Gills, Crappie, Seeds How To Catch them

[keithm87]

25 years ago I never would have thought that I would be asking for advise on catching pumpkin seeds and blue gills. But here we are... I have never in my life caught a gill or seed through the ice, and only caught one crappie by luck one night not even trying for them. I have tungstens and maki's galore. I don't want a hotspot, I fish small places where others catch them, so its technique I am sure more than anything. So what is the secret? Most of my jigs are 1/16 or 1/8 oz, in assorted colors. Normally I will rig up a jig with a maki or a couple spikes, and fish near the bottom. I am not really sure what structure to look for. The videos online say to focus early ice on weed lines where the weeds are alive, but they are all dead on all the lakes I fish, so then target the basins, but all I get are dink perch.

[gofish22]

Do you have electronics? They help but are not 100% necessary.

Early season I stick near shallow green weedlines or structure (sunken trees are normally a great option). I drill a set of holes and keep checking till I find the edge. Then fish it hard moving along the weedline or around the structure. Using really small jigs tipped with spikes/waxies. If you are catching small perch move up a half foot in the water column until you stop catching them, but unfortunately on some bodies of water dink perch are tough to get away from.

As far as technique, I find gills to be picky for panfish. Sometimes they want the jig to just be sitting, sometimes they want a quick "jiggling" movement. But I personally have way more luck not lifting or dropping the jig much. My friend describes it as gills needing to "talk themselves into it" which seems accurate to me. They will stare at for a while, otherwise they will slowly approach and hit it right away.

Just my 2 cents. I am sure there are guys on here that have been doing it longer than me with better advice. Gills in winter patterns are not as dumb or as easy as people say they are so don't be hard on yourself.

[bootstrap]

tiny tiny jigs and 2lb fluoro leader. a maggot or two. shore lines where the weeds start to thin out.

[perchkiller123]

I agree with the electronics. They really help figure out where the weeds are and how tall the weeds are. I normally have better luck fishing about a foot over the tops of the weeds. Some days they will race up and smack it, some days they will slowly come up and inspect it. A good clue that you are in the right area is when you catch a lot of largemouth. I try and target 8-12 feet for most bluegills. And target basin for crappies.

[Light liner]

Small tungsten jigs throw everything at them until you find what they want that day.
Sensitive rod with a good backbone. Crappie are usually light biters.
Spikes
Plastics chartreuse is a good color to start with.
Usually suspended in the column.
Later in the year pre spawn ,minnows work well.
They move around alot so pre drilled holes help with following them.
Same here 20 years ago I would have never thought about them.
Now pretty much 50% of my ice season I spend chasing them.

[cooljoe52]

like most guys said, small jigs, halos with dropper chains spikes, and a few colors option, some days the like orange some days white, find good green weeds always help,  like some say, you hit largies , your in a good area for sunnies, but you have to be able to move alot to find that honey hole. they do move alot. sometimes couple hundred yards  to even just acouple a feet away.

[ice fiend]

Look for the crowds lol

[thebigwiggle]

Electronics is definitely an important part in finding panfish. And I also like most of these guys have mentioned you definitely want some variety of tiny jigs. Plastic work great when the fish are really aggressive. But when the action slows down spikes and mealworms a good choice. Another key factor which hasn't been mentioned is the fact you definitely want a ice rod that has light or ultra-light action. Can fish can be very fussy biters. So a rod with a quick tip can definitely help you detect bites. Good luck & Fish on

[jonny jigger]

Fish finder and a lot of puching holes lol

[Fish Farmer]

Look for the crowds lol

and the ice that looks like swiss cheese.

[Champlain Islander]

I fish almost every day and most often flatfish. Small rockers, #10 demons are among my favorites and tipped with spikes. I start high and work the water column up and down with a lot of jigging movement. Everyone I fish with does it their own way and most of the guys do really well. Most of the regulars are pretty friendly and willing to help people who are just starting out. It doesn't take very long to get good at catching seeds and gills. The crappie come a little slower.

[Crayfish2]

Nice to meet you on Hibbard last year, Champlain Islander!

I've found that gills and seeds are generally very light bighters.  You need a light tipped rod to see the bite.  Sometimes it's even an "up bite", meaning they just take the weight off.  It really takes a knack and calm wind to see some of their bites.  We use very small tungstens with spikes or maki's, usually.  A small / tight jigging motion followed by holding dead still works sometimes.  They are fun to try to figure out.

