Thru the ice Bluegill vs cold water Bluegill...?

[Jeff Soto]

Why is it that in areas that the lakes freeze over in the winter, fishermen can fish through the ice and do very well, catching lots of Bluegill, and in places like here in southern California, where it does not usually get below freezing and the lakes DO NOT ice over... we have really slow Bluegill fishing, even though we have found a group of fish with the help of electronics?   My question is this. If Bluegill still feed and bite good thru the ice for the northern states fishermen,  how come they almost stop biting completely when the weather and water gets cooler in the warmer southern states?  How does a thick layer of ice make a difference?  Any thoughts or does someone know the actual reason for this occurrence?  I would love to be able to go out in the wintertime to my local lake (that is fantastic in the spring, summer and fall) and catch more than 1 or 2 Bluegill, if even any at all...

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Leo Ive gotten them off ebay, at not too ghastly prices.

I like them beneath a float, actually and caught bluegill that way when other methods didnt work well. Heres just one example from ebay -$10/100

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Unpainted-1-100-oz-Jig-Head-Eagle-Claw-...

[Leo Nguyen]

Thanks David. Hm..#10 hook. Hope that's small enough of a presentation with the small offering for them to take. Truly a finicky species of fish we're dealing with.

By the way, just grab 200 worth. Price is equal to the 1/32oz jigs. Going to have plenty of fun painting these boys up.

[Tony Livingston]

Here's a couple for you, Leo...

Four ice jigs covering a dime, and 1 single hook....

[Dwayne Denison]

Tony, great hooks, I use the same ones. They are a real booger to tie while on the lake.

 

Jim, it seems you do a lot of bank fishing? Is there anything special you look for,when winter gilling, from the bank?

[Jim Gronaw]

Dwayne...I do a lot of bank fishing year round simply because of the access I have to many private, smaller waters. But I have done well in larger lakes that retain green weeds close to shore throughout a mild winter where no ice cover persists. Smaller waters tend to hold fish in specific, weedy spots for longer periods of time than, say open water with no structure. This seems to hold true for ice fishing and winter bank efforts. The shorter the cast you have to make, the better off you are going to be on the hookset for open water/winter gills. You saw how picky and lethargic those fish are under the ice...it's about the same in the open water venue.

Also, I like to fish millponds and smaller lakes of the Delmarva as the winters are almost always milder than central Maryland and gills tend to hold near the deepest water, usually near the dam, which traditionally is only 5 to 7 feet deep. You can set a hook with a long rod and sensitive bobber in a situation like that.

[Leo Nguyen]

Good grief! 4 jigs on 1 dime? Thanks for the great shots. They look like wet #18 fly hooks and lead weighed? Incredible. Who ever thought of this was a master and finicky species hunting.

[Dwayne Denison]

Leo, Greg Wade on here, sells some killer jigs. Also has a great t shirt for gills. His are called wade blades.

 

http://www.wadesblades.com/

[Leo Nguyen]

LOL Okay..okay..I'm official creating a saving account with the title "Fund for fun from BBG". Thanks for the link Dwayne. Will check his site out and order some cool stuffs.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Purely winter gear, Leo. A lot of people call them "ice flys."

[Leo Nguyen]

We are official in winter..and we have finicky fishes. So, ice or no ice, I would like to have the gears ;) LOL Just being a hog for gears that's all.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I don't bother with painting these too much. I let the bait do all the work down at the 1/100th size. I have jigs for bluegill in 1/32, 1/64 and 1/100 sizes.

But I do have some white headed, blue marabou 1/100 oz jigs that produced well last year. I even caught some bass on the little things! So maybe white heads are something I should consider.

[Leo Nguyen]

Basic white head painted, with any additional prints/UV coat for glow? And what shade of blue David? I noticed the basses here like to hammer aquamarine to light baby blue, with shimmering of gold and silver, or basically, yellow hologram imprinted into the skirt.