Forgive this Midwest angler for chimming in here. I'm just looking for some opinions on swimbaits.

In the past I've used the Castiac baby bass, Castiac Trout (soft body), several different Optimum Swimbaits. Not much success with hooking up good fish, or getting them to hit in the first place.

This year I'm going toward the bluegill swimbait route. Considering it's the main forage for our bass here, I'm hoping to have a little more success. I have some hand poured gills that I'm going to try on a stand up jig head, and have also purchased one of Matt's Bluegill's in the female patter.

What I would like to know what are the most important factors when fishing these swimbaits. What do you think the bass keen in on the most?

Color pattern of the bait....Such as a female gill vs. male gill vs. sunfish...etc..

Shape.......Handpoured gills don't mimic the actual gill that much, but I can see where the size would be beneficial in hook up percentage

Body.......Do you think the size of the gill will trigger more strikes or less strikes...such as a 6" gill vs. a 4" gill?

Thanks for any Replies

I also live in the Mid-west..I'll give you my two cents worth..As for male/female colored bluegill baits..I really don't think it matters much.If Bluegill are the main forage in the waters you fish,they are going too eat what ever sex they come across.With that said..there maybe..just maybe a slight preference toward the male while they are in spawning colors.I just think there brighter colors may make them stand out a bit better,therefore they are easier targets.Again,I really don't think that is that big a deal..
As for size of the bait..The draw back too bluegill baits is the height of them...it can make hooking difficult with a single hook unless the whole bait is sucked in.I've found that on my "Real Fish" Bluegill I make,90% of the hook-ups come on the rear treble..(The fish doesn't have too engulf the whole bait too get a hook into them).But like anything,it is a trade off..with two trebles on a bait,your chances of snagging the bait increase.
I'm trying too make the best of both worlds with my proto-type "Bedding Bluegill" pictured here in the "New products forum"
I've reduced the size of the bait slightly,and placed the single hook back further on the bait too increase the hook up ratio..We'll see..Nathan
www.Bettencourtbaits.com

Thanks for the reply Nathan. I certainly appreciate it.

Your gill looks outstanding, and it's nothing like anything else out there. Looks to be made of wood. If so, that's some outstanding craftsmanship. I'll be curious to see how it works for those using it on beds. Fantastic idea of removing the lip. Makes the bait so much more versitle.

Far as the size goes, I'm also going to play around with these smaller LuckyCraft's
Vib60
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Bigbass101/Ebay%20Photos/LCVib77Gill.jpg>

& Vib77
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Bigbass101/Ebay%20Photos/LCVib77.jpg>

They are much smaller, but have the nose weighted so it will stand nose down on a bed. Plus they will be able to be fished like a lipless crank also. I've heard mixed reviews on them so far.


Rick