Hey John...we fish the Ice Rapalas by droping them straight to the bottom, reel up 1/2 turn of the handle, then jig either aggressively ( with sharp wrist snaps or a cascading 'flutter' that stops at just a few inches above the lake bottom) Or, you can be more subtle and lift up slowly about 2 feet, then do a gentle "bounce' of the lure, stopping every 6 inches on the way down, and holding it motionles for several seconds at each interval. One of us does aggressive, the other does the passive jigging until we find what the perch want. We also tip the center treble hook with either a waxworm or several Gulp! maggots. Good luck, and I think this is a great site, glad to be on it.

Bluegill on the fly

Flies
http://www.cultofthebluegill.com/page/2/

Hey John, we always put bait on the middle treble hook and a decent perch. 11 in and up, will often have the whole lure in its mouth. Hence, we use hemastats or needle nose pliers to unhook the fish. Watch that weather if you go tommorrow.

Thanks John - but I use some of these under a float as a "dropper" two hooks on one line are legal in Jersey ( so I was told when I bought my Jersey license from a Game and Fish officer at the outdoor show a couple of years ago). I use one as a dropper then the end hook has a jog- imitating a small minnow following a hatching insect. After the crickets show up, either a black woolly bugger or black cricket works well.

I use a fly rod for bluegill sometimes, but my back cast is so bad that I can only roll cast about 20 feet, and I am not so subtle in the noise made, so I use spin cast stuff almost all the time.

Fun rig is to use a light spinning reel on a fly rod. Casts a mile, has a noodle rod feel, and is so cool to catch fish with.

By the way, do ice jigs work the rest of the year?

Man everytime i come to this page I love the music and see that hat! Man that thing is ugly!!!! ;-) I love it. Hope yall have ya self a sho nuff fine weekend! Gonna get me a glass of wine and try and find some John Sheehan on youtube.

You know what.....I'm gonna do the same thing. It's Friday night and I'm going to grab a glass of wine and I'll make a toast to John Sheehan!

I've actually been trying out a lot of new waters. Verona Park Pond is the closest fishing hole near me right now, but the fishing is usually pretty poor, unfortunately. I generally find myself in Bergen county. What I really need is a buddy with a bass boat!

Well John, I had to do it...had a fish fry for my son and his wife and mine...bunch of yellow perch we got at Deep Creek the other week...panfried em in a deep skillet...tried two differnt batters...I think I prefer mine to the store brand...still got crappies from Kerr Lake and another batch of perch...you look like the kind of guy who likes to eat up...I'm not so sure I wish you were here! See ya!

Hey John...our weather has really been up and down lately and, aside from some big bluecats in the Potomac, not much else is being caught unless it is at one of the power plants with hot water outflows. Callin for a storm on Sun night that will push every thing back... we'll see.

Hey John...last year we had a much milder winter and I started catching big crappies, 13 to 15 inchers, from the shoreline in and over submerged brush in about 16 feet of water on 1/16 oz jigs tipped with a variety of bait. On warm days and warm spells of several days, the fish would be higher in the water column and I wouldn't lose as many jigs, as they tend to hunker deeper into brush when the cold fronts or cloudy days roll in. In 08, I got my first crappies on Feb 15, and in two trips so far this year, I have yet to catch a fish. We need to get water in the low 40's, still 36 to 39. I use an 11 foot crappie system rod that will cast a jig a mile and has a super sensitive tip...bites are often detected by the rod simply 'loading up' slowly...and the fish is there! Lift the rod high to keep him out of the brush. Some guys do well with slip floats, but I prefer to cast, count down the jig, and retreive slowly. Add # 5 clamshell splitshot as needed for casting distance, 16 in up from the jig. Wood sructure on the northwest or northeast side of you lake would be a good place to start in you get a few warm days in a row. Good luck!

I'm also a webmaster for a few fishing websites!

