Figuring out the Bite
Weather: Windy
Ice thickness: 8 inches
Travel: Difficult
Target species: Bluegill
It felt great to be back on the ice again. My first time out this year and I got spoiled with some very nice gills. The ice on the lake I was fishing was clear 7-8 inches with drifts a foot deep holding water beneath the snow.
It made it for slow travel by 4 wheeler. I passed everyone fishing the same area that always produces action. But I had my mind set on where I caught some nice gills before freeze up. Away from the group I began drilling holes.
I started to catch perch and few crappies, but there were marks on my Vexilar that kept reacting differently to my presentation. I wanted to know what it was down there and why they wouldn't bite.
It turned into a game of chasing my bait back and forth for about 2 hours. Trying different jigs, colors and plastics, I finally caught that mark. It was a beautiful 9.5 gill. Were all these marks acting like this gills?
Repeating what I just did, I jigged hard 3 ft off of the bottom. Once a mark appeared I set my rod down and flicked the fishing line. The mark slowly raised until the spring bobber bent. After this I caught 6 gills, 10 inches or bigger.
I had figured out what it was that triggered them to bite. It's a rewarding feeling to be able to figure out a bite on your own and put the pieces to the puzzle together. The only thing better is releasing gills 10+ inches back down the hole.
