Wet flies resembling insect larvae and nymphs are especially effective. A sinking fly line can carry these patterns down where big bluegills are feeding, where you work them with little twitches the sight of such a fidgety tidbit tempts even the most jaded piscatorial taste buds. If you try jigs, stick to the smallest sizes. Tip your jig with a tiny piece of minnow for extra bream-catching pizzazz. Very often, the added smell and taste is just what you need to coax whopper bluegill to nab your offering.
When fishing for deep winter bluegills, I prefer a 6- or 7-foot ultralight rod with a soft tip and a small spinning or underspin reel filled with 2-pound-test fluorocarbon or monofilament line. This rig exhibits sensitivity not found with larger tackle and permits you to detect the most delicate nibbles.
Four- to 6-pound-test line may seem small enough, but if panfish are finning their noses at your offerings, dropping to 2-pound-test can greatly increase your catch. Light line also permits longer casts with tiny panfish lures and small live baits. Set the hook and note where the fish was when it struck. If you like to fish with a float so you know when a fish bites, avoid plastic snap-on bobbers and foam or cork floats you peg on your line.
If a bluegill is feeding on or near the bottom and takes your bait, it may swim upward after inhaling the enticement. A regular bobber never moves, leading to missed fish.
But a European-style float will signal a taker. Attach the float to your line according to package directions. Then tie on a hook, and start adding small split-shot between the hook and float. Now if a bluegill swims upward after grabbing the bait, it removes some weight off the line, and the super-sensitive bobber rises enough to clearly indicate a bite. Watch closely and be prepared to set the hook. Take split shot for instance.
Many times this is all it takes to stir fish into action. Another way to arouse the feeding instincts of persnickety winter bluegills is to slow your retrieve. Water temperature, sunlight penetration, and available food sources will help to determine the exact location. Crustaceans and insects will still be active during this time, so small crayfish imitations and nymph patterns will be most successful.
As the water temperature continues to drop, nutrients and sediments that suspend in summer sink to the bottom and the water becomes clearer.
Light-colored flies become more visible, and patterns that contain reflective materials such as Flashabou, Krystal Flash, or tinsel chenille do a good job of getting the attention of the fish.
Lower temperatures prompt yet another move, this time to wintering areas. Nearly always these fish will school tightly and suspend. While schools of summer bluegills can be spread over a large area, this is not the case for winter bluegills which tend to be much more tightly grouped. This behavior may make finding the fish more difficult because the area they occupy is smaller.
On larger waters, a fish finder can shorten the search considerably. The mouths of coves, the bases of steep bluffs, and the deepest edge of a dock would be good places to start. If the lake has deadfalls that protrude into deeper water, wintering bluegills will often suspend over extended branches or in open water off the ends of dead trees. Look for trees that appear to have a wide spread of submerged branches, and check out the ones that jut out from the rest to form a point. Lake maps that show old creek channels can be helpful in determining which trees are the most logical candidates for harboring bluegills.
Remember that the fish are moving from shallow areas to these deeper locations and they will use the creek channels for travel. Once bluegills are located, the battle is but half won. One thing to keep in mind is that perch love shad and bugs when it comes to feeding. These are going to look a bit different in winter than in the middle of summer, which is why most winter perch fishermen like using single hook ice flies or spoons.
A few weeks after the first ice-over, things tend to settle a bit and perch will gather once again in groups. Most of the time this will be in slightly deeper water in mid-depth or deep flats. Towards the end of winter once ice break hits then you should look at areas close to popular perch spawning sites.
This includes shallow flats, very weedy bays, and shorelines full of cattails or other weedy or reedy shorelines. If you want our TL;DR shortlist of recommended ice fishing gear then here are our top choices for each item all links go to Amazon. If you live in an area that always gets a very deep freeze so you have that ice fishing shack just waiting for transport then good for you!
However for many of us the most practical shelter for winter fishing is going to be with a temporary ice fishing shelter.
There are several good options up there, but this one stands a bit above the rest. This gives you good cover from wind, offers plenty of space for that portable heater, and lets you enjoy the best that ice fishing has to offer. Hey, ice fishing is great but it makes sense that you want to keep yourself as warm as possible while enjoying some winter fishing sessions.
A portable heater is an absolute necessity on most days. Not all portable heaters are equal, and this is one area where you can REALLY tell the difference between a low level fishing heater and a really high level one. The Mr. This is powerful, easy to use, and safe. One of the great benefits of ice fishing for panfish is the fact that this is a great time to break out the ultralight fishing rod. While I have had plenty of fun using an ultralight fishing rod on bigger game fish like largemouth bass or northern pike, sometimes that means a broken rod or a lot of lost lures to snapped fishing line.
But with panfish you get the hard fight on an ultralight rod without the same danger of damaging the rod. That means a lot of fun from hooking and fighting these tough little guys. For our money the best ultralight fishing rod for ice fishing is the St. Croix Mojo Ice Rod. Croix is one of the top names in the business for good reason, and their reputation is backed by decades of proving it with their high quality products. Some people are fine with using ultralight fishing rods when it comes to ice fishing, but there are also those who love telescopic rods.
These can be a great option for control and support when it comes to ice fishing. If you are a telescopic rod fan then we recommend another big name: KastKing. The KastKing Blackhawk II telescopic fishing rod is an excellent high-quality option that is perfect for the winter fisherman who wants just as much success on the ice as during the rest of the year.
These give the flexibility, mobility, and versatility that you need to enjoy your fishing time while sparing your poor fingers the worst that winter weather can bring.
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