dropping it and letting it sit on the bottom for a second will trigger a strike once in a while. And even sometimes I will just set the jig right in front of the gills face and jig like crazy, if anything it will annoy them and they will strike just to get it out of their face, seen it happen quite a few times when the weren't feeding. A meal passes by a gills nose and it will investigate a lot of the time

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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First Choice Guide Service

[email protected]
Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[Matt Johnson]

Oh, forgot to add one more thing...

If the gills are reacting to the drop presentation, then try a light 1/64oz jig or even lighter and tip it with a single maggot and let it float down slowly, this will sometimes drive those hesitant gills crazy and they will inhale that jig on the fall. Same goes for crappies, and you could even use a plain hook and tiny minnow as well.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

------------------
First Choice Guide Service

[email protected]
Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[JWB475]

Nice tip icehousebob, I have never thought about using a bobber to slow the fall of a lure like that, I will have to give that a try.

I found some nice finicky bluegills last weekend on Woman Lake near Longville, I tried everything, but the only lure that would consistently catch them would be a Hali spoon with a 1" chain dropper tipped with a waxworm.

I wouldn't get any on the drop, they would only hit after getting them to follow it up off the bottom.

It sure made for a fun day of fishing with the Marcum, as others around me without a flasher were pretty much fishless...