Super Light Finesse Gear And Tactics For Tough Times

Why sit over panfish that won’t cooperate? With today’s sophisticated search tools—lake maps, depthfinders, underwater cameras, snowmobiles, augers—a case can be made for perpetual movement. “Some guys say, drill holes until you find biters,” In-Fisherman Editor in Chief Doug Stange says. “To them, it’s aggressive tactics all or most of the time. But talk to the boys down in Iowa, on their crystal clear lakes. By midseason, those fish have been beaten pretty badly, and have to be finessed to catch just a few.”

Or perhaps you live in an urban area where all the panfish waters within a reasonable drive are hit hard. “Sometimes,” Stange says, “move, move, move isn’t an option.”

So it goes in some parts of the world. Sometimes we need a plan for tackling down in the face of finicky bluegills, crappies, perch, and other panfish.

Bring this topic up to Mick Thill, and he races to clear up a misunderstanding about his approach to icing winter panfish. Best known for his contributions to bringing modern float fishing to America from Europe, Thill also is an avid ice fisherman. “I always fish with the heaviest baits I can get away with, using them as aggressively as the fish want them,” he says. “It’s easier and faster that way. But if I get no response, when I know fish are present, I switch to tiny tackle.

“In the Chicago area waters I fish, lakes are heavily pressured, and many days, I don’t have any choice but to tackle down. All fish are either aggressive, neutral, or negative. And on heavily pressured lakes, the fish are neutral or negative most of the time. It takes the right approach to catch them. But the challenge can be a lot of fun.”

Time-honored standbys like live maggots, waxworms, and small minnows always work. How you present them (plain hook, tiny jighead, aggressively or passively) becomes the big piece of the puzzle, once you find fish.

In Thill’s experience, on those days when you determine panfish aren’t responding to aggressive methods, start fishing in each new hole with a delicate, super-light approach. “I’ve spent quite a bit of time watching these fish on underwater cameras,” Thill says. “If the fish are in a neutral or negative mood, aggressive methods will put them off, kill their curiosity. Even if you switch over to something micro light on those same fish, their curiosity has been dulled, and they won’t react.”

“When I know really big panfish are available,” Thill says, “I first try using the heaviest line I can get away with, and rods and reels matched to the fish’s size. I think the small tackle is appropriate for bluegills up to about a pound,” Thill says, “and maybe crappies and perch up to about a pound and a half. I always fish as heavy as I can get away with, then go lighter if I have to.”

Rods—Thill (847/982-9898) is offering the next generation of ultralight Scandinavian ice rods in three sizes. The two lightest models feature tips that double as ultrasensitive bite indicators that betray even lift bites, where the fish inhales your bait and moves upward. Crappies are known for doing this.

They also feature a screw that allows you to precisely lock in a certain depth. “If you hook a big fish,” Thill says, “loosen the screw and fight the fish by pressuring the side of the reel with your thumb.”