Walmart carries 1" crickets and 1" minnows by Gulp . I've caught all sorts of sunfish ( even a few channel cat ) using the crickets under a cork . I use a salmon egg / trout hook for the minnows . Just stick it through the head ( no weight ) and "swim " it around near the bottom .

If you really love those jigs you can convert them to weedless with some thin wire. You can jury-rig them with a piece of thick fishing string as well that you crimp at the hook to give it a semi weedless effect.

Personally I have never not caught a fish on a Rooster Tail. There is just something about them that drive Sunfish crazy.

I've never fished weedless but I bought this top water frog with skirts for legs that is weedless. I still haven't tried it but it looks promising.

As far as artificials for bream, check out "Bluegill Fly Fishing" by Terry & Roxanne Wilson. You can tie your own simulating a variety of baits.

http://www.amazon.com/Bluegill-Fishing-Flies-Roxanne-Wilson/dp/157188176X

I fish for gills and sunnies EXCLUSIVELY with crappie tube jigs, nothing else! 1/32 nd. oz, 1/64th and even 1/48th oz. Never use live bait or anything else when i am targeting sunfish or bluegills. I do catch them on other lures, because some sunnies are aggressive, but that is when i am after some other species. Color doesn't seem to matter, nor price level, as i use mostly Walmart and Academy clearance rack tubes, whatever color is on sale, lol. They all work.

Rudy

I use my briminators under a cork!!
and you can't forget the Roostertail!!

The only time I fish from a kayak is on Memorial Day at Beavers Bend. Its a float trip but I always bring my ultra light. I'll take a small bag of different baits. If I'm in the deep water areas I like to use a drift rig with some power bait and try for the trout. But I find myself casting the rooster tail or mepps inline spinners the most because the bream hit them like crazy. I'll even catch a few small bass. But if I'm floating with a beverage, and fishing, I prefer to be catching, and the small inline spinner produces very good for bream.

Plastic crickets are not always easy to find. The last ones I bought were custom made and sold on eBay.

I just found some rubber/plastic crickets, got them from a guy selling on Ebay, after seeing Fish 'till i drop's post. Have not used them yet, but see no reason why the gills would not eat these just like the real thing.

I caught my first fish on an artificial lure when I was 8 years old in 1978 ( Lord , I feel old ) . It was a large pickerel caught on a yellow rooster tail. Since then I have caught bass,sunfish,trout,sand bass,striped nass,crappie,yellow perch, and even a few catfish on rooster tails.

How do you plan on rigging them? Are you going to insert a hook through the middle?

I've caught a lot of fish on Rooster tails . IME , smaller fish tend to grab onto the feathers and never bite the hook . A friend suggested that I trim the feathers within 1/4" of the treble hook . It works .