As you get later into the ice season, fish become more lethargic and tight-lipped. For finicky bluegills, simple bait modifications can help change up your presentation to trigger bites. Professional guide and tournament angler Mike Raetz has 3 main plastics he likes to use for panfish but, instead of putting the whole plastic on, he recommends modifying them for finicky fish.
When he’s looking for a more aggressive presentation, Raetz opts for the Clam Maki Minnow on a Drop Kick jig for a bigger size profile that makes large movements in the water. When things start to get tougher, he’ll switch to something like the Maki Scudi which mimics a freshwater shrimp. This bait can easily be trimmed and cut down for an even smaller presentation. The Maki Wami is another that Mike likes because it has several tentacles that can easily be modified. There’s so many ways you can rig small plastics to get finicky fish to bite.
The biggest mistake people often make when using plastics is that they only use the full plastic and just pull it off when it doesn’t work. Modify those plastics until you find something that triggers those tougher bites.