Hey John, is any thing happening up your way? Our weather has been in extreme mode this past week with record lows to 8 F and record highs to 78 F within just days of each other...not much happening yet, but my buddy is catching some nice crappie in Delaware ponds, some fish are 12 to almost 14 inches.

hey john just thougt i would drop a line to see if you had tried to slip-bobber yet and how its going for you. It hasent been very good for me yet im sure it will pick up. but what has been working is this littel crank bait

i agree it is stange,but the fish seemed more interested in my bobber than any bait i put out there.the trick was to get them to follow it then
pause and let it float back to the surface as it asends it kind of sways sslowly back and forth and thats when they hit it and they hit it like a bass i was shocked at how agresive they were

Hey John...whats up? I've been down with pnuemonia for the past 2 weeks. went back to work and pulled a groin the first day back and am on severe restrictions. Did get out at a lcal pond last Sun and bobber and wormed about a doz gills to 9 1/2 in and a couple 2 lb bass. They've been hammerin crappie in Delaware and at Piney Run Lake. Whats happinin up your way?

JOHN, THANKS FOR DROPPING ME A LINE, LITTLE LATE GETTIN BACK TO YA. FRESH MEADOWS IS IN QUEENS, PRETTY CLOSE TO SHEA STADIUM, NOW CITI BANK PARK. HOW CLOSE YA TO GIANTS STADIUM?? USED TO GO THERE A LOT FOR GAMES, BOSS WAS A SEASON TICKETR HOLDER, THEN HE DROPS DEAD OF A MASSIVE HEART ATTACK AT WORK. YOU FISH AT ALL IN NY?? JUST WONDERING, FIGURED YA MIGHT GIVE ME THE NAMES OF LAKES & PONDS YA FISH. OK DUDE, LET ME SPLIT, ALREADY 12:15 AM!! WRITE BACK IF YA HAVE TIME. LEFTY5895@MSN.COM. BE GOOD, JEFF.

hey john glad to here its workin out for you i have been killing the crappies here with wax worms and minnows .the gills seem to come and go. icant seem to catch them consistently yet .i did get 5 nice rianbow trout last saturday and the fishing club i belong to stock our ponds for the first time this year on wed. so iv been pretty busy hope your aving just as much luck.

John-
Yeah-let's try out that new boat. Last time I was at Split Rock no boats were allowed, but I think that may have changed. I'll check it out and let you know.

Sure, John. Let me know what time is good for you. 5:30's fine with me. Just let me know.

John
First things first Are you playing the banjo here this is great I pick a little bit myself not very welll just some rolls and runs.
No I have not fished that area yet. I am located up by the canada border in the west side of the state.

Thanks for checking out my pics. The walleye I would give just over 4 lbs but the large mouth was full of eggs so over 5. The bass was caught on 2 lb. test with my light crappie rod. Lots of fun.
Keep on hitting the lake and you will eventually get a big fish. Presentation, timing, and method of fishing is all important but not as important as actually fishing for them. Good Luck!

John
If the weather is nice this weekend the wife and I plan to take a drive to the southren part of the state Rutland area Killington is close by the map does not give much info on the white river. Give me what info you can about whats trouble you and I will try to cheak it out..

John
I would say that sounds about right for Vermont our fish and wildlife dept are thying to turn the whole state into a trout and Salmon fishery. I Live about 20 miles north west of Burlington 5 minute drive to lake champlain . We have acess to a small river where in the spring the Sunfish, BlueGills, and Crappies run up this river. Many people fish there for these fishto help supplament their incomes. The local fish buyer last Saturday purchased 2700 pounds of Gills and sunnies. Our state keeps stalking steelheads their with great expence and very little return. It has been suggested by fish and game to restrict fishing their to help get the steelheads estabilshed.. So I would expect that has happened elsewhere.
I want to add that I use to be very much against selling fish but now I do feel diferent about it. 20 years ago the sunfish average 5 inches maybe a little less. They were too small to eatand there were thousands of them almost a pest when bullhead fishing.. This year there were less fish but they were running 7 inches and better. I caught 1 sunfish that went 9 inches. I will get down to that part of the state and find out for shure .

