Do you love big bluegill?

Ice Fishing Deep Creek Lake

Deep Creek Lake is a 3,900 acre manmade lake in the extreme western Panhandle of Maryland and is quietly one of the top ice fishing locations for big bluegills and yellow perch. I first fished it back in January of 2005 and, as luck would have it, had my personal best day on the water the very first time on the ice. Good friend Ron Munshower and I fished the McHenry arm in about 20 to 25 ft of water not far from dying weed edges.

My first fish was memorable. We drilled a bunch of holes and scooped them out, then droped Kastmasters and Rapalas baited with waxworms. In the pre dawn grayness, I could hardly see my wire as it took a very slow and deliberate nose dive. By instinct, I set the hook and felt the weight of a good fish...it turned out to be my first Deep Creek bluegill, 10 3/4 inches and very heavy! Wow! I let out a war hoop that likely woke the lake front populace at 6:30 am. Who cares? I was on the big gills!

We stayed on the ice just about the entire day and all four in our group caught fish, mostly big gills and pounder yellow perch. Various spoons and Rapalas worked with bait, but I had my best luck on a 1/16 oz chartreuse jig with a pearl Panfish Assassin baited with a wax worm...an offering usually considered too big for winter gilling.

Anyhow, I managed 38 magnum panfish that day which included 7 bluegills that weighed a very honest 8 pounds...easily the best quality catch I have made on iceing gills. Top fish was an 11 1/2 incher. Return trips to Deep Creek has yielded big panfish for all of us and my two best yellow perch, 2 lb 2 oz and 2 lb 8 oz., came from there on harsh days.

Hoping to get up there within the next two weeks and see if the 'boys' are still willing to bite. By the way, the Maryland state record bluegill came from Deep Creek...an amazing 3 pound 7 ounce caught in 1997. A fish of several lifetimes!

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Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 8, 2009 at 4:56pm: Just got a call from my buddy Ron and he smashed em on Sat with 51 total fish, mostly 12 to 15 in yellow perch and a legal limit of walleyes at DCL. His last fish of the day was a 25 in walleye! Warm, almost hot in central MD...no safe ice here, and with the predicted warm weather, ice wont be too safe at DCL much longer.

Comment by Bruce Condello on February 2, 2009 at 8:04pm: If Jim doesn't start posting more pictures of big 'gills, he's going to be placed on double secret probation.

:-)

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 2, 2009 at 8:00pm: Hey Guys, just got back from Deep Creek...we fished on 2-1 and 2-2. Totaled 34 yellow perch by run and gun jigging with Rapala ice minnows and Swedish Pimples w/ wax worms and Gulp! maggots. Fish were 20 to 30 feet deep on rocky bottoms and some mid-lake humps. I got 7 walleyes on 2-1, three legal ones out of one hole. Perch were magnums, smallest being 11 in and had a bunch of 13 plus inch fish. Tough fishin, drilled about 200 holes and paid extreme attentin to our home made spring bobbers we use( made out of guitar strings). Sorry, no big gills. Maybe next time!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on January 24, 2009 at 5:33pm: Hey Guys...I know its not a bluegill, but I thought you might be interested in the size of some of these Deep Creek lake yellow perch. I love trophy panfish! and, they are more challenging than many other species of fish. Like Kelly Noble said, you almost have to approach it as a science and specialize and put the time in, like he and his dad have done on the Savannah River. I caught this 15 1/4 inch perch on Feb 20, 2006 in 10 ft of water on a Rapala Minnow w/waxworm. It was about 8 * F with 20 mph winds. Terrible conditions...but it resulted in a lifetime catch for me.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on January 22, 2009 at 7:16pm: Hey...I just got off the phone with my buddy Ron and they got some impressive perch today at DCL. Several fish in the 14 to 14 1/2 range along with some eater sized walleyes. Earlier in the week they got bluegills at Rocky Gap to 10 in and a few trout. Thats nice! He's hoping for anpther couple of 2 pound plus perch this winter. We'll see!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on January 22, 2009 at 4:49pm: Hey Guys...the Maryland limit on bluegills is 15 and there is no limit on yellow perch in freshwater lakes. Fortunately, at Deep Creek, few anglers pursue either specie until it ices over, and some years it doesn't. The big bluegill parade has been giong on for 12 -14 years and the big perch gig has been goin on for twenty. Few anglers target panfish at this lake, as bass and walleye get the bulk of the attention. Cool!

Comment by John Cachel on January 22, 2009 at 12:15pm: 7 bluegills total 8 lbs....WOW!
Jumbo perch and big Bluegills.....I am jealous!
I heard of that lake from In Fisherman magazine and I am surpise that Deep Creek Lake is still good for big bluegills and perch but for how long? They need to let big one back to water for the future!
Deep Creek Lake...Creel and size limit on bluegills?

3 lbs 7 oz bluegill is BIG and super 'gill!