Ice Fishing & The Bluegill - Bluegill - Big Bluegill2024-03-28T13:54:11Zhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/forum/topics/ice-fishing-the-bluegill?commentId=2036984%3AComment%3A14723&feed=yes&xn_auth=noTeeg, it was nice meeting you…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-10:2036984:Comment:215032009-02-10T15:23:10.235Zblackhawkshttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/blackhawks
Teeg, it was nice meeting you out on Delavan this past Sunday during the NAIFC qualifier. Keep up the good work. I would love to hit some of the frozen Iowa / Nebraska waters with you some day. My partner (Brian Moe) and I qualified for the National Tourney with a 7th place finish. On to Channel Lake on 2/22. Musky Mod, are you fishing that tourney on your "home water"?
Teeg, it was nice meeting you out on Delavan this past Sunday during the NAIFC qualifier. Keep up the good work. I would love to hit some of the frozen Iowa / Nebraska waters with you some day. My partner (Brian Moe) and I qualified for the National Tourney with a 7th place finish. On to Channel Lake on 2/22. Musky Mod, are you fishing that tourney on your "home water"? Blackhawks and Rocky - I'll s…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-05:2036984:Comment:205122009-02-05T04:43:58.523ZTeeg Stoufferhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/TeegStouffer
Blackhawks and Rocky - I'll see you guys at Delavan this week. The Recycled Fish "On Ice" tour comes to that NAIFC event on Sunday. Stop by the hospitality station and say hi!<br />
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Ray, I think that the work you're doing and the ethic you've taken on - and espouse - are powerful, and powerfully positive.<br />
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I'll clarify something though. Recycled Fish advocates taking responsibility individually, but that doesn't mean complete C&R or a one-size-fits-all approach. Taking personal responsibility…
Blackhawks and Rocky - I'll see you guys at Delavan this week. The Recycled Fish "On Ice" tour comes to that NAIFC event on Sunday. Stop by the hospitality station and say hi!<br />
<br />
Ray, I think that the work you're doing and the ethic you've taken on - and espouse - are powerful, and powerfully positive.<br />
<br />
I'll clarify something though. Recycled Fish advocates taking responsibility individually, but that doesn't mean complete C&R or a one-size-fits-all approach. Taking personal responsibility DOES mean finding out how your actions impact the waters your fish - including your actions when you're NOT on the water - and making decisions that are in the benefit of our fishery.<br />
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To your good point, that individual decision might be to join a local conservation group, because great things do happen in community and we're unquestionably more effective when united. But these groups form as the result of people making individual choices to step up, and I think that's what we're trying to get to.<br />
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Thanks for your insightful comments, and for those that everyone has shared here. When I wrote this piece, I did not anticipate that it would spawn this excellent level of conversation, and I admit to being delighted that it has.<br />
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Teeg Glen, I predominately use ice…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-04:2036984:Comment:204042009-02-04T21:40:36.861Zblackhawkshttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/blackhawks
Glen, I predominately use ice jigs during the summer. With the warmer water, I can use my larger ice jigs, e.g. size 10's, 5mm since the fish are more aggressive. At times, I tight line them using braided line with a really small barrel swivel and then a leader of flurocarbon to tie the jig to (I fish some "gin clear" lakes). If I am in a "realxing mood", I will fish them under a slip bobber. When I tip with crawlers, I use just a small chunk...app. 1 - 1.5" and use horizontal ice jigs. I try…
Glen, I predominately use ice jigs during the summer. With the warmer water, I can use my larger ice jigs, e.g. size 10's, 5mm since the fish are more aggressive. At times, I tight line them using braided line with a really small barrel swivel and then a leader of flurocarbon to tie the jig to (I fish some "gin clear" lakes). If I am in a "realxing mood", I will fish them under a slip bobber. When I tip with crawlers, I use just a small chunk...app. 1 - 1.5" and use horizontal ice jigs. I try to hook the crawler so it is horizontal off the hook shank. Waxies and plastics work great, too. Good luck. Very great post! Thanks Teeg…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-04:2036984:Comment:203922009-02-04T20:03:56.635ZJohn Sheehanhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/JohnSheehan
Very great post! Thanks Teeg and Ray!!!
