Gill Shield Review

I am a strong advocate of conservation and caring for our natural resources.

As someone who has released over 97 percent of the fish I’ve caught in the last three years, I am constantly searching for ways to continue to improve the wellbeing of the fish I put back to swim another day. It’s important to remember that releasing a fish and releasing a fish safely are two different things.

Panfish make up a large percentage of my annual catch and, as most anglers can tell you, these fish can sometimes develop a nasty habit of swallowing hooks.

The only thing worse than having to cut lines and re-tie hooks is seeing a fish you intended to safely release splashing about on the surface because it was hooked too deep.

That’s why I was immediately intrigued when I was introduced to the Gill Shield, a product made right here in Wisconsin, that is billed as “a revolutionary way to prevent panfish from swallowing the hook.”

How it works

The beauty of this device is its simplicity. There are only two components: the plastic shield and the rubber stop.

All you have to do is thread the line through one of the metal loops that is attached to a stop and slide the stop on the line. Then you thread the line through the hole in the center of the shield and use the stop to keep the shield snug to the eye of the hook.

Since the shield is larger than the mouths of any panfish I’ve encountered, they simply cannot swallow the hook.

The straightforward concept made sense to me. So I bought a pack the day I was told about this product. Then it was time to put it to the test.

The Test

I brought the Gill Shield to four different bodies of water that have historically been panfish hotspots for me. Three of them had very clear water that allowed me the opportunity to see how the fish reacted.

I used a simple slip bobber setup with a couple of sinkers and a panfish hook tipped with a chunk of nightcrawler. The Gill Shield was applied per the directions in the package.

Just so I had a reference point, I also fished with another slip bobber setup that did not have a Gill Shield attached.

My only real concern was if the added hardware would make the fish more skeptical of my bait. But my worries were eased time and time again as my worm would get smacked moments after descending into the water. After a while, I forgot I even had the Gill Shield on.

In all four testing scenarios, my Gill Shield rig caught an equal or greater number of fish than my traditional setup. Zero fish swallowed the hook. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for my regular outfit. I lost three hooks on that during my testing because the hook was too far gone and I had to cut my line.

The Perks

The primary perk is obvious. This product does exactly what it claims to do: it keeps panfish from swallowing the hook and, in my experience, does so without negatively impacting your ability to catch fish.

While that may not seem like a big deal on the surface, take a moment to consider the bigger picture and the numerous benefits come into focus.

First and foremost, it’s better for the fish. As an angler, you no longer have to make the occasional choice between digging around and potentially harming a fish in hopes of salvaging a hook or having to spend time retying.

Which leads me to the second benefit: time savings. When the fishing is hot or you’re trying to weed through the dinks to put together a nice fish fry, spending time tying on new hooks is frustrating. In my experience with the Gill Shield, it never comes to that. More fishing time is always a good thing.

Sometimes, I get greedy when the bite is good and run multiple lines. But this can lead to problems. While I’m messing around with one rod, a bobber disappears and I don’t notice it right away. When I finally recognize the situation, I pull up and reel-in the fish only to find the hook has completely disappeared. The Gill Shield provides me with the peace of mind I need to multitask without having to worry about the potential of harming fish I don’t intend to keep.

The same holds true when taking kids fishing. Learning the proper timing on a hook set takes practice. The Gill Shield provides a buffer, just in case the tug on the dry side of the line doesn’t happen as quickly as it should.

The Drawbacks

In my multiple tests, I only found one: when fishing weedy cover, sometimes the Gill Shield becomes just another thing for the vegetation to cling to and, depending on the type of aquatic vegetation you are dealing with and how hot the fishing is, this can be kind of a pain to deal with.

But, honestly, it’s a minor quibble.

The Ruling

If you are a steward of conservation, regularly taking kids fishing, or simply want to spend less time re-tying hooks, the Gill Shield is worth every penny.

You can buy a pack that includes three shields and six rubber stoppers for $6 here and shipping is free.

On a per unit basis, one Gill Shield costs less than a pack hooks. This has the potential to be a high-impact investment for an extremely affordable price.