St.Cloud Area Report

[Garett Svir1582813971]

Been busy chasing the bluegills around lately and finding great ice conditions around St. Cloud. I've been getting a lot of use out of my Vexilar Fish Scout camera looking for green cabbage and coontail as this is where the bulk of our fish have came from. A few feet has made all the difference as fish have been holding fairly tight to the green vegetation. The hot depth for gills has been from 5-9 ft but as these weeds begin to die off be ready for gills to slide out deeper. The key for us has been to keep moving as after a few fish are hooked, pike make their way over to investigate pushing the bluegills away. The hot jigs for us have been the gold Clam Dingle Drop's and #12 red Lindy Fat Boys but when things get tough we have been working some vertical presentations as well. Tight lines

[BWSOutdoors]

Some very nice looking bull sunnies there...

[Rick G]

Impressive gills for our area Nice job,Garett

[monstermoose78]

Congrats on the gills Garett. I was using the same fatboy jig today but I did not manage to get any big gills. I got some good ones.

[Garett Svir1582813971]

Weeds are beginning to die off and the bluegills seem to be pushing out deeper. We have been having our best success fishing over 18-23 feet of water. Starting on inside turns and drilling lots of holes until suspended fish come into view on the Vexilar. Small tungsten jigs with a single euro larva have been top producers. One trick to consistently get bites has been to keep the jig swimming without any up and down movement. Too much up and down stuff has been a deterrant and we have not been getting second chances from many of these picky gills lately. Tight lines

Edited November 3, 2015 by Garett Svir

[Tom Sawyer]

Dandy gills Garett

[monstermoose78]

So jealous man! Great work. Finals next and it is game on

[Garett Svir1582813971]

Still chasing the big gills around. Finding lots of good action but bites have been light the past few days. Keeping a little rhythm on the spring bobber and setting the hook on anything that breaks that rhythm has been producing for us. We have also been moving alot to stay on active fish. Picking off a few aggressive fish and moving a few yards is producing much better than continuing to work the sniffers over in hopes of a bite. Lots of holes, just the way we like it! Merry Christmas

[monstermoose78]

Looks like a lot of fun!! Those are some good looking gills.

[Garett Svir1582813971]

The gill action has not slowed down it's just gotten harder to stay on fish in one spot. This is the time of year to replace the boots with running shoes and keep hole hopping. Remember that large moves find fish but small moves catch fish. I have been prospecting some new waters because I love the hunt. Struck out on a few but hit pay dirt the other day with an absolute gem of a lake without a single track on it. Been getting alot of afternoon bites on the Half Ant from Clam. This jig has a really unique action that drives them nuts. Here is a few pics of my wife and a couple big ones. I'll try and post the pics from the super secret lake this week. Well tell next time, keep drillen!

[Garett Svir1582813971]

After some camera work yesterday with the Vexilar Fish Scout, I nailed down an isolated patch of green coontail in 13 fow and wow did we hit the mother load. A mixed bag of big gills and large bass awaited us. Bass are a blast on 2 pd test, much more fun than flipping docks with 40 pd braid. The hot bait was the Half Ant from Clam tipped with a couple red euro larva. Tight lines

[Garett Svir1582813971]

Drilling alot of holes lately but found a big concentration of bluegills the other day. 8 feet of water seemed to hold the largest specimens and we seemed to be the only anglers fishing shallow. Before we left we spent some time on the break line outside of the weeds and only caught small fish. Even this late in the winter don't be afraid to try the shallow jungle. Here is Fishing Veteran with a trophy caliber fish.

[Garett Svir1582813971]

The late ice bite is here folks! I've been spending a lot of time with the Vexilar Fish Scout camera looking for green weeds. We've been having our best action on shallow flats but being right in the greenest cabbage you can find has been the key. Another interesting thing we've noticed is even with all the ice we have, being quiet is critical to success when fishing this shallow water. I had three big bluegills in my hole and someone walked over to talk and the fish left. I wouldn't have thought they could feel that through all that ice but apparently they can. Some days the fish have wanted a really aggressive pounding action and other days a more subtle kicking action has been producing best, it pays to experiment and work each fish individually. The hot baits have been Northland Gill Getters in a size #12 with Fruit Fly and Wood Tick being my favorite colors. In these temps the edges will go quick so get out and enjoy what's left of the hardwater season. Tight lines

[Garett Svir1582813971]

It's been a great open water season chasing the big gills around. Spending some time now marking green weeds on my gps in anticipation for first ice. When first ice comes expect to find big bluegills on the edges of healthy cabbage and coontail. Can't wait, bring on the hard h2o!

[monstermoose78]

WOW!! That is all I got @Garett Svir1582813971 !! Those are awesome to see. Thank you for posting and reminding they are out there. I have not been able to get out fishing due to the internship, but I hope to have some Monster Bluegills like that in my hand soon