The Bluegill-Bass Connection for Early Summer

Once the bluegill spawn completes, they shift to deeper water where they form dense suspended schools around emerging grass and isolated cover. Wired2Fish contributor, Dan Quinn, explains how he patterns and catches aggressive bass using 2D sonar, mapping waypoints and a Tokyo rig on the business end.

Aggressively feeding bass co-locate with bluegills during this period, so it’s a classic ‘find the food, find the bass’ scenario. Given this, Dan favors precise vertical presentations fished slowly around the gills. The Tokyo rig allows for quick delivery of your favorite plastics to the bottom, essentially functioning as a Texas-rigged drop shot, only for power fishing applications (rigid dropper wire and heavy tungsten weight). Quinn shares some practical Tokyo Rig fishing and rigging tips that allow this setup to excel in this and similar situations.