Bustin’ bluegills: Late February’s ice activity

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by Ron Anlauf
Of Sportsweek Outdoors

It’s time to slide panfish to the front burner for the remaining weeks of this ice fishing season.

The fact is, walleye fishing has slowed considerably, while the panfish bite has begun to pick up the pace a notch or two.

Big fat bluegills are what I am talking about and they are just as much fun to catch and every bit as good to eat as walleyes.

Finding hot pockets of mid-winter bluegills isn’t all that tough and includes locating the deeper holes and breaks near shallow summer haunts. You will need to seek out weed-covered flats and shallow vegetation.

As the winter season progresses bluegills tend to move off and down from shallow cover and will often stack up in deeper water. When they do, these fish can be found holding tight to the bottom to as much as five to 10, or even more — up and off.

That’s when they’re really easy to find and will show up as multiple marks. In fact they sometimes stack up so thick that the top of the heap can be mistaken for the bottom.

With a high-tech depth finder, you can see and actually break out individual fish, even when they’re stacked up solid.

That’s when you’re really on ‘em but it doesn’t take that many fish to make it fun and keep you busy.

When it’s time to get down to business, you’re going to need the right gear. That means going light, super light.

And just any light-action rod may not be enough.

My favorite rod is a 24-inch Northland ultra-light Trick-Stick Pro-Angler combination. It has a solid carbon graphite rod blank and is super sensitive and light enough to show the bite of light biting bluegills.

You can also add a spring bobber which can make a real difference when the fish are biting super light, which is most of the time.

A spring bobber is a highly sensitive tool that can reveal the lightest of bites and about all you might see is a slight drop or rise in the tip. That means you’ll spend most of your time tip-watching and when it does move up or down you better set the hook.

Tiny baits are another key to steady bluegill action and little jigs like Northland’s Mud Bug tipped with a Eurolarvae or two top the list.

The Mud Bug has a super sharp light weight hook that makes it much easier to slip into a maggie or waxie without tearing it up.

Light-weight line like Northland’s Bionic two-pound test ice fishing line is also important and makes it easier to get a tiny jig down to deeper water without having to add any extra weight.