DD GILL

[Billmo]

Does anyone have pics of how they are rigging the DD gill? i have ideas in my head of how to but im not sure the ideas are good/correct..  I'm looking for help as I want to buy the bait but need to pitch the idea to fellow anglers here on the west coast to see if they would be willing to buy..  If not I would probably just get some jason(sample pack) or from someone on the board..

[Jason]

Here is a post I made earlier in response to another question (I'm sure others will chime in as well):

I've fished it as a creature flipping (like a beaver style bait), jerk bait, jig/worm presentation (letting it sink and lifting it off the bottom and letting it fall).  It looks just like a dying shad - really looks just like one.

My favorite way to fish it so far has been casting it up shallow with an arc so it splats on the water.  Bass think it's really a fish and they hammer it within seconds of it starting to sink.

I haven't fished it this way, but I think it would be incredible as a drop shot bait.  It's small enough, but also big enough that it should produce quality Bass and trophy Smallies.  I haven't proven this, but I'm pretty confident this will be the case.  Remember, dying fish swim on their side...  I need some of our Northern boys to help me out on this one.

Jason

[Billmo]

Sorry Jason I guess i didnt ask the correct questions..   

What size hook are your using with this bait? Are you fishing it weedless? Weightless? Skin Hooked?
In my head I see the bait spinning on a retrieve so im trying to get a better understanding..

Thanks
Bill Mo

[firetiger]

If you're flipping it, then fish it the same way you would a beaver style bait.  I was flipping it this weekend in some hard woods.  I already had a 2/0 hook tied on, so I used that.  I think I'm going to try a 4/0 next time. 

If you want to give it that dying bait fish look, then you can TX rig it with a small weight, 1/8 oz, and just let it sink next to grass or wood.

I also use a small jig and nose hook it like you would a live minnow.  It swims down like a live minnow vs a dying minnow.

All of these presentations catch fish. 

I want to try a few other presentations, but I haven't gotten around to them yet.

The bait doesn't spiral if you rig it flat.  But that goes with any bait you rig incorrectly.

[andrewlamberson]

"Remember, dying fish swim on their side...  I need some of our Northern boys to help me out on this one."

Last year I was fishing over at the Minnesota City Boat Club in mid November. There were a bunch of guys on the docks fishing for bluegills (most using their ice fishing rods) and there were a number of dying bluegills on the surface of the bay. The Bald Eagles were having a field day...and so was some kind of fish. BIG splashes as they hit those dying bluegills on the surface.

I figured it was Northern Pike so I rigged up a Baby Berry in watermelon, Texas rigged a big bass hook and tied it onto a wire leader.  Next big splash I threw the bait over...twitched it twice ...and BAM! Big fish on.....but it didn't run towards the boat like Northern Pike often do. But I knew it was a big fish.

Turned out it was a 5.5 lb largemouth...the first of 4 in that the 3-4+ lb range that  I landed that afternoon...fishin' the splash!

They loved that "I'm injured" twitch on the surface!

It also got the attention of a couple of  bald eagles...but I kept it away from them... they are a bugger to clean and they taste like Blue Heron!

[Billmo]

Thanks guys for the info guys..

I did realize you are suppose to fish it flat but wasnt sure what size hook you guys were using and if you had an issue with spinning in the water. I wasnt sure the size of the hook because of the taper on the bait that I saw in the picture Frank posted, did know if a 3/0-4/0 EWG would be too big..

[Denny Welch]

Andy...quit eatin' the Blue Heron, or wait to eat them until after you've plucked all the feathers and sent them to me. Address the package to Dingus McGeees and send it to my secret address.  They make fabulous Spey flies.  Out here they stand you up in front of a 12 man firing squad just for thinking about Blue Heron feathers.  It's OK to walk down the street naked in San Francisco though, but that's another story.

[DobynsTriton]