How to Make Bluegill Bait

Microwaveable Dough Ball Bait

Pour a half a cup (120 grams) of flour in a mixing bowl. Use traditional all-purpose flour and pour it into a large mixing bowl. The flour will act as the base of the bait and will help bind everything together.

Add 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) of water to the bowl. Slowly pour warm water into the flour and mix the flour with a whisk or fork. Eventually, the flour should start to stick together and harden into a dough.

Knead the dough until it's a lumpy ball. Sprinkle flour onto the palms of your hands and start to work the dough into a ball. If the mixture has become too sticky or wet, you can add more flour to the bowl to thicken the bait.

Flatten the dough and place it in between wax paper. Place the dough ball onto a square of wax paper and lay another piece of wax paper over it. Press down on the dough so that it flattens out on the wax paper. Continue to work it down until it forms into a 1/2-inch (1.27 cm) thick sheet.

Microwave the dough for 30 seconds on medium power. Place the wax paper in a standard microwave and heat it for 30 seconds. During this time the dough should harden and become less sticky. Once it's done microwaving, pull it out to see it's ready by rolling some of the dough in between your fingers to see if it's hardened. If the dough is too sticky, nuke it for another 10-15 seconds.

Roll the dough into 1/4 inch (.635 cm) balls. Once the dough is tough and crusty, you can take it out of the microwave and roll it up into 1/4 inch (.635 cm) balls. This bait is durable and won't dissolve in the water as you fish.

Cover and refrigerate the bait. If you're not using your bait balls immediately, you can cover them in plastic wrap and keep them in the refrigerator for about a week. If the balls are too hard when you pull them out, add a couple drops of water to them and microwave them for another ten seconds.

Refrigerated Bait Balls

Mix flour and Mountain Dew soda in a bowl. Pour 1.5 cups (192 g) of flour and 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) of Mountain Dew in a bowl and mix them together with a fork or a whisk. You'll know when the mixture is ready when the dough has started to harden.

Add 1-tablespoon (14.78 ml) of Jell-O into the bowl. Get powdered Jell-O from the store and use a measuring spoon to add a tablespoon of it to the mixture. This will help the bait bind together as it sits in the refrigerator.

Cover and refrigerate the mixture for 3-4 hours. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. During this time the bait will finish hardening.

Remove from the refrigerator and roll into small balls. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator before you go fishing and roll the dough into 1/4 inch (.635 cm) balls that you can use for bite-sized bait. Bluegills are known to nibble on their food, making this bait a better solution than rolled up bread. You should use the bait within three days of making it.

Using Other Bait

Use insects and small fish as bait. You can use live bait like panfish worms, night crawlers, and wax worms to attract bluegills to your hook. Other smaller insects like crickets, minnows, and baby crayfish can also attract the fish. Look up what the bluegill naturally eats in the habitat that you're fishing in to increase your chances of catching one.

Use wet flies to attract bluegills. Artificial lures like wet flies that look like insect larvae are attractive to bluegills. When fishing with wet flies or other jigs, slightly twitch the line to emulate movement and to attract the bluegills to your line. When using jigs, stick to small jigs, like 1/100 oz (.28 g) or 1/64 oz (.44 g) lead-heads.

Use items from your pantry as bait. Things like sweet corn, bread, and hot dogs are things that bluegills like to eat. If you don't have any other bait, you can roll up a piece of bread into a ball or place a piece of corn on the end of your hook as bait.