Cold Water Gills

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Old man winter has over stayed his welcome in Northern Illinois....After enjoying 70 deg temps and an early ice-out during the first weekend in March, mother nature has certainly not been too kind since.....A late winter storm dumped more than 9" inches of snow on the recently opened waters last weekend, and it is snowing as I type this....surface temps plummeted 10 degrees and put us back to square one.

Typically this time of year during harsh conditions, we normally target gills using ice jigs under heavily weighted slip bobbers....yesterday however, this method was outfished 7-1 when compared to casting the 1/16 oz rattlin' flash spoon tipped with Berkley Gulp maggots.

Amazingly, this combo was highly productive even when surface temps were down to 45 deg.....Bluegills love minnows and the lures that mimic them!.....Most if not all of our fish on the spoon presentation displayed very aggressive strikes.....bobber fish on the other hand were very subtle takes. The majority of our action was found on main lake shorelines with downed timber in 2-6 ft of water that were affected by wind.

This little lures ability to trigger reaction strikes from Bluegills that are in a "less than" neutral mood is extraordinary.

Unfortunately Blue Fox no longer makes the 1/16 oz version of this spoon so check your local bait shops and retailers bargain bins for old stock availability.....The 1/8 oz is still available and is equally as deadly when surface temps rise and bluegills are positioned deeper.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

I would suggest a rod at least 7' and a medium sized reel with a long cast spool...small spinning reels require way too much cranking when the bite is hot!

[Bryce]

Hey i just wanted to ask if you have ever tried the cicada's, they are a littl blade bait. They make those in 1/16 oz. I just wanted to k ow if you have tried them. Great jog on those gills.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

The key to triggering strikes with this presentation is the pause when the spoon is dropping or fluttering back....cicadas fall pretty fast on the pause.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Smashed them again today, surface temps still in the upper 40's.

[Old Dave]

These pictures are makin' my mouth water. Geneva has been open for a while now, but water temps that I've seen are still high 30's. What temps do you look for on Geneva before bluegill activity starts? I'm anxious to get out, but I don't want to waste my time on unproductive water either.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Upper 40's should bring fish into the bays on Geneva....surface temp is 43 now, hopefully by next weekend we'll find some biting fish.

[Old Dave]

Thanks, Maybe I'll see you out there.