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Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Bluegill => Topic started by: pikeman on Jan 03, 2006, 09:47 AM

Title: shallow water gills
Post by: pikeman on Jan 03, 2006, 09:47 AM
I fish a small ,shallow lake (maximum depth 5 feet)i fished out in the deepest part i can find and couldnt get a hit ,and didnt see a fish with the aqua view ,but another guy said he was seeing them on his camera in only 1or 2 feet of water.Do you think they can be in water that shallow?
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: Reel Wet Ride on Jan 03, 2006, 02:16 PM
Sure they can. In a lake that shallow the fish are going to be where ever they can find food. The fish don't have the option to move deeper to find warmer water, so expect to find them all over. Though I wouldn't expect the fishing to be that great in a pond/lake that shallow anyway. I'm guessing it suffers a lot of winter kill.
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 04, 2006, 10:40 PM
Sometimes fish that rebound from a partial winterkill are very fast growing and the fishing can be quite good until the next winterkill. The Sand Lakes of Nebraska sometimes have partial winterkills but have monster bluegills.

A lake by the name of Pelican Lake near Valentine, Nebraska produces 2 pound bluegills. It's about 800 acres, fairly shallow and week choked in the summer. It experiences partial winterkills sometimes.

Here's a pic of a couple taken by my taxidermy customer by the name of Bill Vanderpool of Indiana. I mounted an honest to goodness 2 pounder for Bill taken from Pelican Lake Nebraska. The bluegills from this lake look like they are on steroids due to the incredible quantity of aquatic insects.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a169/CecilBaird1/BillVanderpoolPelicanLake.jpg)
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: bigredonice on Jan 04, 2006, 11:43 PM
I fish a pond VERY similar to pikeman's.  It does occasionally winterkill...but not very often.   The fish tend to bunch up, but never in one general area, it is always one day they are here, the next they are there.   Somedays it seems like I drill for hours before I even catch my first fish.
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: Auger on Jan 05, 2006, 08:50 AM
Holy Giant Gills!!!
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: Reel Wet Ride on Jan 12, 2006, 09:43 AM
Those are giant gills. Do any of you guys remember the explosion of HUGE gills in Alabama or Louisiana like 2 or 3 years ago? Something about spring dumping tons of extra minerals into the water and they ended up catching like 4 or 5 new world records in the span of a year. They were like 3 lb gills. I'll do some digging and find more info on it.
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: pikeman on Jan 12, 2006, 05:06 PM
I fish a pond VERY similar to pikeman's.  It does occasionally winterkill...but not very often.   The fish tend to bunch up, but never in one general area, it is always one day they are here, the next they are there.   Somedays it seems like I drill for hours before I even catch my first fish.
Hey bigred you live in ny right?The place im talking about is in renslaerville, you ever fish over there?
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: bigredonice on Jan 12, 2006, 09:46 PM
Hey bigred you live in ny right?The place im talking about is in renslaerville, you ever fish over there?

its near there, shoot me a PM.
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: ICE LUNATIC on Jan 13, 2006, 10:23 AM
I have seen guys fish in shallow water for them.As for myself i usually prefer at least 6' of water,but know i have picked them up in the shallower water to.
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: reelbigfish on Jan 18, 2006, 09:43 AM
We have a shallow water duck pond near me with a maximum depth of 5'.  During
the day the gills are spooked and you can't buy a bite.  Then we discovered they
were feeding aggressively 15 minutes before and after sunrise and sunset.  Caught
some nice fish out of that mudpuddle.







Ted
Title: Re: shallow water gills
Post by: pikeman on Jan 18, 2006, 06:30 PM
I've been fishin that pond a few times , the fish always seem to be in schools out in the deepest water i can find , but are usually really finicky.The fishing is good though