Right after the largemouth finish up their own spawn and recover from the post-spawn funk, the bluegill start moving up into the shallows to do their spawning. When the water temps hit that 70-degree mark, usually around the full moons of May and June, the bluegill get up on the bank in those (generally) easy-to-spot honeycomb beds and the bass camp out right nearby. Which means you have a really easy pattern available to you. We’re in the midst of it on my home lake in Wisconsin right now, and the bass catching has been GOOD.
Fishing the bluegill spawn is some of the most explosive, aggressive fishing of the entire year, and frankly, it can be an easy way to get some bass in the boat. Why? Because you know there are bass around, and sometimes just finding them is the hardest part. Bluegill beds are basically an all-you-can-eat buffet for bass, but they won’t be on top of the beds (for the most part), they’ll generally park it in some nearby cover until they’re ready to feast, and then retreat back to the cover again. So you’re going to want to fish nearby docks, nearby weeds beds and mats, nearby laydowns and stumps… basically find the bed with your eyes or with side-imaging (pictured below), and then look around for closest piece of cover… you’ll find bass.
But if you want to pull a giant out of the shallows, you need to throw exactly what they are looking for. So here is your definitive gear guide to the top 5 baits you need tied on during the bluegill spawn. These are the five baits that I’ve been using all week to fish the bluegill spawn… battle tested, proven fish catchers. And there’s a good chance that you already have most of them in your tackle bag.
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1. Swim Jig
When bass are cruising the weed lines and shallow flats looking to ambush spawning bluegills, a swim jig is your best friend. It’s weedless, it’s versatile, and it perfectly mimics a bluegill trying to quietly slip through the cover. Cast it right into the edges of the lily pads, grass lines, or just past the bluegill beds. Keep your rod tip up and reel it steadily, occasionally popping the rod to make the jig flare its skirt like a panicked sunfish.
The Setup: I generally want a 3/8 oz swim jig in some kind of green pumpkin or bluegill pattern, but I’ll use straight black and blue if the cover is super heavy or the water has some decent stain on it. Medium heavy to heavy baitcaster in the 7′ to 7’4″ range and I usually run straight 30-40 lb braid. I generally lean towards a craw trailer in this situation because of the extra lift it gives you in the shallow water, but a paddle tail can come through cover really well too if you’re fishing a little deeper.
Toad Thumper Hydra HD Swim Jig – $5.09
Colors: Bad Gill, Candy Gill, Black and Blue
Rapala Crush City Cleanup Craw – $6.99
Colors: Green Pumpkin Blue Pearl, Green Pumpkin Blue, Bama Craw
2. Hollow Body Frog
Nothing beats the sheer violence of a topwater frog strike. During the bluegill spawn, bass will literally pin panfish against the surface of the water to eat them. If the beds are tucked back near heavy cover, matted grass, or lily pads, this can be the deal. Cast it directly over the matted vegetation or right over the top of the craters. Walk it slowly, and give it plenty of pauses. When the bass blows up on it, wait one full second to make sure they have it before cracking them with the hookset.
The Setup: Grab a hollow body frog in a bluegill or sunfish pattern. I generally like something darker with a little orange or yellow, but straight black or brown can work. You absolutely need a heavy-action rod and 50-to-65-pound braided line. When a bass eats this in the thick stuff, you have to winch them out so I like a good, stout reel with a high speed gear ratio so you can catch up to them if they swim right at you.
Toad Thumper Swamper Frog – $9.99
Colors: Bad Chicken, Bad Gill, Fire Toad
3. Topwater Popper
If the water is relatively clear and you are fishing open water around docks, laydowns, or the bare edges of the bluegill beds, a topwater popper bait is a killer. ESPECIALLY in the early morning or before dark… low light situations. The bait spits water and sound exactly like a bluegill aggressively popping the surface to eat bugs, which makes territorial bass lose their minds. Cast it out around the beds and then give it a sharp twitch. Rip, pause, rip, pause. Most of your strikes are going to happen the second that bait stops moving. The bass will stalk it during the commotion and absolutely annihilate it on the pause.
The Setup: You generally want a rod with a more parabolic action so you can keep those treble hooks pinned, and I prefer something shorter (6’8″- 6’10”) since it’s a bit easier to work for me off a kayak. Use braid with a mono leader or just straight monofilament line.
Storm Arashi Cover Pop – $10.99
Colors: Green Gill, Ghost Pearl Shad
4. Bluegill Swimbait
Sometimes, the fish are heavily pressured, or the water is crystal clear, and you need something that looks stupidly realistic. Enter the soft plastic, ultra-realistic bluegill swimbait. Cast it past the bluegill beds and slow-roll it across the bottom. You want it to look like a rogue bluegill slowly invading the bass’s territory. They’ll hammer it.
The Setup: The Megabass Sleeper Gill is the gold standard right now, but any high-quality, pre-rigged bluegill swimbait will work. These baits have a hidden top hook, meaning you can bounce them off the bottom without dragging up a pound of snot grass. You can easily fish it on your standard 7′ medium heavy multi-purpose rod, and I generally like about 15-20 pound fluorocarbon line, depending on the cover.
Colors: Haze, Hanahaze, Gillkko
5. Wacky Rig
Look, it wouldn’t be a bass fishing list without a Senko. When the post-frontal bluebird skies hit, the wind dies, and the bass get incredibly spooky in the shallow water, you have to downsize and go finesse. If you can see the empty craters or spot a bass cruising the shallows, pitch this bait a few feet in front of them. Let it fall on a completely slack line. The subtle, fluttering action of the wacky rig falling through the water column is utterly irresistible to a bass, even when they aren’t actively feeding. Watch your line—if it twitches or starts swimming off to the side, reel down and set the hook. If you have docks near the beds, it’s super easy to skip a wacky worm under there and catch bass. I’ve been playing around with a Coike in this pattern too but they’re impossible to find right now.
The Setup: A 5-inch Yamamoto Senko in Green Pumpkin/Magic or any stick bait, will get the job done. I actually like the Crossover Ring slot in the Rapala Crush City Pig Stick. Rig it wacky style on a size 1 or 1/0 weedless wacky hook. 7′ Medium-Light or Medium spinning rod and go to work.
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black and Blue, Baby Bass
Rapala Crush City Pig Stick – $6.99
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Baby Bass, Green Pumpkin Blue
And for a more detailed bait recommendation, specific to your exact location and waterbody, check out the Bass Forecast Bait Advisor. Just input your ZIP code or share your location, and Bass Forecast will give you 5 bait recommendations, a bite rating, and suggestions for peak feeding times.
Bass Forecast Bait Advisor
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