High Time for Bluegills
by Ron Anlauf

January is custom made for catching pan-fish, especially big bluegills. They say there’s a time and place for everything and if so, mid winter has to be custom made for icing gills. For one thing , by now you should be able to safely get to anywhere you want to go. For another, bluegills stack up in areas that are relatively easy to find. Throw in the fact that they have a propensity to keep eating and eating and you start to get the idea that something good is about to happen.

Good pan-fish lakes are relatively easy to find while the great ones are rare and something to keep to yourself once you‘ve uncovered one. There are a couple of options including those that kick out big numbers and those that produce fewer but much larger models. It’s hard to have it both ways and most of the time you can’t, and where you go will depend on how dedicated you are to catching giant bluegills. If you have the time and desire, go ahead and get after it. If not, you can still have a quality experience and plenty of fun catching a bucket full of decent sized fish.

Some of the best big bluegill lakes here in the Midwest are loaded wild rice, and the more the merrier.

Whether it’s all of that cover or all of the bugs that live in and around wild rice, there is no doubt that some of the biggest gills come from rice producing lakes.

A batch of hungry bluegills and a depth finder can make for ton of fun!

One of the keys to midseason bluegill location is a flat (big or small), or basin area. Smaller bodies of water have fewer hiding places and can make the process of finding adequate numbers of fish a lot easier.

With a gas powered auger like the Eskimo Shark you can quickly drill enough holes to hit most of the likely areas. The Shark has a high revving engine that powers through layer upon layer of ice in a matter of seconds. When you’re dealing with thick layers of January ice a power auger really becomes a must. If you’re not drilling holes you’re not moving, and if your not moving you’re never going to get the most out of a good situation.

Bigger bodies of water have many more options and can make location a bit more difficult. It would be a good idea to forget about most of the lake and deal with a smaller more manageable piece of the pie. A bay off the main lake might be just the ticket and can be worked the same way you would work a smaller pond.

Bays that are good summer time producers are the place to start, especially if they have a deeper flat or basin area near by. With deep and shallow water in close proximity you can more efficiently work it all, and will help you quickly put together a productive pattern.

After you’ve drilled a bunch of holes from shallow to deep water, it’s time to get down to business and see if anybody’s home. If they are, it won’t be long before they show up on a good depth finder. A flasher type depth finder like the Marcum LX-1 will show you the bottom, you’re lure, and anything that stops by for a look. Watching your bait and knowing you have an audience will allow you to tweak your presentation until you find something they like.

Most of the time they’ll probably take something tiny, while sitting still or barely moving. Little teeny tiny jigs tipped with a larvae like a mousee or spike are a good bet for enticing indignant gills to take the bait. Teeny tiny means jigs in the 1/32 to 1/64oz range, like the Northland Tackle Fire-eye Grub. This ity bity jig has a super sharp hook and all you have to do is lift your rod tip to set it. It’s also easy on your bait and will let you hook up a spike without killing it, which makes for a much more attractive presentation.

Small jigs and light presentations require specific gear to be effective, including one and two pound test line and rods with super light tips. The light line will allow your tiny jig to drop down the hole quick enough to be acceptable and makes for a refined finesse presentation. Using a soft action rod with a light tip is the only way you can get buy while using one and two pound test line without breaking every decent fish off. Mammoth Outfitters makes a couple of excellent light action rods including their model SCF-28UL, which has a solid graphite blank.

The light tip gives you the ability to impart the tiniest action to your bait, and a tiny action is what big bluegills are usually after. The tip will also double as a strike indicator which can reveal the lightest of bites. Even when the fish are committing suicide their strike can be incredibly subtle. About all you’ll see is the slightest drop in the tip of your rod. When it happens, lift the rod tip and set the hook.

Once you find a few fish you might have to drill some more holes to stay with active ones. Bluegills will often make small moves this way and that and then back again. If you don’t try and go with them you may end up spending too much down time and down time doesn’t get your pole bent. See you on the water.

Ron Anlauf