Miscellaneous > Ice Fishing FAQ
Ice Fishing 101.4 Bluegill Search
Iceshanty:
Ice Fishing 101.4 Bluegill Search
Did this awhile back and many have requested I do it again so here we go. Click here to see the last search, Perch Search
This is a real lake deep in the northwoods. This lake is a bluegill factory. It's a walk in/atv lake with no road access so it's see's most of the pressure during the winter months. Large schools of 8-10" Bluegills are prolific in the lake with small perch, nice bass and some northern pike. It's mid February, still cold with some days just breaking into the 30's for highs. Today the wind is calm and the skies are high and blue. The locals all know where to fish this lake. Actually you just need to look for the area that is cratered like the moon with holes! But you won't have this advantage we just had a foot of powder fall the night before and the lake is virgin, so you will need to use you lake map reading skills and your knowledge of bluegill habits to find the honey hole on this lake.
The names and locations have been change to protect the innocent.
Lake Slabbo Info:
Acres: 240
Max Depth: 20
Species: Northern Pike, Large Mouth Bass, Perch, Bluegill
Bottom Makeup: Silt, Sand, Marl, Submerged Vegetation
Water Clarity: Moderate
The Mission:
Describe what you would do to find the motherload and how you would approach catching the adult bluegills that roam Lake Slabbo once you have found them.
I am looking for: Depths, locations, baits, technique and equipment.
The Prizes:
1st: Icegator Cap, Marcum Charger, Militia Trial Package
2nd: Marcum Cap, Marcum Battery Monitor, Militia Trial Package
3rd: Team Iceshanty Medium Profile Cap, Militia Trial Package.
4th: Bumper Sticker, Militia Trial Package.
5th: Militia Trial Package.
The Rules:
One entry allowed.
You may fish a maximum of three map locations.
All entries must be submitted by December 1st 2008 8:00pm cst
Thanks to Icegator and Marcum for the prizes! Remember there are no correct answers! I will judge based on my past experience on this lake, like fishing some of it will be skill and part of it luck.
Good Luck and please put the SLABBO gills back for me! ;)
-Scott
1TIGGER:
Area 1 North west corner of the lake in the Shibbs Creek Outlet area , locate weed beds fish between 2 and 3 feet of water with red and whit spikes on a genz bug or clown gill pill with 2 lb test and an ultra light .
Work that depth within 100 yards both ways of the outlet .
Area 2 South Bay to Shibbs Creek inlet , same method as area 1
Area 3 Shibbs Bay to Johnnys creek inlet same method as areas 1 and 2
These area's will provide slow moving water and silt which will in turn provide unlimited supplies of plankton and blood worms for forage as well as a higher level of oxygenated water .
bart:
In my mind I see a channel running from Shibbs Creek Inlet to Shibbs Creek Outlet providing oxygen and weed cover???
1. Jack's Honey Hole would be my first attempt in the 15' range.
2. Old tom's Honey Hole, 15' area
3. Then Snake bay in the 10' area
Drill a lot of holes and check them with my Marcum VX-1, looking for weeds/fish.
Equipment: Primary setup Genz Stix GGZ2724 L, 4lb. line, and a Hali tipped with maggots.
Secondary setup a Genz stix GGZ2313 UL, 2lbs. line Fiskas jig with maggots.
perchhogslayer:
Alright, Without reading either of the previous entries... here's what I'd do...
I'd start the morning off at Shibbs bay, as gills in winter will tend towards flatter shallow/semi shallow areas. Shibbs would also be a great choice as its close to an inlet providing fresher oxygenated water that both the fish and the bait love. I'd fish close to the 5-7 foot depth, on the west side of the Johnneys creek inlet. Using a fish camera to see the fish reacting to my presentation, I would adjust jigs/and technique as needed. a vex wouldn't be terribly useful in that shallow of water, the camera on the other hand definitely would be. Using a Marmish pole with 1 or 2lb test and tiny marmish, wolfram, or fiskas jigs (1/16th or lighter) (yellows, greens, variety of patterns) tipped with maggots (or spikes as most refer to them), id' pound the gills all morning long. A lake this size, I'd bet the gils would be pretty much most places around the lake, more in some areas then others, fresher water would be a big benifit I'd think. A marmish pole is great as I would pull out the gills hand over hand, then when re-setting the line, it goes back to the same exact depth as before. Technique would be jigging, some light pops at first, then an erratic vibration of my hand to really dance the jigs, followed by a 30 second-1 minute pause of no movement, then repeat.
In the noonish hours I'd move to the east and fish in about 17 feet of water off Shibbs creek inlet near south bay. I'd keep the marmish pole but switch to a heavier (1/8th oz- to get the hook back down quicker) jig and switch colors to yellows, oranges, deep reds. Don't know why, but those colors seem to produce best for me those times of days. Bait would be the same, maggots, and technique would be similar as well. In 17 FOW, a vex would be usefull, but the fish camera would be more useful as I could judge my presentation to the fish, and change out jigs/ technique as needed.
In the evening hours I'd move back to the Johny's Creek area, but this time fish just to the east side of the inlet on the bench in about 7.5 feet of water. Jig colors would switch again to greens, reds, blues, and purples. go figure, but it works, try it out. ;) bait stays the same, maggots, and technique again, would be jigging, dictated by how the fish react on the fish camera.
scavengerj:
Since I'd be new to this lake, I'd probably start off by:
1.) Letting someone know where I was going.
2.) checking Iceshanty for any reports or information from members.
3.) Then either call or stop by a local B&T seeing if there was any information available as to where to begin, and what types of lures they had. (Maybe even a call to the local DNR/DCNR or whoever governs the water/area. The information gathered through these efforts would at least give me more information then just a map).
If no information was available other then the map, my first effort would be in just finding some fish. I wouldn't care what size. I want to determine what the bite is like for this particular day and what the main forage is made up of. I'd like to see what was in the stomaches of some of the fish.
I'd fish the lower portion of the lake.
I would think that in a day of hop scotching this area using my Vex I'd be able to:
Find weeds/weed edges and possibly some lone weed patches.
Several different types of bottom compositions
A creek channel or at least remnants
Possibly a travel lane or two from the deeper water to the rocky bottom off of the point
Possibly a little bit of a mud flat in Shibbs Bay area
Find some slabs
I'd hop scotch from the South Bay area around to the Shibbs Bay area. The small point between between the two areas, looks to contain some rock outcroppings and is adjacent to some deeper water.
Concentrating my efforts in the 5' to 15' depths.
I'd start by looking for some weeds and then a weed edge as well as some changes in bottom composition. There is the possibility that there is a bit of a mud flat in the Shibbs Bay area as well as maybe the remnants of the Johhnys Creek channel.
The lures I'd use would depend on what I might have found when I looked at the stomach contentes of the first few fish I caught, or how they were reacting to some of my presentations/lures.
More then likely I'd be fishing with:
Various colored and sizes of Rat Finkee/ratso tipped with maggies
Forage minnows in various small sizes and colors
Marmish jigs of various colors and sizes
Depending on where the fish were located and on how the fish were reacting to presentations/lures, I'd be fishing the entire water column from the bottom to the top. Getting to the bottom and slowly working my lures upwards in the water column to slow drops through the water column to the bottom, and dead sticking. All the while using my Vex to figure out what to do or not to do. Paying attention to shifting fish locations and the time of day.
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