Ice Panfish.
Posted on February 10th, 2022One of my favorite fish to catch through the ice are the panfish family. Those include Perch, Crappie, Bluefill, Pumpkinseed & Rock Bass. All these are active through the winter months and can be easily caught as long as you can locate their feeding grounds.
Our good friend Dave Gartner from Nebraska, USA who lives to fish for panfish in his home water sent us some of his recent catches. I must admit that most of my keeper Bluegill are usually between 8-10″. Looking at the size of Dave’s catch those are whoppers and will make excellent fillets!
Some of the best panfish areas to catch them through the ice in southern Ontario are the smaller conservation area reservoirs that allow fishing and the Kawartha Chain of Lakes. Bluegill & Pumpkinseed will continue to feed around growing aquatic weeds under the ice while Crappie and Perch will roam in open-water often as deep as 20’+. A good quality ice sonar will really help you to locate the right water and mark the fish.
Make sure to check the fishing videos on our Italo Labignan YouTube channel and if you have any questions just email them to me at Ask Italo throughout our www.canadian-sportfishing.com website.
