NIT PICKY BLUEGILL LOCATION IN WEEDS
Bluegills using weeds under the ice find the densest concentrations of green, healthy growth. They position in weeds according to light penetration, weather, and time of day. Bluegills are most likely found outside the deep edge of the weeds during stable mild weather and during low-light periods (dawn and dusk). As the sun climbs the sky on bright, cloudless days, bluegills might move deeper (and shallower) into cover. During and after the passing of a cold front, bluegills also bury deep in the cover. Those positioned outside the weeds tend to be on soft-bottom areas or on transitions between soft and semisoft areas, such as a change from silt to sand. Rock and gravel areas rarely hold true bulls (12 ounces to over a pound) this time of year.

Living weeds produce oxygen, but dead weeds produce carbon dioxide and other gases that bluegills find noxious. Even before all the green weeds die during a harsh or normal winter (depending upon how far north), most bluegills may evacuate the weedlines within a few weeks of ice-up. But during mild winters up north and normal winters farther south, bluegills use deep weededge areas all winter.

Picture the same area with a deep weedline at five feet, on a lake with much lower visibility. Big bluegills seldom use weeds in cloudy water during ice-up. The clearer the lake, the more pronounced the weed bite becomes at first-ice.