is the matt lures bluegill worth all of the hype?

Why dont you check out some of the pics on his site and see why there is so much "HYPE" about the gill

http://www.mattlures.com/photogallery.htm

ive seen the pictures and have read the posts, but i was wondering if it is the best bluegill bait out there. being young i need to spend my money wisely.

Show me another that has cought that many big fish. The Castaic Bluegill is cool but Matts is definatley more realistic and easier to bed fish with. IMO it is the best bluegill around check the reviews the only others are Bettencourt BG (looks like crap) 3:16 ok bait cant compare to matts, the rago which also dosent look very good and the castaic which I can see being better than matts at times when you need more action vs. dead on colors say night fishing. I think your best off going with the Matt Lure BG but its your choice.

Check out the review Rob seems to like it alot and 4 out of 4 people who also reviewed it scored it 5 stars which is the highest rating

http://www.calfishing.com/reviews/bluegill/mattlures_bluegill/index.html

I haven't done so well with them. They are good for bed fishing, but even then I lost all my fish I hooked. Mattlures makes some great stuff, but if your trying to save money, in all honesty bro, its not worth buying. I don't find it as one of the main tools in trying to catch big bass. If you use it for bed fishing your risking losing fish. If you use it as random casting and retrieving, well its action isn't that good. If your desperate for a bluegill, bettencourts bait has good action, kind of like a crankbait and it does not look like crap. Also the castaic sunfish is deadly. And you can still bed fish with it, almost as effectively.

I think overall, that none of the bluegill baits are as good as they could be. I am sure somebody will soon come out with a superior one. One maybe that you could count down and would sink like a huddleston or something. Good luck.

TM Customs,
I've got to disagree with you. I've never fished the Bettencourt bluegill but I've looked at it and its definetely a realistic looking bait... think "photo finish."

As far as the mattlures bluegill goes I'll take the other approach to it, I like it! I've lost some fish on it but I've also caught some. It definitely gets bit and if you want a bluegill bait I would say its the best option. The paint job rocks and will fool some big fish at the right time. I was not very pleased with the Rago when I threw it though I like most of his other baits and I've never used the 3:16 but to me it doesn't have the "shape" of the bluegill but who knows, it could be a fish catcher too.

Matt

this is the kind of info i needed to make up my mind. the bad stuff is just as good as the good info. the matt lures gil is now on my list of things to buy. thanks.

You won't be disappointed!

My first swimbait Bass came off a Matt's Bluegill---pic:

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=120170&anum=3723

Nathan's Real Fish Bluegill is a different 'type' of bait from Matt's and certainly has its place too---pic:

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=139868&anum=3382

Dan

Wow, bluegill topic becomes hotly contested :) Trying to say which one is best is pretty subjective I think. I could find a three 10 pounders and throw all of the half dozen bluegill type lures I own at them. One fish might eat the Mattlures and the next 10lber might eat the Bettencourt and the next might want a Castaic.

Me personally, I've never caught a huge fish on a bluegill imitator, but I've tried them plenty on bed fish, and it's like I said above, you get different looks from different fish. If you are serious on bed fishing you should probably have them all.

I ordered a few will give them a try in the ponds around bishop. Will give a report.





BassFly

Thanks for suport guys. I know a lot of people have caught thier PB bass on them.
Bigreenjobass, If you are loosing bed fish on them then you probably hit them too soon or not hard enough. I always bed fish whith a treble on the bottom and I always have the bait lubed. the lube will help you get a good hook set. I use 20-25 lbd line and hit them hard.
One key thing is to make sure they have the whole bait in their mouth.
Sometimes its hard not to swing when you THINK the bass has the bait but I wait untill the bass engulfs it. Then I crank them in fast. I can honestly say I have not lost a big fish on it yet. I have lost some smaller ones and I have lost a couple while retreiving it but no big bed fish.
Matt

TM Customs gripe isn't with my lures...He has never owned one...It's with me. Because I wouldn't tell him how I built my Rodent he through a fit at Tackleunderground.com (look at the Hybrid forum,post titled "FrankenRodent")and it got him thrown out.
Too answer your question..The Matts Bluegill is a sweet bait..Nathan
www.Bettencourtbaits.com

