Big Blue on Bluegill

[Bud B]

Have'nt been able to target the flatheads and blue's cause no panfish for bait. They just up and disappeared. But then I found a bluegill floating by the dock. Cut it into two pieces and got a 21# and a 30# blue.

40", 30# blue. On 8lb. test. Released alive

 

[hucklongfin]

You’ve got it dialed in!

 

[Tunahead]

Free floating bait=two hog Cats! Solid Work.

 

[kbray001]

Have'nt been able to target the flatheads and blue's cause no panfish for bait. They just up and disappeared. But then I found a bluegill floating by the dock. Cut it into two pieces and got a 21# and a 30# blue.

40", 30# blue. On 8lb. test. Released alive
View attachment 1447229

That’s awesome!

I keep hearing to use bluegill for big cats. How do you rig the bluegill for that?

 

[Tunahead]

Where are you? What/lakes do you fish?
Maybe a sabiki rig with lil' hooks would attract a few bluegill/perch? They're available with smaller sized hooks.
We use them to make bait on longer offshore ocean trips here.

 

[hucklongfin]

I think Bluegill are illegal as bait around here. I still hear that big bass and cats love’em. Ya know, sometimes I hook a BG and a bass grabs it before I can reel it in!

 

[Tunahead]

Used to catch Macs off Balboa Pier to catch big
Cats at Woodbridge North Lake after work.
Cats love Macs.

 

[Bud B]

To answer some questions.

I blindly rented an AirBnB on High Rock Lake in North Carolina for Nov and Dec. to visit my son for the holidays.

Lived in San Diego my whole life fishing local, baja, long range, commercial for swordfish and the like, etc.

Never fished freshwater in my life. But took a couple light rods I use in Mission Bay for spotfin croaker out of my rowboat.

Narrow section of a arm off the main lake. When I showed up here I looked out and thought there ain't no fish here. To narrow a section of lake with too many houses. Been fished out. I had no terminal tackle. Found a bass jig stuck on the dock behind the house. Cut off the hook. Tied on 3' mono leader, a small rock, 3 ft of 6# test, baited up with some canned dog food chunks. Had a 3# channel cat on the dock within 10 minutes.

Next morning I am out bright and early and catch a couple more small channel cats on the dog food.

A boat stops a little bit up the arm of the lake I am on and starts chucking out massive rigs on heavy rods and attaches planner boards. WTF!!!
So I holler at him, what ya fishin for? "Catfish"
So I holler back that I am good for gas, bait and beer. Stop back when you got time.
He slow trolls down the arm of the lake and I see him net and release some fish way off in the distance. He comes back about an hour later and we BS for hours. I tell him my fish stories from Cali, he about tournament catfishing the southeast.

Gotta go. A rod is bit!!!

 

[Bud B]

To continue:

Just let another 20# class Blue go and added an eater to the bucket (See photo's)
Deck boards are 6" wide.

I go out with the guy few days later and we slow troll (.5mph) shad heads on heavy gear/rigs. Cause he has gotten fish over 60#. We get a few smaller fish.
But he did educate me that catfish are'nt the bottom sucking scavengers we think them to be. They will scavenge, but they really are predators. Like live or fresh dead bait.

So I dialed down his rig for fishing off the dock. It is called a Santee rig. I am using main line to three way swivel. 1 oz. lead off one branch. 3' of 8# floro to a 6/0 Octopus circle hook. Snelled. Between lead and hook you put a slip on/pegged float. Adjust so the hook hangs about 9" above lead when you have the float straight up from the lead. You want the bait suspended off the bottom about 9". I have tried different heights and this one gets bit the best.

Half a shad, small bluegill or small crappie. If bait over say 8oz. I been cutting in half. But making sure each half has some guts. For the flatheads and blues. Been catching small eating size channel catfish on snails and clams I collect along shore. (They dropped lake level so people could work on docks) Getting 3-10 of those a day. 18" to 24". 1.5# - 4#. I been eating the 22" ones. Perfect size and plenty to be had.

My son caught a 22# blue on a tiny cappie jig. I got a 10# one on a crappie jig. And I have caught a couple channel cats on a Kastmaster. Catfish are predators!

 

[Bud B]

This lake has more then just catfish.
All these are on a Kastmaster. Bass was released.

 

[Zika]

That's awesome !! You said you did some Comm. Swordie fishing, mind if I ask ya what areas you liked to target most ?

 

[Omarkayak]

That is awesome. That blue cat on the dock is a good-looking fish! I would never suspect you could get them slow trolling although as you stated they do a lot more than shuffle through the mud.

Once fishing Castaic my bud and I were getting nothing as far as bass (once? haha). We saw something floating and splashing a bit in one cove so headed over to see what it was. It was about a 5-pound bass, half choked on a larger than average bluegill it couldn't eject or swallow. I joked we were using the wrong bait...

Good fishin'!

 

[popx5]

Those redears and crappie are really tasty. Nicely done.

 

[hucklongfin]

I think Bluegill are illegal as bait around here. I still hear that big bass and cats love’em. Ya know, sometimes I hook a BG and a bass grabs it before I can reel it in!

Well, that’s what I tel the rangers if they ask even if the hook looks to big for a BG!

 

[Bud B]

I think Bluegill are illegal as bait around here. I still hear that big bass and cats love’em. Ya know, sometimes I hook a BG and a bass grabs it before I can reel it in!

In NC they have to be caught hook and line. And can be used for bait. The crappie. I been using the heads off legal size ones I eat. You can cast net shad but not gamefish like bluegill and crappie.