Perhaps there is a time for other fishing methods, for a spread of tip-ups or other types of setlines. But once you've located panfish, it's hard to beat the excitement, efficiency and satisfaction of jigging.

Among serious fishermen, at least, the ice-fishing season is the time to get serious about panfish. Why fishermen get so excited about the diminutive panfish is anyone's guess.

But the bottom line is that ice-fishing for perch, bluegills and sunfish is great fun, with the additional reward of some palate-pleasing fillets at the end of the day.

For many years, winter panfishing was regarded as a very simple sport: Just drill a hole where everybody else is fishing, drop a baited jig to the bottom and wait for a fish to bite. If the fish were on, everybody filled their buckets.

THERE'S A TRICK TO IT!
But it never was quite that simple. There were always a few ice-fishermen who made good catches when others were having a difficult time. Most other fishermen assumed they were just lucky.

Only by very close observation could you see that the most successful anglers did anything differently.

The trick is fine-tuning your tactics and shrinking your perceptions. Panfish live in a smaller world. The average angler can see for miles on a clear day, but panfish can see only a few inches under the ice. Adapt to a panfish's frame of mind by thinking, observing and adjusting your winter offerings in tiny increments.

FINDING FISH
Setting up in the right area might not be enough. When panfish are active, they move around and will eventually find the baited jigs. But when not moving much, they are still catchable -- you must place the jigs very close to the target.

Panfish tend to be cover- or structure-oriented. A hole in the ice that will let the angler drop a jig along the edges of a weedbed might catch fish, while a hole cut three feet away over open water may not.

Drilling holes in the ice with any kind of accuracy is difficult, but not impossible. The solution is to drill a lot of holes. Use a 5-inch auger to make this chore easier. Serious panfish fanatics carry a special panfish auger, rather than buying one auger that's large enough for any fish.

USE SONAR
Most serious ice-fishermen now consider a good sonar unit to be basic equipment. A good sonar unit can shorten the time it takes to locate good places to drill holes. Look for steep depth changes and various types of cover that attract schools of panfish.

Even more important is how deep the panfish are holding. Most fish are cover-oriented, but hungry panfish will suspend near the most abundant food source. Keep a close watch on the sonar screen and be alert to sudden depth changes as the fish move in pursuit of food. Upward movements might not last long, but they usually signal some fast action.

The deeper the water, the more important your sonar unit becomes.

This is simple mathematics. You can cover all depths quite well by jigging in water that's 7 feet deep, but in 20 feet of water, covering all depths by jigging blindly is time-consuming and impractical.