John:

Check out the picture of that trout you snagged at Cupsaw Lake last week:

It looks pretty photogenic.

John
Those fish I was catching were great . You could do great with a fly rod if we do not get the heavy rai that is predicted tomorrel I am going to try a fly rod for the first time. Even though I have to throw these shiners back they should be fun. They were very good to eat and easy to clean

Hey John...good for you on those 5 lbers! I just happen to be in an area that has a lot of big fish. If you'll notice, most of my fishing techniques are very simple and straight forward, nothin fancy, we fish alot of live bait and key on prime times for a bunch of different species. Good luck!

Hi Bud !!!!!!! This is Arty from Ringwood .Great day at n-pondlol I posted up some pics of the boat thaat we will be in.check them out.Arty

what happen? Me and Ron will be going Saturday around 5:30 are u in? He said I can drive and u guys can drink!!!!!!!!

I don't really know long it was, just that it weighed 6lbs 8oz. I am still kicking my self for not measureing. Wish i knew how long it was.

Caught it on a Black and blue swim jig.

Hi John I got alot of work and I am almost done with the boat .Nailed some nice l-bass at c-saw and crappies and no trout.Had a good time in the salt sunday and we got 13 nice fluke a cod and a big shark.

Here it is a Booyah Swim'n Jig with a yum chunk trailer

And don't forget it.

Al ready did haha. I caught some big ass bluegill! ill have pictues up tomorrow.

John, yes...Delavan would be classified as a clear body of water....gills have a deeper existence in clear water....gills typically spawn in 10-14 feet, and suspend over deep water once the spawn is over....catching gills in 25 -40 ft is common once the heat of summer arrives.

Interesting. Some sort of tumor maybe? I've never seen that.

Hey John, did you see Carley's photos meant for you and Arty Cole?

Carley says, my dad isn't that smart>

Mustad #6 Oshaugnessy hook

Hey tough guy, I managed to find a bomber hangin in one of our Fruitport trees. A fat A 4, only it was fire-tiger. You must have to climb real high to find that craw-colored one. Anyway, I triolled and casted that turd all night with only a gar in hot pursuit. The spoons are workin but fill me in on that secret lure of yours. Though I'd like to stop in and shake your hand, New Jersey is a bit far. So I guess I'll shake some bushes around the area for that darned crawturd. I so much wanted to catch something on that fire-tiger, just to show you my new secret weapon....Dangit!

Hey John...the perch was about 12 feet deep and we've been getting some really nice ones at PR the past two seasons.

They are suspended a couple of feet off the bottom at PR.

John...PR stands for Piney Run in this case, my local lake. DCL would stand for Deep Creek Lake, etc.

John...we have such a variety of sunfish in our streams that I could not tell you precisely what most of them are. But the are one thing, Beautiful!

Thanks for the hoppers comment! I found the pattern online, just google "fishy's hopper"! They are super easy to tie and they catch gills like no other!

John, where you been buddy?

John, that is a great looking area. I hadn't realized how hilly the terrain is out that way. The site said it was was stocked with trout,landlocked salmon,bass and perch. We don't have much for pickerel out this way. More pike and musky. Although it looks as if you caught some fairly good sized ones in your album. I haven't fished as much lately. I lost my job and times are a little tight.

Went out tonight by myself. Carley took a trip to Ohio so my partner was gone. Should've took the camera. I managed around 15 gills in the 8 inch class,which is really good in Spring Lake. My teardrop and crawler chunk did the trick. I used the bluefox spoons, and have more luck on catfish and white bass than bluegill. Maybe I'm fishin it wrong?? Anyway,that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hey, I grew up in Passaic County (Wayne) but live in Morristown now, and mostly fish ponds around here. I get to Lk. Hopatcong when I can, but The 'Pack is my favorite place.

Small world. I graduated from Wayne Valley in '96, but was a Geoege Washington JHS graduate. I also wento to William Paterson for graduate school and now teach in Paterson. I learned to fish at Packanack Lake but don't do any fishing in Passaic County anymore.