Just wondering if some of you primarily use artificial lures for sunfish. I know a lot of you use worms and maybe crickets and maybe this what I should do, but I've fished for bass, crappie and sand bass for many years using artificial lures but now I'm wanting to target sunfish more. Besides they are really good eating.

In the past I have caught sunfish on artificial lures occasionally, but it was more accidental although fun.

Sorry if this a bit of an overlap with the other thread about lures for multiple species but I'm mainly concerned with sunfish and what others are using for them.

Thanks for all help.

Wade you may want to carry some small spinner baits such as Rooster Tails,Little Georges,and the Bitsy Minnow by Strike King. I mainly use worms on the Sunfish but have gotten good results fishing these baits. Also the Gulp Alive Products are super.



Side Note: The Berkley Trout Worms-natural color work great. Have picked up a lot of Bass and sunnies with these.

Thanks Banker, I've caught them before on beetle spins and small grubs on jig heads and I also caught one a while back on a baby brush hog while bass fishing which surprised me. It felt just like a bass bite I was sure I had a bass and he fought good too.

I'll give the Rooster Tails, Little Georges and the Bitsy minnows a try and I guess I also need to get back to using worms which I haven't done in a long while but they certainly work good for you.

Thanks

Get some segmented tail and regular tail grubs, tubes (solid body and hollow body), tiny craw and creature plastics (2" and under), boot tail, pintail, ball tail and split tail grubs, tiny flukes, tiny drop shot worms, some Gulp! Alive!, some jigheads from 1/100th to 1/8th oz, some Roadrunner jigheads (preferably the ones with willow blades), some Rebel creature crankbaits, some Mepps or Roostertail or Blue Fox in-line spinners (whichever you prefer), some elbow spinner harnesses and some marabou and hair jigs. That should start you off.

BTW, your bound to get a favorite brand of some if not all of your plastics, kinda like bass. While this is a good thing because it will boost your confidence which should help your success on the water, don't keyhole yourself out of other plastics that can do other things, have different plastic formulas/densities and offer different profiles. And don't forget beavertail grubs, those are great too.

jagg knows his stuff. If you want to keep it simple I've had my best success on 1/16th oz beetle spins. They're small enough for the fish but still cast a good distance. Next up is size 0 or 1 mepps spinners. I save my money and buy the plain hook mepps. They work just fine.

Thanks jagg and kjwolvy that's some very good info. I'll start working on collecting some of these lures. Buying fishing tackle is always fun.

Kjwolvy, I agree jagg knows his stuff. By the way I don't seem to find the 1/16 oz beetle spins in Walmart or Academy anymore do you have to order them now?

Love fishing for Sunfish. All I use is artificial baits and lures. Love the small curly tail grubs by Berkley. I also love throwing small spinner baits like Rooster Tails. During the late fall and winter I love using small crank baits.

Thanks Laker One that's the kind of info I was looking for. I also wondered how many folks used only artificial lures.

Fly rod and a Briminator or any number of other flies. I caught 46 bluegill one day a couple weeks ago. And it's twice as much fun to do.

You can also buy the little Ms. prissy poppers (Betts) at Walmart and use them with conventional gear. I've caught tons of bluegill with my fly rod and these poppers.

Thanks J-Moe. I have tried the fly rod but didn't stick with it long to get the hang of it although it always looked like it would be a lot of fun. Maybe I'll get it back out and try it again.

How do you use the Ms. prissy poppers (Betts) with conventional gear? Would I need a casting float (if that is the right name)? Seems like I have read about that before.

Buy one (or more) of these kits: https://www.troutmagnet.com/store/index....7e5ffd8efb8cdb5

I fish them under a slip bobber. They are great for gills, crappie and trout.

Yes, it is used with a float. There are directions on the package.

Hey Wadefishing have you tried the (Tiny) Size Brush Hogs , They are harder to find than the baby but its all my Nephew uses and he kicks but with them his go to the the WaterMelon/Red you can find them at Bass Pro that is the only place I have been able to find that size but its worth the trip. My nephew has no fewer that 10 bags of them whenever he goes out and he never lets his supply get lower than 5 bags.

Thanks HandgunHTR & J-Moe for the the replies and suggestions. Those sound like good ideas.

Thanks Aquiles, I have some of the Tiny Brush Hogs in Watermelon/Red that I ordered from Bass Pro but haven't had a chance to use them much. So how do you and your Nephew rig them for sunfish? For bass I Texas Rig them on a 1/0 hook with a 1/16 oz bullet weight but I thought there might be a better way to rig them for sunfish (smaller hook or different/smaller weight?). Back when Academy still had them we used them in the West Fork of the Trinty between Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain and did pretty good on smaller bass. That was several years back.

I've always had the best luck with rooster tails and beetle spins.