By Steve Weisman

Author with a nice bull gill taken in 20+ foot of water on a Shuck’s Jigger Minnow.

Finally, as we head toward the end of July, the water levels on the Iowa Great Lakes have slowly subsided to the point that the water is only going over the Big Spirit spillway by a little over 2 inches and a little over 5 inches going over the overflow at Lower Gar. However, it has taken the dry weather over the past month or so to get the water level to drop to this point. Big Spirit is now 19.7 inches below the emergence 5 mph rule, while the Okobojis are now 20.3 inches below the emergency 5 mph rule. However, with the huge watershed surrounding the lakes, this can change in a heartbeat if we were to get one of those intense thunderstorms that drop several inches of water in a short period of time.

From the end of May through mid-July, the walleye fishing on Big Spirit was lights out. Lots of limits of 14-16+ inch fishing, an even greater number of slot fish from 17-22 inches and some walleyes over 22 inches. Day after day the story was the same. Now as the surface water temperatures reach 80-degrees, the walleye bite has moved more to a lead core/crankbait bite out in the basin.

For a couple of weeks, the perch bite with lots of 9-10+ inch perch on Big Spirit was going strong, but that, too, has faded. I am sure as we move more toward fall that the perch bite will take off again. The tough part with the perch is that if you are fishing the basin, the schools are wandering schools, and it takes persistence to stay on top of them. Plus, not all of the schools will be active, which can be frustrating. The other option is to search the shallower water and work the pockets in the weeds. This is not a fast presentation. Rather it is probing the weeds, looking for the fish. In the weeds, you never know what you might catch: perch, walleyes, bass, northern pike, crappies and bluegills.

Bluegills on West Okoboji

This is now the time for the deeper bluegill bite on West Okoboji. I prefer fishing in relatively calm waters. It’s more difficult to fish these fish if you have to fight waves to keep you in a specific spot. Look for the bluegills to be out in the 20-30 foot of water and even deeper. At one time, I thought that bluegills would spawn one time (often in early to mid-June on West Okoboji) in anywhere from 4-10 feet of water. With the clear water, it was easy to find those dished out circular spawning beds. Many times, if you were lucky, you might find 20-30 beds in one area.

However, the longer I fish bluegills, the more I learn about these fun-to-catch fish. They will spawn up to three times, and the later spawns are in deeper water. In the past couple of weeks, I have found male bluegills guarding the nests in 20-25 feet of water. Their coloring is very dark with an intense yellow-orange breast.

When I fish these fish, I use a green/gold Shuck’s Jigger Minnow tipped with a Belgian/red worm. The key here is to drop the jig all the way to the bottom and then keep it within an inch or two off the bottom. Since the males are guarding the nest, you must work the jig at this depth. Fishing it a foot or two off the bottom is not nearly as effective. This is also why at this point, I straight-line right over the side of the boat. A slip bobber won’t be as precise as straight-lining.

Once I locate the beds, I will mark an icon on my locator, so that I have a base from which to work. I then put my MinnKota on SpotLock to keep in that spot. As the bite slows, I will use the trolling motor to move me a few yards ahead and then put it in SpotLock mode again. In a minute or two, the fish will let me know if they are there. At that point, I will use the locator’s crumb trail to let me know where I have been and where I need to go next. The icon and crumb trail will help me fish the area another day.

To me, there’s nothing more fun than feeling the thunk when a big gill hits the worm. The resulting arc of the rod tells me a big one is on, and the swirling fight is on.

Bluegill is also one of my favorite fish to eat. However, I’ve gone from catching a 25-bluegill limit to only the amount I will cook for a meal. If it’s just my wife and me, I’ll keep 8-10. If there will be another couple joining us for supper, then I might keep up to 20. Frozen fish are fine, but I would much rather eat fresh fish.