I might be jumping in a week late, but I do have some viable opinions concerning Matt's bluegill baits.
I'm going to open by saying that I have not caught a double digit bass with one yet, but I'm confident I will. I have caught literally hundreds of bass with Matt's bluegill bait...last July alone, I caught more than forty, 4+ lb. fish on them. I'm to the point where I don't go on the water without one tied on.
Although I hear guys refering to them as a "bed bait", I haven't spent much time using them that way even though that is why I initially bought them. I do intend to use them more in that fashion this spawn, but I have found several other presentations that they can be used for very effectively.
As far as losing fish, yes, I have dumped some good fish...but not anymore than with other swim baits..or spinnerbaits for that matter. When I fish them in open water presentations I use a Gami EWG #2 treble on the belly and I believe it increases my chances significantly of landing fish.
Subjective opinion...you bet. Proven production...no question.
I should have posted a response to Rob's review a long time ago.
Awesome baits.

I have fished Matt's 'gill and it was decent for me on the beds but not as a swim bait. I could only get it to swim on a faster retrieve, maybe it was the bait so I can't pass judgement just yet. The paint is excellent and that is one of the main reasons I tried one.

The 3:16 Blue gill does not have the correct shape but it was designed with the swim in mind.I have caught fish on the 3:16 I think it is difficult to make a BG swim bait swim correctly because of the shape of the fish. I have personally done better on bigger fish with BG colored crank baits. My friend has landed A LOT of 7-9 pound fish on the cranks. I think the bigger BG are a little smarter than we give credit. The small 4-6" are the main stay from what I have seen on lakes where BG are the main food source. Not to say the fish won't eat a larger one but there are risks involved for those fish, I can't count how many times I have seen bass dead with a big 'gill stuck in their mouth. I think they learn that and feed on multiple smaller fish that are easier for them to eat and ambush and maybe even digest.

Just my 2 cents.

Nathan, now I understand. I was confused because your baits look great.....

TM customs: I don't appreciatte you making comments about lures just because you have a gripe with the lure maker. We're trying to get legitimate information on lures and what people say here an can effect people's decisions. False information is never a good thing to give out. So all I am asking is please dont talk about nathans baits because you are personally mad at him. If that is your real opinion "look like crap" then I apologize. But as supermat pointed out, its a photo-finish on his baits, and it looks ultra-realistic, so that did not seem to on target. It's always good if you have a grudge to get over it and maybe apologize to Nathan and move on. Cheers

i just bought the mattslures male bluegill, it looks great, i cant wait to try it, im going to throw it sunday at dvl just to see how it looks, im really looking forward to trying it to entice some of those females coming up to spawn, last spring i worked a cpl fish that had to be 15+ im looking forward to posting great things about this swimbait

You guy's are right I dont like Nathan and that is not the reason I do not like his BG either it has nothing to do w/ that I just plain dont like the shape of the bait dont like the fur and dont like the tail set up personally I dont own one but my friend mike does and I have casted it a few times. I am not bashing Nathans lure making abilities he is definatley good am I was envious of his RAT that thing is sweet.

TM,
I realize your a young man,I'm probably 30 years older than you..take this word of advice,just because you didn't get what you wanted..(how I make the Rodent) don't make that grounds for disliking someone.We live 2,000 miles apart and have never met.I would be will ing too bet a years wages that if you asked Matt,Jerry or ANY of the other lure builders out there "How" they make their lures..you would probably get the same response.."None"..I was polite about it if you recall..You have your whole life ahead of you..do yourself a favor,and rethink your stand on "disliking someone..Nathan
www.Bettencourtbaits.com

sigh... do we have to do this?

Taylor, you should know as well as anyone that saying that a bait 'looks like crap' is not a helpful comment. If you don't like a bait, there are plenty of other ways to say it without being insulting. I know you can do it because you've written a lot of useful reviews on the site. Let's keep personal conflicts out of it when discussing product please.

I'm going to lock this thread, and I apologize to everyone who offered their constructive feedback and comments. I'm going to start a new thread in a minute and give some of my thoughts on the bluegill baits so we can continue in a positive direction.

-Rob