[Champlain Islander]

Yes it was a pleasure to meet you guys out there last year. Covered with ice right now but still looks a bit sketchy. Soon though.....

[keithm87]

I’m a seasoned smelt fisherman so I know light bites. I have a bit of an unorthodox method of jigging and hook setting (mainly use my hand to hold the line, jig, and set hook, then the reel to bring fish in)
I have a flasher as well. I don’t think I’ve ever caught a bass on a jig stick so that will also be a new to me if I get into them. Thanks for the advice!

[Champlain Islander]

Most days on a good piece of flatfish ice you will catch several largemouth bass. Doing so in skinny water with 2 to 4 pound test on an ulta lite rod is always a lot of fun. I often catch some of my biggest bass of the year through the ice especially at late ice.

[jbrown]

Lot of info here. So only thing I might add is get a good spring bobber it  really shows up bites and if you are fast, you can set the hook before they spit the bait. Many good rods out today as well that will do the same thing when paired with small jigs and line light enough so the jig can take the curls out of the line. I like a straight line down for bite detecting and jig response. Some folks  don,t as they watch their line. Good luck.

[Champlain Islander]

Lot of info here. So only thing I might add is get a good spring bobber it  really shows up bites and if you are fast, you can set the hook before they spit the bait. Many good rods out today as well that will do the same thing when paired with small jigs and line light enough so the jig can take the curls out of the line. I like a straight line down for bite detecting and jig response. Some folks  don,t as they watch their line. Good luck.

I normally use Trilene Sensation in 4 pound test and in solar (looks chartreuse) color. Important to be able to see the line in all light conditions so the solar really shows up well and can guarantee that it doesn't spook the fish. I use the same line open water too on my panfishing rods. Seeing the line allows you to detect lite bites especially crappie which often raise the line as they swim up and suck it in from below. A small easy trick to overcome line memory, AKA the curls, is to stretch the line before you start to fish. Normally when fishing gills and seeds I am in anywhere from 2 to 8 feet of water. Before I make the first drop after I sound the bottom and lock my reel, I start from the rod tip and stretch the line all then way down to the jig. I use very small and lite jigs so it really makes a difference especially before pulling in multiple fish stretches the line memory out.

[keithm87]

Thanks for all the advice here! Finally caught my first gill and seed yesterday. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Turns out if you are where they are, they are much easier to catch than I had always thought! Didn’t hammer them by any means, but caught a few in between constant flags while pike fishing north of the 78 bridge.

[RyanW]

Thanks for all the advice here! Finally caught my first gill and seed yesterday. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Turns out if you are where they are, they are much easier to catch than I had always thought! Didn’t hammer them by any means, but caught a few in between constant flags while pike fishing north of the 78 bridge.

That’s great news! Yeah, it’s hard to catch them if they aren’t under you. Especially with gills, the difference between being skunked  and a fish fry can be only a few feet in either direction. Gills will move up and down the water column but getting them to move left or right can be a very frustrating day. I was with my brother a few seasons ago. Our holes were 3 feet apart. I caught 1 dink gill to his 30 keepers. He left and I proceeded to fish his hole and I left with 27 keepers. All because of a 3 foot difference.

You have a flasher, that’s good. When you’re marking fish, try dropping the jig a few feet above them. Then, jig and pause, jig and pause. If you see a mark coming towards your jig, raise it slowly. Play keep away with them. You can raise a gill 5-10-15 feet before they hit it. That technique also tends to draw out the larger fish in the crowd. I also like to pound the bottom 3-4 good times then slowly start raising the jig. That works really well for perch too.

For jigs I exclusively use tungsten and usually start the day with a 4mm. I like to use a single spike(red or white) but have occasionally used up to 3. Sometimes I’ll use 2 whites and 1 red just for something different. Another thing with spikes and waxxies, sometimes it takes a fresh spike/waxxie every time you release a fish regardless if your bait still looks good. I’ve fished before where I needed fresh bait after every fish caught.

Upsizing/downsizing your presentation can help. Gotta experiment a little to figure out what the fish want. Same goes for colors. If bright isn’t working, try dark. If it’s overcast out, try a color in between (more natural colors). Also, don’t be afraid to try a size 3 rippin rap or a small jiggin rap. Big, hungry gills can fit a lot in there mouths.

Since you have a flasher, if it’s been slow for 10-15 minutes, move. Drill some more holes around where you are until you find them.

Also, remember, drop a jig down some of the holes that aren’t “marking” fish. Sometimes they are just so close to the bottom that your flasher reads bottom instead marking fish.