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Poppee set the hook and the Finesse Spring Rod seemed to break in half. The 1-1/2 pound test held even though the line was rubbing on the ice edge. "I-YEEEE,” he yelled out. This fish was bigger than the previous half dozen ‘gills that we had just caught. She came up to the hole and I realized it was one of those giant pumpkinseeds that Lake Geneva was noted for. "Whoooaaah look at that bluegill," exclaimed Poppee. "No, that’s a pumpkinseed," I said. "That bluegill is a pumpkinseed?" "No, that pumpkinseed is a Pumpkinseed." "Then what is the bluegill?" "J …

I looked around and it was dark       ...time for crappie. We moved more towards the weed edge, and sure enough the crappie appeared suspended up on the Marcum locator face. If we lowered our jigs to right above the suspended fish, we started to catch a few. We had made the switch to larger sized jigs (since crappie have bigger mouths). By 10 p.m. we had caught enough. We had one of our more successful days/nights on the ice. By nature Poppee and I prefer ice fishing in shallow water. But when the fish are biting in deep water in the middle of winter, then that' …

Bluegill and the rest of the panfish provide great sport and excellent eating. If you want to learn how to catch gamefish like largemouth bass, pike and muskie, then you need to start small. Small lures and small fish. You see a bluegill shares nearly the same habits and instincts as his gamefish cousins, so learning to hunt these panfish will get you to become a fish catching machine, no matter what quarry you’re after! So in order to catch bluegill and panfish the right way, you need to get geared up. You'll need an ultra-light rod with a soft fast tip. Any 1000 series reel will do as …

No matter what we did, the bluegill wouldn’t bite. We could see them. We were peering down the hole in the three-foot, ultra-clear water but the bluegills were circling the wagon’s...’Er the ice jigs. "Can you see them, Poppee", I yelled. "Yeah and they don’t want to bite", he yelled back. We tried everything that day and had only managed a few for the pan. If you’ve never peered down the hole in ultra-clear water, you haven’t lived,...’Er fished. You’ll need a good dark tent to see clearly. We like the a dark tent that shields you from all light penetration and the flip-over design, …

Live bait is like a security blanket’ you feel lost and all alone without it. Time was when I never ice fished without live bait. But times have changed. With the recent advances in plastic, lure and scent technology, I feel confident traveling on nearly any body of water without bait. In fact, I think anyone can learn to ice fish without bait. Much as you fish for bass, walleye and panfish in the open water, the same principle applies to ice fishing. Fishing without live bait Fishing without live bait is a weaning process. At first it's best to take little baby steps. You should fis …