Very great post! Thanks Teeg and Ray!!! Glen,
I think they work bett…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-04:2036984:Comment:203782009-02-04T18:27:04.226ZRay Dandershttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/RayDanders
Glen,<br />
<br />
I think they work better in the summer.
Glen,<br />
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I think they work better in the summer. Question: do the ice jigs wor…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-04:2036984:Comment:203042009-02-04T15:43:36.795ZGLENN MARTIN MILLERhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GLENNMARTINMILLER
Question: do the ice jigs work under a float when the ice is out? Are they limited to the winter season only? What is your opinion?
Question: do the ice jigs work under a float when the ice is out? Are they limited to the winter season only? What is your opinion? Hi Gang!
I am new to this sig…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-04:2036984:Comment:202162009-02-04T01:13:14.189ZRocky Martinhttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/RocMartin
Hi Gang!<br />
I am new to this sight but old to pan fishing. I really like your insightful comments and such. I am still navigating around this site and like what I see. I am a avid ice fisherman and I compete in the NAIFC tournaments. I have been to (Osakis) Minnesota already this season and am preparing to pre fish Delevan WI this week. I'll be up there thursday thru sunday. I have a green Arctic cat with the American flag flying from it. Stop by and say High if your in the area.<br />
Thanks and tight…
Hi Gang!<br />
I am new to this sight but old to pan fishing. I really like your insightful comments and such. I am still navigating around this site and like what I see. I am a avid ice fisherman and I compete in the NAIFC tournaments. I have been to (Osakis) Minnesota already this season and am preparing to pre fish Delevan WI this week. I'll be up there thursday thru sunday. I have a green Arctic cat with the American flag flying from it. Stop by and say High if your in the area.<br />
Thanks and tight lines!!!<br />
Roc I used to live in Shorewood o…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-03:2036984:Comment:199382009-02-03T00:03:18.972ZRay Dandershttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/RayDanders
I used to live in Shorewood on the North side of Milwaukee in the early 70's and did a lot of bluegill fishing around there and even back then, Delavan was a well known big bluegill lake. I fished it several time with a friend who still guides on Muskego lake for pike I think.<br />
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Lake Geneva is a terrific bluegill lake with lots of 10 inch fish, but it is hard to find them. Wisconsin is a better big bluegill state than my home state of Michigan, and the best fishery might just be the Mississippi…
I used to live in Shorewood on the North side of Milwaukee in the early 70's and did a lot of bluegill fishing around there and even back then, Delavan was a well known big bluegill lake. I fished it several time with a friend who still guides on Muskego lake for pike I think.<br />
<br />
Lake Geneva is a terrific bluegill lake with lots of 10 inch fish, but it is hard to find them. Wisconsin is a better big bluegill state than my home state of Michigan, and the best fishery might just be the Mississippi river and a thousand lakes in between.<br />
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The biggest bluegills I caught while living in Wisconsin were found in Lake Mendota. It is about a 10,000 acre lake compared to about 2,000 for Delavan and almost impossible to fish out. Mendota has lots of bluegills over 11 inches but again it took a lot of time to find them and even when you did, you didn’t catch many.<br />
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My buddy Jim is about as good a fisherman as you will find, but just because he can catch fish, like Dave Gentz doesn’t mean he knows what is best to maintain a terrific fishery. I’m not putting Dave down, because he has done more for ice fishing bluegills than any other guy I know.<br />
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If we are going to take responsibility for any fishery, the first thing we need to do is start a dialog with the fishery people and ask what it takes to produce a big bluegill fishery. While I also believe slot limits are a good idea, I believe that is only one part of the puzzle. I wish all we had to do is reduce the limit to 10 and return all the fish over say 9 inches and bingo it’s done.<br />
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I know the habitat has a lot to do with maintaining big gills, alkaline levels, types of weeds, oxygen levels, spawning area and much more. I’m not an expert, but I will start to get a list of what it takes from the experts I know and try to build a profile of a good bluegill lake.<br />
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I know there are thousands of us that care and if we can organize and get that message to our fisheries people and work with them I think we can make a difference.<br />
