Lake Puckaway Wi. Bluegill report.

Lake Puckaway panfishing report in Febuary through the ice.

We took a day off chasing walleyes to do some bluegill fishing and ended up with some good results. My client Ron Vesterdahl and I started setting up at noon on saturday. We are ice fishing some canals that are located along the Fox River leading into the lake. Most of the canals are about 4 feet deep and water levels change with the amount of run off we have.

We are using medium light St Croix jigging rods with 2 pound test berkley ice line and spring bobbers for detecting some of the light hits from the gills. In this clear water in the winter we can also just sight see catching the fish. We driil a bunch of holes all the way down through the canal , with one guy drilling and the other guy using the underwater camera for finding good schools of fish before setting up the clam. When we see an area where we are seeing the most gills , we driil more holes in a line and set the tent over them and start fishing.

The baits we are using are small green and yellow jigs tipped with spikes in the red or natural colors. We are also using waxworms as well when the fish get more aggresive at times during the day. We are also using rocker jigs of various colors with good results and tipped with the same baits . Also some of the plastics have been producing fish also, but live bait seems to be the best.

Some of the jigging methods that are working for the gills are just starting from the bottom of the ice and slowly lowering the jig tipped with a spike all the way to the bottom within a inch away from the bottom and leaving it set there for a few seconds and then repeating the method. Lots of times before you get to the bottom , your line will got limp and you better set the hook for sure. Some of the gills will be just under the ice when they hit during the day. Another trick that works to draw the gills in to your bait when using this method is to slightly shake the jig all the way to the bottom. Also when the fish are roaming around and real active is to take your depth weight and stir up the bottom and the gills will come over to check it out to see whats going on.