By Louie Stout

St. Joe River Bluegill UnderutilizedIt’s rare to hear a bluegill fisherman say he wished there were more anglers like him fishing his favorite waters.

Ken McCormack is one of those rarities.

Perhaps his name sounds familiar. The 71-year-old retiree is the former owner of Great Lakes Sportsman that once served as a popular hangout for anglers and hunters.

“In those days, I devoted more time to running a business than I did fishing,” said the Mishawaka angler.

He’s making up for it now, fishing nearly every day on the St. Joseph River for bluegills.

That’s right, bluegills.

“It’s a phenomenal bluegill fishery and the word is just starting to get out how good it is,” said McCormack, who insists that catching a big bag of gills is never a problem on the St. Joe. “I’ve seen nothing but improvement in the 25 years I’ve lived along the river. I wish more guys fished it.”

McCormack believes the zebra mussels have helped clean up the river. The influx of vegetation has helped, too.

“We have several wiggler and mayfly hatches – the result of cleaner water – and that has really helped the bluegill fishing,” he said.

He concentrates his efforts between the Twin Branch Dam and Elkhart, but believes good fishing can found on any of the sections providing you get in the right area.

“You won’t catch huge ‘gills and a 9 incher is a good one on the river,” he said. “But the majority will be between 7 and 8 inches.”

The key to finding the fish is to target the slack water in an eddy, which he finds at the bottom of every flat near the channel, such as along the inside bend of the river channel. Some are close to shore, but most are considerably farther off shore, depending upon how wide the river is where you fish. The key is to find the slack water.

In late summer, most of his fish were coming in the 8 to 10 foot depths but they will move shallower.

“You can mark the fish on your fishfinder if you ease along the calm water close to the current,” he described.

His technique is pretty simple. He tight-lines livebait, meaning he doesn’t use a bobber. He puts a fairly heavy split shot a few inches above a wax worm tipped on a small ice fishing jig and bounces it along the bottom. Jig color doesn’t matter.

“When you find the fish, you will get so many bites you can only fish one rod,” McCormack said. “The fish come fast and furious.”

He fishes the bait on a limber, 10-foot St. Croix spinning rod with 8-pound Stren monofilament, watching the rod tip for any movement.

“You see the tip move before you feel the bite,” he said. “With that long of a rod, I just set the hook and lift them in the boat.”

He’s discovered that the ice jig works better than a plain hook, noting that the fish are less likely to swallow the hook and the ice jig gets them in the upper lip.

Although you will catch a lot of smaller fish and have to sort through small ones, McCormack says he keeps the smaller fish because they make even better table fare.

“You won’t find grubs in the flesh of these bluegills like you do in the fish you catch from several of the lakes in the area,” he noted.

McCormack says good bluegill fishing can be found on the river from April through December.

“People don’t realize how good the bedding action is on the river,” he said. “They bed tight to the north shore beginning the end of April and solid for three months. You can catch them as shallow as 18 inches of water.”

When fall gives way to winter, the fish move into the channels and backwater areas where they can be caught through the ice.

“You can catch bluegills out there just about any time you want,” McCormack said with a smile.