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I am mostly a trout guy, and in Michigan some waters are conducive to growing trophy brown trout. (Brown trout over 15 inches) On a few of these rivers they have imposed trophy regulations. Brown trout have to be a minimum of 15 inches and you can only keep two fish. We know it is good to take some of the excess fish out in order to allow other trout to move into the best areas and grow perhaps even bigger the next year. Catch and release studies show that if you are not allowed to keep any, the numbers increase and the size decreases. As bluegill fishermen we can relate to that.<br />
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We have over 100 rivers in Michigan where people have organized to help restore them to pre logging days. Stopping the sand from washing in, narrowing the river, building fish hides, installing rip rap and wood, planting trees and other little things to assure success. In our area we start out with a non profit conservation group who has an in house wildlife biologist.<br />
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We partner with our fisheries biologists, county road commissions, agriculture professionals, private groups and many others. We develop a plan with input from the specialist and then find the money from private donations, public grants, our state fisheries funds and go to work implementing what the experts have suggested.<br />
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This kind of effort started in my part of the state in about 1992 on several rivers and the fishing has improved 5 and 6 fold on some of them and the fishing is even better today than when I was a kid.<br />
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It isn’t an easy thing to organize, and it takes a lot longer, but it will work a lot better than taking the responsibility individually and telling people to return fish of a certain size when each lake is different and on some lakes it just might be the exact wrong thing to do. Teeg, excellent article that…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-02-02:2036984:Comment:199252009-02-02T21:02:13.442Zblackhawkshttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/blackhawks
Teeg, excellent article that spawned even better dialogue. I agree with your Dave Genz assessment....very nice man. I fished a NAIFC qualifier event last February and after our fish were weighed, Dave would congratulate the participants and take the time for pictures. While guys were pre-fishing the lake, Genz was moving about the teams on his snowmobile and talking with the folks. Like Bruce, I have read just about every article and book that Genz has been a part of. That's where I really…
Teeg, excellent article that spawned even better dialogue. I agree with your Dave Genz assessment....very nice man. I fished a NAIFC qualifier event last February and after our fish were weighed, Dave would congratulate the participants and take the time for pictures. While guys were pre-fishing the lake, Genz was moving about the teams on his snowmobile and talking with the folks. Like Bruce, I have read just about every article and book that Genz has been a part of. That's where I really learned about being selective on what you keep and throw back. Like other posters, my target for table fare is 7.5" - 8.5".<br />
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I live in southeast Wisconsin...between Milwaukee and Chicago, Il. Musky Mod can attest to the fishing pressure that our lakes experience. On most lakes in Illinois, there isn't a panfish limit.....you can keep as many as you want, regardless of size. I was fishing on Channel Lake in Illinois yesterday and I was amazed (and saddened) as to what folks were keeping. I bit my lip because it is their right. In Wisconsin, the state regulation is a daily limit of 25 and possession limit of 50. This summer, on Lake Delavan, I would see the same guys pounding their "honey hole" day in and day out. I feel some folks really don't care but they'll be the first to complain when a lake isn't producing nice fish. I would love to see a reduced daily limit on some of these lakes in harmony with size restrictions. We, as today's anglers, have the responsibility to ensure future generations have the opportunity to enjoy fishing as much as we do. Fished out or stunted lakes will eliminate that enjoyment.<br />
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Thanks again, Teegs. If you ever fish in a NAIFC qualifier, let me know....I know you would enjoy it and you can learn a lot by doing so. Ray Danders says:
"I think w…tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2009-01-30:2036984:Comment:189932009-01-30T05:40:00.187ZBruce Condellohttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/BruceCondello
Ray Danders says:<br />
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"I think we often underestimate our state fisheries people".<br />
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Bruce Condello says:<br />
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"Amen to that". :-)
Ray Danders says:<br />
<br />
"I think we often underestimate our state fisheries people".<br />
<br />
Bruce Condello says:<br />
<br />
"Amen to that". :-)