IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Bluegill => Topic started by: ckfish on Dec 20, 2011, 07:40 PM
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I fish in upstate ny mostly in small lakes or ponds generally 10 feet of depth. I catch tons of big and small perch on jigs tipped with mousies, spikes, or meal worms. I've never had any luck catching bluegill out of the ice, although I do catch them in the summer. There aren't a ton but there's a good amount. I see people with pictures of 100s of bluegill, what's the trick?
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the trick is to find them, look for some weededges ( i like to fish the edge of a large bed) and downsize your jigs. I dont know what you use for perch, but for gills I like to use smaller jigs or tiny spoons tipped with waxies.
If you have a camera it is your best friend in finding gills under the ice
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As Icejunky said, yany different ou can't catch them if you can't find them. I have had good luck catching gills on many different lures, including slender spoons, little cecils, and marmooskas..
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So just drill as many holes as i can mostly on weedbeds until i find them? and I use pretty small jigs for perch so that shouldn't be a problem
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Some lakes are just perch infested lakes. Some lakes are panfish infested lakes. During summer time, walk around and look for the panfish beds. If you see an abundance of panfish beds, you can probably expect a lot of panfish in that body of water. If they are only a few here and there, then the panfish population may be rather low.
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Downsize your line will help enormously...2lb. Test works really well
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Downsize your line will help enormously...2lb. Test works really well
I agree, I noticed a HUGE difference when I switched to 2lb a few years ago, it really helps. In the lakes around me I usually look for 5-10FOW with weeds, and I use very small jigs, usually size 12 or 14 tipped with 1 or 2 spikes. I usually use my vex to find them..
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I'm having the same problem on a basin shaped lake that is about thirty feet at the deepest with mostly sand and scattered very low weed cover. Should we be looking in shallow (10 ft) flats or deeper sand covered ground? Makes no sense to me, drilling holes all day finding nothing.
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Fish are almost always located deeper in winter than in the summer months. Locate some deep cover such as brush, rocks, isolated weebeds, etc and you should find some gills. Also remember to downsize your tackle and fish finesse. Don't jig as aggressively as you would for perch.
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If you have a camera it is your best friend in finding gills under the ice
So true! It's a real treat when you come upon pods of quality gills thru the murky depths...
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move,move,small size under 12 hooks for me NO SPIN will school in winter,LOVES bugs,for me black jig in size 16#[NO SPIN]
hope this helps
;D ;D ;D ;D
RAT
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I have my best luck late in the afternoon in about 25 feet on a sand flat off a big weed bed. I catch smaller ones during the day but the bigger ones seem to turn on about 3:30 till dark.
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Sight fishing them is the way to go if the water is clear enough and you have a shanty!!!
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Do gills ever feed at night? Thanks in advance for info. ;)
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Do gills ever feed at night? Thanks in advance for info. ;)
Hush......................Big ones do on many lakes in the same areas the dinks inhabit during the day. Catch plenty of flak on the subject which leaves even more for me. Hush........So do Perch on some lakes
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Didn't hear a thing.... thanks ;)
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i've found a lot of the bigger ones around here school with the crappies at night. there have been times that on a good crappie bite we could be catching 2 crappie to every 1 of gills. usually fires up at dusk till around 11 or as late as 1 am. biggest one i ever caught was at midnight!
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Sweet, that helps me figure out where to go this weekend. O.T. How about LM bass at night? I would guess no, but you guys would know better than I. :bow:
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Shallow water early ice, deep water mid winter, shallow last ice works for me. They can be @ all the above @ any time.
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I have caught bluegills after dark while crappie fishing but they've been all sizes, small to large. I often wonder when I'm marking fish and their not hitting if it's stubborn crappies or bluegills. It was one of the main reasons i bought a Aqua-vu camera. unfortunatly the lights on the camera don't work well enough to allow me to see what's actually going on down there after dark. I have done well on large gills real early in the morning though, just as the sky starts to get a little glow and you still need a lantern to see.
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One thing I noticed last weekend was some guys would hold their pole with the tip pointed down at the ice and vigorously shake the tip of the pole side to side (not up and down) then stop and check for a bite. When I copied that motion it seemed to help me catch bigger fish. For me, they would hit it when it was still, just after shaking it. I also switched to a St Croix pole with a very light spring bite detector on it and that helped me see the bite. Any other pole in my box and I wouldn't have seen it.
Besides what has already been posted here, about smaller line and smaller jigs.....make sure you try different colors. 2 weeks ago they wanted red, last week gold was the ticket. Took a few changes to zero in, but it finally worked.
Good Luck, the buggers are fun to catch and very tasty too.
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jigging is good to get them to look but often they won't hit unless lure is dead still. Other times a falling lure trips their trigger. When the sun hits the top of the trees to the west it is 'gill time.
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Keep it coming guys! I am all ears. Gonna try for some very soon! Thanks again, Joe :icefish:
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Prospector,
Sounds like you did very well.
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Prospector,
Sounds like you did very well.
