The 'hovering bluegill' trick for stubborn bass

Hey, it’s Keith.

If you've ever fished for spawning bass, you know how frustrating it can be.

Those protective fish sitting on beds can see your bait perfectly, yet they completely ignore your offerings—or worse, they swim up, look at it, and swim away without striking.

I’ve spent countless seasons fishing the spawn only to walk away frustrated by those oh-so-close moments. 

But frustration leads to failure, and you can’t afford to fail during the spawn.

Why?

Because spring fishing can produce some of the biggest bass of the year. These fish are accessible in shallow water where bank anglers can reach them, making it a prime opportunity for catching lunkers. 

When it comes to targeting bed fish, the same old plastic worms, flip jogs, or moving baits you use the rest of the year aren’t going to work as well. These fish aren’t actively feeding—they’re guarding fry, aka the baby bass.

And what are they guarding from? Bream!​​

Today I'm going to show you how to take a Berkley Gilly and customize it to look like a wounded bream.

Fellow Fishing Fanatic of the Week🔥

Our very own Wesley Littlefield is the FFW this week. Wes landed this striper from his kayak back in September. He didn’t have a scale but estimated this to be about 35 pounds! 

Want to show off your awesome catch? Then reply to this email with your favorite fishing picture, a little about yourself, and how you caught the stud!

BEST LINKS

What I watched this week

• Berkley gilly rigging tips – how to make your gilly float (Pole Bender Fishing)

• Don’t fish the Gilly BEFORE you watch this video! (Alex Rudd Fishing)

• Best baits to target bluegill eaters (Tactical Bassin')

• Best bluegill imitation lures for giant spring bass (Wild Outdoor)

• Targeting bass through every stage of the spawn (Mossy Oak)

Deal of the week

• TackleDirect.com slashed prices on the 130mm Berkley PowerBait Gilly Swimbait HD Pumpkinseed to $4.19 from $7.49.

• Bass Pro Shops is offering an unbeatable deal on P-Line Fluorocarbon fishing line. It’s gone from $24.99 to $11.98.

• Academy marked down its Lew’s Mach 1 Speed Spool Casting combo from $169.99 to $99.99!

DEEP DIVE 

The floating gilly technique bass have never seen

The #1 enemy of bass during the spawn is bream! But not many anglers use a bream lure. Actually, not many anglers OWN a bream lure. But this one simple hack has completely changed my spring bass fishing success. 

It all starts with the Berkley Powerbait Gilly Swimbait, that realistic bluegill imitation that bass absolutely hate seeing near their beds. 

Here's how this hack works:

1. Get yourself a Berkley Gilly (I prefer the smallest 90 size for spawn fishing).

2. Find a small styrofoam packing peanut.

3. Look for the hollow cavity in the back of the Gilly bait.

4. Mold and compress the packing peanut slightly, then push it into that hollow space.

The expanded density of the styrofoam peanut makes your Gilly bait buoyant.

Instead of sinking to the bottom of the bed where bass can easily push it away, your bait now hovers right above the bed—like a pesky bluegill waiting to raid eggs the moment the bass turns away.

When you cast past the bed and drag this modified Gilly into position, it stays suspended right in the strike zone.

Your floating Gilly can hover in place, creating that persistent threat that eventually triggers even the most stubborn spawning bass into striking. They can't stand seeing this egg-raider hovering over their precious nursery.

To execute this strategy successfully, simply cast the Gilly past the bed. Slowly reel in the lure until it approaches the bed. From there it’s all about letting that bream bait hang out over the fish bed. 

What makes this hack so effective is that bass almost never see this presentation. Most lures either sink or must be retrieved constantly to stay in position.

I've watched bass that completely ignored other offerings absolutely crush this floating bait after just a minute or two of it hovering above their bed.

The best part? This hack costs nothing (or near enough) and takes just seconds to implement.