I finally made it out to Minnewaska to sample the Bluegill bite which has been reported to be pretty good this year. As typical for Minnewaska, it didn’t take long to find the nice gills. Basically that amounts to finding the deep weed beds and there they are.
The ice was is plenty thick every spot I checked, roughly 18 inches in most spots. The problem is there is a lot of snow on the lake and huge pockets of slush. This is the knee deep variety that can make fishing or travel tough. I made it through several spots with my truck but venturing out on your own is not advised right now unless you have another vehicle along to give you a tow.
As for the bite, well it was good. We kept a nice mess of bluegill for the pan. Most of the keeper size fish were around the 8 inch mark. We had several fish over the 9 inch mark which is pretty good for lake Minnewaska in the winter.
We were using #12 Gill Pills from Custom Jigs and Spins. Well, at least Cole was. I tried a bunch of different hooks but nothing could match the #12 Gill Pill in White/Black. That thing has been deadly this year on the ice. Unfortuately, I only had one of them so I pretty much spent the afternoon taking off Cole’s fish and testing flashers. I did however get to eat my share!!
I will be out on the ice pretty much the entire next month so I should have a better feel for how things are going around the state. I am looking forward to heading back North next week and sampling a few my my favorite lakes in the Northern part of the state.
Holy crap! Getting stuck in some of that slush might mean leaving your truck there and going for a pretty cold, wet hike.
Nice gills though. Looks like Cole had a blast!
I bet Cole ate his share too….nice gills
All Cole needs is a visor and he could be your “Mini Me!”
Nice fish guys!!!
Thinkin the same thing
Nice fish Mr Steil
nice report guys
Thanks for the feedback. I will work on that Visor for Cole
I am hoping Cole will be able to join me on a lot of trips this year. He is getting that age where he has an real interest in fishing….as long as they are biting 
Just say no to the visor Cole!
Looks like a great time Scott!
Nice report Scott! Having been on Minnewaska last week as well, one doesn’t want to venture far from the plowed roads. Glad you were able to find the nice sunfish too!
Heading back tomorrow with my sisters inlaws from Nebraska. Should be a good time!
Nice trip Scott,
on the flasher, it looks like a fish or two followed up his catch, hope he got right back down there to get them,
Keep us posted on your next trip.
Jack.
Just an update on Minnewaska. Three of us were back out there yesteday during the day. The bite was excellent and catching a nice limit of gills for the pan was easy. The fish are aggressive and willing to bite. The Firetiger Gill Pill or Diamond Jig worked excellent. Travel is getting much better on the lake. There are still areas of slush but for the most part, the really bad areas are frozen over now