No matter what kind of fishermen you are, catching a pile of fish is always fun. Bluegills and other panfish are a good fish to target year-around to keep the line tight and rods bent. Growing up in northwest Iowa I was blessed with great bluegill lakes year after year. Bluegills can be very easy to catch if you can find the right fish. Finding active groups of bluegills can make for some fast and furious action.
Gear
The gear for catching bluegill is pretty simple and cheap. I use an ultralight rod which makes it a very fun fight. Ice fishing I use an ultralight rod with a quick tip. Also while ice fishing it is also good to try a fly fishing or in-line style of reel as it reduces line spin which can turn bluegills off. This helps because you can feel the bite, but can still set a solid hookset into those finicky bluegills.
If I am jigging off the side of the boat I tend to use a shorter rod for better feel, somewhere around a 5 foot Fenwick rod. Sometimes I even use my 38 inch 13 Fishing Tickle Stick for vertical jigging. If I am casting bobbers or jigs I tend to use a longer, maybe slightly stiffer rod for better casting and hooksets. For that I use up to a 6’6 medium light Fenwick rod if you are casting really far. When ice fishing I use a clear 2 pound test monofilament. For open water fishing I tend to use 4 to 6 pound test monofilament line.
Jigs and Bait
This is fairly easy depending on the day. A great place to start is always tungsten ice fishing jigs no matter what time of year it is. It is always good to have multiple sizes in multiple colors. I tend to start out with larger size like a 5 or 4 mm jig and move down to a 3 or 2 mm jig size if they are finicky.
As for color I tend to start with 4 main colors. First I start out with a black or gold and then tend to try purple or red. Don’t rule out trying other colors, but those are the colors I tend to catch the majority of my fish on with tungsten jigs.
Hair jigs and tube jigs are also a great jig choice as it looks very natural and can limit rebaiting while on a big school of fish. For hair jigs I tend to look for more natural looking colors like browns, blacks, and reds showing something is bleeding. As for tube jigs I find red, yellow, and purple tops with a white bottom tend to be my go-to’s.
For bigger baits I like to use spoons. My go-to’s are Northland Forage Minnows and Shucks Pilkies (this is a NW Iowa made jig). Also jigs with chains and a small hook are also very good ideas. The colors for these I like to be natural or have a firetiger look.
As for baits I tend to use 3 main baits. Wax worms, wigglers, and plastics are what I tend to start with. I like wigglers over wax worms because they stay on the hook longer and move more. For plastics I like the Clam Maki plastics, the new 13 Fishing line of plastics, and several of the Trigger X plastics. Nightcrawlers, red worms or Belgium worms, and leeches have their places too and should not be overlooked.
What to Look For
What kind of structure and depths you are looking for to find bluegills depends on the time of year and can be anywhere from depths of 2 foot to 30 foot, depending on the season and temperatures. This is also dependent on the type of lake and food availability.
Winter
Ice fishing season is a great time to chase bluegills, especially for people who don’t have boats. This allows you to access everywhere on the lake that you want.
The first thing I look for is shallow, green, standing weeds. This shows signs of life and normally has invertebrates, which bluegills feed off of in it. Normally I find these in bays which is always a great place to start while trying to find bluegills. Next I try to find little pathways in the weeds or patches where these fish might be traveling and where it makes it easier to see your jig from a distance. I also tend to work my bait above where they are because it’s easier to see and fish tend to feed upward. Points on the edges of bays are also a great place to look as it has structure and weeds year around.
Spring
Spawning time makes bluegills accessible to everyone as bluegills start to come in shallow to lay their eggs in their bedding areas. Bluegills at this time are very aggressive and are easily caught from shore and docks. Bluegills tend to relate to docks, sand, and semi rocky areas to do their spawning, it is easy to pick out a spawning bed if you know what to look for. Fish on beds tend to be good sized and aggressive.
In the spring, fish tend to be in shallow in 2 to about 15 foot of water, depending where the weed lines are as late spring they work out deeper and start relating to weed edges. During this time it is good to practice some catch and release as you can catch a lot of fish. It is always good to release females and the big bull males.
Summer
Summer is where the quality and numbers of gills start to work out deeper and can be found out in the basin and around weedlines. For me, my best bet is vertical jigging weed edges and just keep moving and trying different areas until you find an active group. In the summer, I like to fish around points. Points seem to always hold bluegills especially if there is a defined weedline. During this time you will also catch a variety of species working weedines along with bluegills you can catch bass, perch, crappies, and walleyes to name a few.
Fall
Fall time fish start transitioning. In the fall you can really catch fish anywhere you want. You can catch them out deep, weedlines, and in shallows. Although the majority of quality fish will still be out deep in the basin and along weeds some quality fish are starting to get into the weeds getting ready for winter. Fall is a perfect time to get the ice gear out and fish off the side of the boat and find places to fish for early ice.
Hopefully these tips and information will help you catch many fish in the future! Catching bluegills is a great memory I have with my dad and family when I was younger and is a fun fish that everyone in the family will enjoy fishing for.
