Do you love big bluegill?

East coast Ice fisherman

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A place to share tecniques ,past successes /failures and future prospects for fishing Gills and other fish through the ice.

Location: Ringwood New Jersey
Members: 21
Latest Activity: Mar 7

Finally...On the Ice!

We'll, the Carp Whisperer Bob and I got out for a little ice fishing today at a local pond that had 4 inches of good clear ice, We rigged up for bluegills with jigging rods and 1/10 oz Kastmaster spoons meal worms as a tipping bait. We didn't get a single bluegill, but we got some of these...

Ended up with 4 bass for myself in about 2 hours of jigging. Bob had two good strikes, including a bigger fish that ran his drag some. Bass went fro 14 to 17 inches. I lost about a 20 inch bass right at the hole...the fish just hovered slowly in the water just below the ice...giving me a great view of what I was losing! Would have been my largest ice bass had I got a hand on her. I got all my fish on 2 pound mono. Fish were 5-6 feet deep.

At least I got to feel a few fish today and get a slight 'fix' for my ice fishing habit! We have done good on gills here, but not today.

High today was 30 F with light winds. Might go tomorrow, but they are calling for sleet and freezing rain...sheeeesh!

The window for ice fishing here is very narrow...maybe only a few days this year. Calling for 65 on Wednesday! Crazy!

Carp guru Bob had to put me in my place..'.a 4 or 5 pound fish isn't a big fish to me" but I think he still had a good time. Glad to be out and glad to catch a couple fish!

Discussion Forum

Top Ten Ice Fishing Lures 4 Replies

TOP TEN ICE FISHING LURESNot sure I've ever caught a Fish through the ice on a lure un-tipped.1/4 oz. and 1/3 oz.Swedish Pimple,Nickle or Gold /Green Prism Tape/Shiner Head-Pickerel, Crappie Red…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 10.

Plastics for Ice Fishing 3 Replies

I hope to get some safe Ice this Year 2024. Last Year I did no Ice Fishing at all. If I get the chance this Year, I'd like to get into using a variety of Plastics for Panfish and Predators. Any…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 9.

Tipping with Perch eyes 2 Replies

Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 22, 2022.

Ice Fishing Chronicles 2009-? 7 Replies

In NJ we are allowed 5 rigs .I generally set 3 tip ups ,Jig a rod and have a dead stick rod hanging off a bucket. I switch on and off with the jigging rods .I have two set up for Gills and pan…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Feb 13, 2018.

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Comment by John Sheehan on February 13, 2014 at 9:07am: Wow Jim ,sorry to hear this ! We are getting the snow now and may be going through some ice and power loss our selves in the coming days . I hope not to have to use the generator for the first time . . I brought some fire wood into the garage in preparation but the rest is getting buried . The wood pellets are gonna be hard to restock in the garage with this snow .Got some work ahead of me even after all the shoveling .Bad year for me not to have a snow blower !

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 13, 2014 at 8:53am: John...just lots of ice storms, power outages and a few family medical issues that are starting to work out. Matt had now heat this week, we had no power last week and we're getting hammered with about 2 feet of snow and ice now.

It's all good!

Comment by John Sheehan on February 13, 2014 at 8:39am: Thanks Jim .Tony says "what you're dealing with" ? Hope all is okay!

Tony ,those hybrids YOU catch are what's to be envied! Also ,I would like to see a few pics of what jigs and spoons you are using through the ice .On my jigging rod ,I start with a bigger presentation and scale down if the bite gets slower .For my dead sticking rod I may do the same or just start with a marmooska jig. They seem to be good sized for Gills .I sometimes use the real micros cause its necessary. Waxies have out fished Mealies and spikes.

Comment by John Sheehan on February 13, 2014 at 8:37am: Thanks Jim .Tony says "what you're dealing with" ? Hope all is okay!

Tony ,those hybrids YOU catch are what's to be envied! Also ,I would like to see a few pics of what jigs and spoons you are using through the ice .On my jigging rod ,I start with a bigger presentation and scale down if the bite gets slower .For my dead sticking rod I may do the same or start a little bigger and scale down .Waxies have out fished Mealies and spikes.

Comment by Tony Livingston on February 12, 2014 at 5:52pm: I am so envious of you guys pullin' perch through the ice. Always wanted to do that!

Jim, sorry to hear about what you're dealing with out there....you and Linda take care, I'll keep you in my thoughts.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 12, 2014 at 5:12pm: Nice fish, John!

Hey...I'll get back to you on the perch article you wrote, been crazy here with power outages and snow and lack of heat. Sorry for the delay!

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 11:24am: Better fish so far 2014 .

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 11:16am: So far I've been on the ice four times now .6 species caught :Gills, Pseeds, White Perch ,Yellow Perch, Crappie and Bass . Details of effective lures ,catches and pics at: http://bigbluegill.com/photo/albums/hardwater-2014

Best catches were caught on spoons/dead shiner head or tail.

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 7:51am: Thanks for the report Jim and great job ,especially the Bass! I'll post some accounts of my results later . It's been a decent Crappie catching year for me but Perch ,Gills and Bass have been small .

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 11, 2014 at 10:04pm: Some of the better fish from this ice season...

Bluegill on the Rap, above.

Nice perch on the Kastmaster.

Personal best 'ice bass', above, went 22 inches. Still swiming!