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Gill Baits: Fins or No Fins?


danthefisherman
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I was recently watching a video by Matt Allen and he explained that he never throws hard gill baits with fins because the bass have a hard time eating them. In theory, hard fins on bluegill baits (which are already a difficult profile to swallow) make it even harder for the fish to reach the hooks and stay pinned. A bait without fins like a Bullshad Bull Gill would be much easier for a bass to attack than say a Going Fishing Gill.

What I was wondering is if any of you have experienced this on the water? The idea that bulkier, broader gill baits are harder to eat makes a lot of sense, but does using finless gill baits make a noticeable difference in hooking and landing fish?

Any input appreciated, thanks!

Dan

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My two favorite hard gill baits are Mattlures Hardgill (lipless bait) and Toxic Wade Hoggs (lipped bait). One has fins and the other doesn't.  Both have caught lots of fish for me and many, many others.  I have no issues with the fins on the Hardgill.

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A bass large enough to attack a bluegill bait won’t have any problem getting the whole thing (or at least hooks) in its mouth. Fins aren’t going to make much of a difference. The Mattlures hard gill is a perfect example of that as waynem pointed out. Still, I personally don’t like circular Baits like the Going Fishing Gill. But that’s just me.

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The wider profile of alot of bg baits spooked me at first cuz it appeared that there would be hook holding issues. Like Wayne said it hasn't happened with Matt's hardgill or my other favs the gantarel and shellcracker. I suspect the fish are engulfing em hoping to turn em to digest head first. You never see pics of heads sticking out of stomachs only tails.

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I’ve caught a lot of fish on the hard gill. And like most the baits I fish they seem to mostly bite the bottom of the bait and get hooked that way. I haven’t had many fish that swallowed hardbaits and really a fish doesn’t have to swallow the bait to get hooked and caught. I haven’t really had any problems with keeping the fish on the line and landing them. Just my personal experience

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