Video Details: Season 7 – Episode 3. James Holst and Joel Nelson fish big bluegill in Central MN using Performance Plastics.
To watch Season 7 – Episode 3, click on the video player above OR use this direct link >>> Fishing Performance Plastics for Big Gills on Ice
Don’t forget to set those DVRs or tune in next Sunday at 8AM on FSN to catch the show!
———————————————————————-
Great show James. Really enjoy hunting those giant gills. One thing that really helps me in the wind, is to leave the rod tip by the hole and hook the line with my finger just in front of the reel. Then I can raise the jig by pulling the line with my hand while keeping the rod tip close to ice. Also works well in the shack when you need room to set the hook. Keep up the great work.
Great first post, and thanks for the response.
Just to clarify, you’re setting the rod down on the ice and feeling for bites via the line through your fingers? Sounds like a cool technique. More please!
Thanks,
Joel
Thanks Joel, been a big fan for a long time. Finally found something interesting to say.
I hold the rod with my hand as normal. Take my off hand and hook the line with my finger just in front of the reel. Then slowly pull my off hand, with the line, away from the rod either left or right depending on which hand. This raises the jig while I keep jigging with the other hand. Works great in the wind also in the shack. Like when you get close to the roof and need to set the hook.
How long are you guys waiting to change jigs? James had a few jigs that he went through that day.
Go through a few holes and if you have lookers and no takers, switch it up! Plastics are just plain awesome! I love this video, it gets my heart pumping!
Gawd are those some nice gills. Good job guys.
Quote:
How long are you guys waiting to change jigs? James had a few jigs that he went through that day.
I had the same pile, they were just in diamond jigs, gill pills and plastics variations. Which is really nice in that we fish as a team. Leave no stone un-turned, and no jig untied. 
In a target-rich environment like where we were fishing, the switching of baits can be rapid. More than a time or duration, I’m looking for specific marks with my sonar and how they react. After a few fish, or a winter with the same sonar, you can tell a bruiser from a shortie, and you’re studying the sonar like mad to see how those quality marks are reacting to your baits. I’m looking for aggression and closeness to the bait, then ultimately the fish hitting the bait. If you’ve worked two or three better marks, especially with little/no interest in your offering other than an initial fly-by, it’s time to mix it up. When they hover and give you a 2-minute look, you’re close. When they rise continually, and take it after a few seconds to a minute, you’re onto something.
Not all scenarios and lakes are the same, but generally speaking I’ll use my Marcum to take the temperature of the fish, and let their mood dictate my presentation.
Joel
Thanks for the tips Joel! Looks like ill need to pay more attention to my marcum VX-1pro! Bought it towards the end of last year and cant wait to become best friends with it! 
When constantly switching jig/color combos, do you guys use quick snaps or retie? I like the convenience of the quick snaps but don’t like that I can’t adjust my knot to make horizontal presentations truly horizontal.
Looks like Joel was relying on having 5 different combos ready to go haha I don’t have that luxury.
Quote:
When constantly switching jig/color combos, do you guys use quick snaps or retie? I like the convenience of the quick snaps but don’t like that I can’t adjust my knot to make horizontal presentations truly horizontal.
Looks like Joel was relying on having 5 different combos ready to go haha I don’t have that luxury.
I like those quick snaps for certain heavier baits and jigs, as it can give them more action/wiggle. That said, I’m primarily a direct-tie guy. Reason being, there’s alot of horizontal-style (Ratsos, Rat Finkees, etc.) or 45-degree baits (Diamond Jigs, gill pills) that will hang straight up and down when you fish a quick-snap.
I remember a specific instance fishing near Park Rapids with friends where a buddy in the same portable as me literally was outproducing me 3 to 1 on gills of all sizes. With the same baits! I didn’t know it then, but he was direct-tying and the fish were drastically preferring a bait presented horizontally. One of those light-bulb moments after going back to the cabin and figuring out what happened.
Lots of times, it doesn’t matter, but when it does, it really matters.
Joel
I have about 20 of my Fiskars on 12″ pre-tied leaders and then attach those with a quick clip. I can control the jig like a tied-on but have the flexibility to switch quickly to try various presentions. It is a little more of a storage problem with the extra leaders in the box but it helps me when I am on the move with limited rods. 
Were you using gps and what size jigs ? Thanks
Quote:
Were you using gps and what size jigs ? Thanks
We used an H2Oc to get is in the right area. As for jig size, I was running a #8 Shrimpo. http://www.customjigs.com/icefishing/softbody/shrimpo.html
Quote:
I have about 20 of my Fiskars on 12″ pre-tied leaders and then attach those with a quick clip. I can control the jig like a tied-on but have the flexibility to switch quickly to try various presentions. It is a little more of a storage problem with the extra leaders in the box but it helps me when I am on the move with limited rods.
Ha! Now that’s thinkin’!
There’s two reasons to have a quick change at your disposal IMO. The first and most obvious is to give those fish another look, another color, something different.
The second, is the reason I carry that many rods at the outset and usually have at least one other option handy and nearby. Just like topwater bass fishermen follow up a surface-explosion-miss sequence with soft plastics, I like to drop a different option to a fish that snubs presentation #1 as quickly as possible. Lots of times if you let them swim out of the cone and lose interest all over again, it’s harder to work that same fish. Especially gills. Reel slowly at first bait #1, then burn it up to the top and drop bait #2 as quickly as possible while keeping a natural or less-natural slower fall.
This works for big gills, but is something I use for walleyes more often with a blade-bait/slender-spoon 1-2 punch.
Joel
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
