HomeFeaturesYouth Corner–Go Gill in Summer story and photos by P.J. Pahygiannis For many young anglers across the country, pond fishing is their best option when it comes to chasing bass. Advanced Angler Youth Corner contributor P.J. Pahygiannis is one of those young anglers who loves to fish any chance that he gets. Whether from a boat or at a local pond near his Maryland home. When he is fishing local ponds in the summer, Pahygiannis has found that he catches a lot of bluegill from the bank. When he started experimenting with modifying and customizing his lures to better match the bluegill, he started catching more bass. Since discovering the tricks, he began playing with JJ’s Magic dyes and he found several little twists that made his jigs and soft plastics look more like the bream he was trying to match. The result was once again, more bass caught. In Youth Corner today, Pahygiannis has chosen to share some of those tricks to help bank bound youngsters improve their results on the water. So, check out these tips below to help you “Go ‘Gill in Summer.” Make your orange plastics look even more like Bluegill: When I’m using Bama Craw colored plastics, I like to take some Methylate JJ’s magic dye and dip the tips of the bait I’m using in the dye to add a little bit more color to resemble a bluegill. Be Flashy: When fishing in dirty water and you’re around either suspended or bedding bluegill, try taking a bait such as a Okeechobee Craw, watermelon red, or green pumpkin KVD chunk and tip the front part of the chunk and dip it in some red JJ’s magic, and then dip the legs of the chunk in chartreuse as well. Blue and Bronze: Try taking a Double header or California craw colored plastic and dip the legs in some Dark Blue JJ’s magic, to resemble the dark blue that some bluegill have on their head. The Double header or California craw colors resemble the olive body of some of the bluegill throughout the country. A summer orange: Since some of the bluegill I’ve seen have a yellowish breast with a hint of orange, I like to take a Summer craw colored KVD chunk for the jig I’m using, and dip the ends of the chunk in Methylate JJ’s magic because after applying it, it will turn the tips of the chunk into an orange shade. PB & J Magic: Since the color chunk PB & J has some brown in it, you can take a jar of red JJ’s magic and dip the ends of the claws of the chunk in it. Then, after you let that dry, you can take the meatier part of the chunk and dip that in Methylate JJ’s to match the brown and red colors you commonly find on a bluegill. Falcon Lake Chartreuse: Since the Falcon Craw color is a shade of red, you can dip the ends of a chunk or other plastic in chartreuse in an effort to imitate the red and chartreuse colors that are found on some bluegill. Give your watermelon jigs some flash: I like to take a Backwater custom baits Standard watermelon colored 5/16th ounce swim jig and dip one section of the skirt, by taking a small bunch of the skirt material with your fingers and dip it in chartreuse JJ’s magic. Then, once that is dry, I like to take another bundle of skirt material from the jig and dip that in Blue garlic dye. Then, with whatever little bit of skirt material I have that is not died, I like to take the ends of it and dip them into some red JJ’s magic dye. Black copper craw combination: When Flipping a jig into grass clumps, I like to take a Black Copper Craw 1/2-ounce Backwater Custom Baits Arkie style jig and dip the ends of a clump of strands by dividing the skirt material hanging off the jig in two. Then I take a section of skirt material and dip it into some red JJ’s magic, and then let it dry. Then I will proceed to dip the other section of skirt material into Dark Blue JJ’s magic garlic dye to give the jig an appearance of a dark colored bluegill under the grass clump or mat. Motor oil happiness: When I’m swimming a jig either around grass or suspended bluegill, I like to take a Motor oil purple 3/8-ounce Backwater Custom Baits Bullet bass jig and part the skirt material on the jig into two separate “sections.” I like to take the first parted section and dip a few inches of it into some blood red JJ’s magic and then I let it air dry for a minute or two. After letting that section dry, I dip the other parted section of skirt material into some chartreuse JJ’s magic, but just a few inches, not all of the skirt material you have parted. Halloween Bluegill: When you take a Pumpkin green orange Hidden Eye Stand Up Brush Jig and make a few color modifications to it, you can have a bait that when you pitch or flip it up under docks, it will act just like a real bluegill and imitate its colors perfectly. If you part the jig’s 50 strand skirt in two separate ways and dip a few inches of each end of the section in garlic dye, right where the skirt flares while being worked through the water, you have a pretty deadly combination. First, take the first section and dip it into red dye, and let it dry, and then dip the other section into section into chartreuse you end up with a bait will all the common colors of the bluegill packed into one.