Thanks, can't complain so far. Gills have been fun to catch this year. Last time out, I tried a bunch of different jigs just to see how the fish reacted. With most jigs they went for the body of the jig and missed the hook completely. Did my best on tungsten 3mm and a forage minnow. Those gills remind me of a bunch of gang bangers cruising the lake looking for trouble, unlike porch monkey perch that hang out all day. Gills seem to come and go about every 5-10 minutes for me. Now to figure out crappie! :%$#!: You up for TRR?
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I may be up for trr. I have never fished it through the ice.
What kind of Tungsten jigs did you use for the gillies?
Long ago and far away in the land of corn, we used to fish for gills in relatively shallow water with reeless rods. We used real cork for bobbers. They would slowly become waterlogged and at some point they would slowly sink under the weight of the ice jig. That slow descent of the lure and bait was often deadly on gills. It was hard to duplicate without the bobber. But bouncing the bobber in the surface film and then allowing it to slowly sink worked well.
the rods often were had pegs to wrap the line on, and we used black braided line(absorbs sun and keeps ice from forming as quickly) with a 2 foot mono leader. Braided line was easy to handle on the ice and even in the dark.
Cheerio!
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I generally will use fiskas tungsten jigs good variety of color and size
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ckfish,
I fished a lake yesterday that I am very familiar with. I have caught 'gill summer and winter in good numbers. Another guy fished it last week or so and clobbered them. I drilled over 50 holes and marked 5 fish. I caught two of them-bass, hooked another that broke my 2 lb line in a flash, and I missed one bite.
Never caught a single bluegill. I know they are there. I know I have caught them in the places I fished, and i tried a lot of other spots on the lake.
Such is fishing. Good Luck
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(http://i1048.photobucket.com/download-albums/s364/Connorfab/.highres/image_zpsbc8401c4.jpg)
Personally that is about my favorite jig to use for panfish, with a spike or wax warm on it
You'll have a bass or pickerel hit it every once in a while also
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Hmm picture didn't work ill try again in a second.. Trying to use my iPhone and photo bucket
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(http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s364/Connorfab/image_zpsbc8401c4.jpg)
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I've given up trying to catch bluegill through the ice on these lakes. I've decided the populations probably just aren't large enough. Time to find a new lake ;D.
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The bays on Oneida lake are usually good. I fish big bay so much. You don't et your limit everytime but you'll get a nice amount. I love fishing for blue gills
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I am going with some buddies Saturday fishing for some bluegills and have not fished for them in a very long time, and never on hardwater. What would you guys start out with? What size, and color? I am used to fishing for perch and walleye and usually use raps, buckshots, spoons etc. I have a lot of jigs now thanks to Old Goat at the sale, so maybe you could chime in knowing what I have. Thanks for any suggestions.
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All you need for bluegills are those tiny jigs a minature peg bobber some of those old fashion rods that you spool the line around two pegs and you were had f she told you any of those were for blugills
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I would use a gill pill or diamond jig tipped with a wedgie tail and a waxey or I have good luck on red glow lindy fat boys smaller size 10-12 with a red or black wedgie also and tipped with a waxie hope this helps Good Luck and catch a bucket full ;D
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Simple stuff simple rod and jigs and teardrops vertical and horizontal wax worms or if you want to use plastics gulp alive
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As far as size 3mm, 4mm, #14 #16. I use small finesse plastics for gills. Color depends on the type of water you will be fishing. I always have multiple colors to chose from, if you can find the fish, switch colors until you catch one.
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When fishing bluegill, i would keep it simple.
UL pole or spring bobbers. Can use tiny tiny floats to.
Use waxes or spikes for bait. Plastics work if you jiggle them also.
Use small small tiny lures. Tungsten lures are the best, they drop faster and keep your line taunt. The 3mm to 4mm size is what I prefer. The northland mooska or the HT marmooska are good options.
Use light THIN line. 2lb. Have a smooth drag.
Straight line/fly reels and schooley styles work the best reduce jig spin/line twist. A schooley can be had for $8. While you look like a tard you will out fish people with it.
Early locations are gonna be by the weeds find holes and edges jig to pull them out of the weeds.
Also I always like to take berkley crappie nibbles, and "chum" the gills in by throwing a few down my hole. Also if u run outta waxes it works great for bait.
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I use really small tungsten teardrop jigs to get back down there faster. Colors usually dont matter for gills. Tip with 1 or 2 waxies. 1 or 2 lb line and a spring bobber. Bluegill dont like it when the jig is spinning, so literally "stretch" your line to get the twist out. Sometimes they like an eratic jigging motion to bring them in, sometimes it takes just tight lining with a little twitch, simetimes just tight lining. See what brings them in that day and go with it. Dont be afraid to fish really shallow areas that still have weeds present.
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fiska or kodiak or both, size 3,white spike, glows, school bus, black, green, 2lb test, wire bobber on a noodle rod like an schooly ice blue
or the schooly with reel and wire bobber kit with your own 2 lb test on it
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nice tip on stretching the line out before you go.
