Not the best season so far

[steelheader32]

This season has started out slow for me and really hasn't picked up, I did well at first with a nice batch of crappies but have yet to get close to a limit of fish since then, of course I could take a limit of undersized gills but I think any of us could, right now I'm thinking of trying a few lakes I haven't ever ice is he's to see if I can break this bad luck I have been having, anyone reccomend a lake to try on the Kalamazoo portage area?

[Gills-only]

I fish farther south, and have done fairly well this year!

[3300]

any lake i go to i do well. i catch 30 to 40 fish and half are nice roughly, give or take, probably more than that. i quit counting after a while. i don't keep any of them, so limits are non existent for me. having fun is where it's at for me.

maybe switch up on tactics. what are you fishing with? how do you fish? do you use strike indicators and small test line and only one spike? maybe your missing more than you know. they are not hitting hard at all and most of the time you can barley tell they are breathing on the jig.
are you fishing the top of the pile or bottom?

i'd stay at the places you know and like and try new ways on them before giving up.

[Beats sittin at the house]

I agree they are biting very light! Half the time I don't know they are on until I jig it a little and feel that something isn't right with the jig then yank......holy cow it's a fish! Steelheader32 I'm gonna be fishing around bc tomorrow morning I'll let u know how I do and maybe u could meet me over there for the afternoon bite

[3300]

yep, the big ones are the lightest biting right now and the small ones bite harder and move the furthest to get to the jig.
so that's telling me he is missing the big ones and needs a good striker indicator.
i use frabill titanium on sale at fleetfarm and out of stock at most sites right now like they are every year. they are the best and easiest to use and only one size does all.

even with the best gear, the big ones don't really bite it and you try to set the hook because you know it's doing some thing with the jig. it takes 3 or 4 tries to land the bigger fish some times.

when i know this it happening, i'll flick my wrist to ty to set the hook, but the jig didn't go far and i can set back quickly to right where it was. when i bring it back i use slow and short up and down motions to to present the fish i can still see is waiting on it that i missed. it works almost every time!

theses things will yield you more fish right where your fishing now.

[Swift]

The fish seem as baffled as we are. First ice? Not really but most weeds I've seen are fairly green so the O2 should be fine. Mid-Winter on the calender but the fishes locations aren't settled into the pattern in mass either. They seem to be wandering, they're feeding but not in a more normal winters way. Ice conditions have prevented me from wandering like I'd like too, much to old to be suicidal, it's been catch a meal and call it a day, Very subtle and slow presentation has been best, but finding them first is the trick. Dawn and dusk flurries seem to be the best approach so far this year and am not really fond of that limitation. It is what it is, but staying safe is the best option

[bobberbill]

won't be long and the bluegill bed pickers will be out in full force..

[Beats sittin at the house]

What's wrong with bed pickers?

[Jeff S]

won't be long and the bluegill bed pickers will be out in full force..

I resemble that remark.....

My favorite time of year is spawn time of gills,  more so than walleye in the river at spawn.

With that said...

Not been a good year for me.

Few specks couple weeks ago each time out...since last Monday some 11 days ago I've fished every day but 1 and have maybe a limit total of mix panfish.

Fished yesterday and day before in same holes 4 friends took 90 in Tuesday and I got two keepers each time.

Hope this cooler weather will help the bite,  Ice where I've been hasn't been issue but finding and catching has.

Fish on!
Jeff

[FilletofSoul]

Im not much of a crappie fisherman through the ice, with the bluegills sometimes you just have to sort through them or move around until you find bigger fish.

[Jeff S]

Im not much of a crappie fisherman through the ice, with the bluegills sometimes you just have to sort through them or move around until you find bigger fish.

I've always just crappie fished when comes to ice. I'm new to the bluegill through ice, but its all I target inland on the water.
I'll take a dozen gills through the ice over a limit of crappie any day,  but I just don't know where to begin.

I live on a lake that in spring and all summer long fills my freezer with gills.  I'm clueless where to find them in winter on said lake... can find few dinks,  Just don't know where the gills go on the lake in winter.
I've tried deep, shallow and everywhere in between.

Jeff

[steelheader32]

I have a few different setups, sometimes I tight line with larger jogs and sometimes I use a string indicator with smaller jiggs, number of grubs vary from 1-3 on a hook depends on how the fish react, I have been able today catch fish but I am finding myself tossing a lot of them back as they are all undersized, sometimes I even have found plastics work well but still all I have been catching lately are smaller fish, throughout the water column, I'm going to try moving to a few different spots next time out

[FilletofSoul]

In the summer the bluegills are spread throughout the lake, and in the winter they might only be in 1% of the lake. Try some other lakes and don't be afraid to talk to other anglers on the ice, often times people will talk about other lakes and the quality of the fish or lack there of.