Winter bluegills can be caught on a variety of small jigs. Try experimenting with different colors until you determine what color works best. Photo by Tom Berg.

Last January featured some extremely unusual weather for us Hoosiers. There were few continued cold spells and even less snow! Although some people enjoyed it, it wreaked havoc with Indiana's hardwater angling. By the first week of January, there was little or no ice-fishing going on anywhere in the state.

How did this happen? Let's look back at some of the temperatures from last winter. The ice-fishing season actually got underway much earlier than usual. A brutal cold snap hit the area around Thanksgiving, and by the first week of December, the temperature in the northwest part of the state was getting down into the single digits almost every night. Things were looking great for ice-fishermen!

On Dec. 6 (2005), the mercury dipped to minus 4 degrees, and the temperature never rose above freezing for the first three weeks of December! There were four nights of below-zero temperatures, and the ice-making machines on the lakes were really working overtime! Die-hard ice-fishermen (or those with heated shanties) were drilling holes and fishing long before Christmas!

Unfortunately, a strong warming trend embraced the entire Midwest just before Christmas, and temperatures quickly climbed into the 40s and 50s during the first two weeks of January. On Jan. 12, the temperature reached 55 degrees! Quite a bit of rain accompanied the warm weather, and that put a quick end to the ice-fishing.

No one can accurately predict what the weather will be like this winter, but hopefully, the ice will appear early and stay late. As long as we have a "normal" winter (and not a repeat of last January), the ice-fishermen will have a good chance to get out on their favorite waters or try a few new lakes for a change of pace.

With that in mind, Indiana Game & Fish magazine has identified five excellent places where Hoosier ice-fishermen can try their luck. They include: Clear Lake in Steuben County, J.C. Murphey Lake in Newton County, Lake Wawasee in Kosciusko County, Westwood Run Lake in Henry County and the Kankakee River backwaters along the Lake County/Newton County line.

CLEAR LAKE
The northernmost body of water on our list of great ice-fishing lakes is the aptly named Clear Lake. Located almost straight east of the town of Fremont in Steuben County, Clear Lake covers 800 acres and boasts crystal-clear water, especially during the winter. It also boasts a fantastic fishery, which includes everything from panfish and bass to pike and trout. Who could ask for anything more?

Many of Clear Lake's ice-fishermen are there for only one thing: bluegills. The lake has many bluegill hotspots, but one of the perennial favorites is near a 20-foot-deep hole along the northern shoreline. Local angler Bill LaVigne from Fort Wayne is an expert when it comes to fishing Clear Lake; he points to this spot for its consistent bluegill action.