Matt, on the one bait of yours I have, it ALWAYS gets slammed. Truly crushed, like a crankbait bite. No taps or nipping...

I was watching some gills at Lake Poway, trying to catch some on the fly, and I saw a bass move out of some cover and approach the school. Just as the bass came out of the shade, the bluegill scattered into 4 inch deep water, out of reach for the bass. I think the bass crush your bluegill, or any bluegill bait, is because they take advantage of bluegill in the open. Plus, bluegill taste GOOD!

Rat baits also get hit hard too, because like gills they don't go into deeper water, so when a bass sees one, they take full advantage of the situation and attack!

Trout, on the other hand, are stupid and constantly roam open water. I remeber reading on the Huddleston website that bass just swim right next to trout and then just turn and start chomping on them. The trout don't try and swim away like the bluegill do. Probably because they are from farms and the gills are used to predators.
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Go big or go home!