I read it in an article by dave genz years ago. It really works! I do it every time I go out. Gills really do seem to hate a jig that is spinning most times. I can usually tell its spinning by looking on the flasher and see it flickering. When them gills are finicky, and you have a lot of line twist, they will come in and look at the jig then just swim off.
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Thanks guys for the help. I will be using my meatstick with 2lb test, and start with a white/red gill pill glow to start thanks for the tips. I also stretch my line every time I go out. I think this should get me started on the right track.
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How do you guys "stretch" the line? Is it as simple and just working it with you hands just prior to first dropping down the hole?
Getting ready.......early ice this year!!!
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Great rod choice that's what I use
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3# fluro, tucr precision noodle and a black better 6061 to handle line twisting issues. Usually usin little atom tails on 3 mm tungsten. Or ice flies can tip with spikes or waxies to entice the bite but isn't always needed.
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How do you guys "stretch" the line? Is it as simple and just working it with you hands just prior to first dropping down the hole?
Getting ready.......early ice this year!!!
i never heard of it either and would like to hear how its done. only thing i can think of is pull a bunch of line to a floor and pinch the line as you reel it back up like you do when you spool a reel
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i never heard of it either and would like to hear how its done. only thing i can think of is pull a bunch of line to a floor and pinch the line as you reel it back up like you do when you spool a reel
i use one of these for fly fishing leaders, never thought to use it for ice fishing
http://www.gorgeflyshop.com/store/pc/Dr-Slick-Leader-Straightener-p5181.htm?gclid=CI2_ia-AnLsCFQ7xOgodxz4AfQ#.UqH5S-KFcro
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You can pull 20 - 30 ft of line out against your drag. Lightly set of course. This will stretch that portion of line. Some people[me] when spooling new line on spinning reels..after the new line is put on go outside tie it to something and walk out 75 yards or whatever and just pull gently for a couple minutes. Then cut line free and reel in. Seems to take some of the memory out of line.? Don't always do this, but when I have time I do.
Paul
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i use one of these for fly fishing leaders, never thought to use it for ice fishing
http://www.gorgeflyshop.com/store/pc/Dr-Slick-Leader-Straightener-p5181.htm?gclid=CI2_ia-AnLsCFQ7xOgodxz4AfQ#.UqH5S-KFcro
good idea there, thanks!
i like the forceps they make there, just wish they tiny for gills and size 3 fiskas and kodiaks
never seen any thing like those before
so you are really just sliding some thing on the line to untwist any line twist that might have been there from before like fresh spooling a reel or after a long battle with a fish that put tons of line twist on the reel.
never heard of manually removing the line twist for ice fishing and it makes sense. i always just let the jig spin top side until it's done before lowing it again.
on open water, if using nylon line, you can pull a lot of line out behind a slow moving boat with nothing attached to casting end and the water will take most of it out. some do that in grass. just pinch it while retrieving the line. i have a different version of that pad you shared with us and i use it to dress the fly lines with floatant/cleaner/dressing.
because of line twist and reading what it does here on this forum (learned jigs spin after lowered and we miss many because of it and i thought it was a color problem and waste time changing colors), i am trying out several in line options to have less and also some sinking braid lines that have no twist and no memory and no stretch. i have so see what it does when it's super cold out and wet. thinking a line dressing will be needed for that too after the coating wears off from manufacturer and they will not tell you what they use.
only thing i know of is called reel magic and i do use the stuff for all reels.
it will be nice to go back out with all the new knowledge and gear this season and it is because of this site and good folks that care to share!
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Make sure to check out the bluegill page here on IS. Tons of info on it.
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Hush......................Big ones do on many lakes in the same areas the dinks inhabit during the day. Catch plenty of flak on the subject which leaves even more for me. Hush........So do Perch on some lakes
Nice thing with this is if your fishing a lake that holds crappies in it they will be biting after the sun goes down also. So a mixed bag is possible. Tightlines.
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I stumbled onto this one eve. on a really slow day for gills. Figured I'd stay with the lantern and try for crappies. Right about when the last car left the lake I started banging big gills, just as it got dark. Kept about eight and fished well after dark just for fun. A pattern that repeats consistently on that lake. BTW I also stretch my line; I hook it on something on my porch and pull off twenty plus feet against a stiff drag. Then real back in with the rod bent.
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You stretch your line as you drop it down the hole it stops the jig from spinning
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I catch a lot of them with Marmooskas (size 10), Hali Sukkula jigs (size 25mm - 3/16 ounce), and Forage minnows (size 1/16 ounce) all tipped with a wax worm.
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I stumbled onto this one eve. on a really slow day for gills. Figured I'd stay with the lantern and try for crappies. Right about when the last car left the lake I started banging big gills, just as it got dark. Kept about eight and fished well after dark just for fun. A pattern that repeats consistently on that lake. BTW I also stretch my line; I hook it on something on my porch and pull off twenty plus feet against a stiff drag. Then real back in with the rod bent.
Sometimes after no luck for hours, Ill hammer a quick few at dark then it dies FAST! So I find myself still fishing late usually. Keeps me out there long enough to get the wife pretty pissed off!