Manistee Lake, at 860 acres, is located in Kalkaska County northeast of the town of Kalkaska. The lake is relatively shallow, but exhibits good water quality and oxygen content due to inflowing creeks and the outflowing North Branch of the Manistee River.

Bluegills, according to Tessmer, tend to concentrate in the 8- to 12-foot depths in Manistee Lake. One hotspot is a channel on the south end that dips from 10 to 16 feet. Bluegills can be found around the perimeter of the dropoff. Anywhere along the south shoreline where you find a dropoff and a weedline can be good. The hottest action takes place on first ice, which is usually sometime in December.

Ice-anglers can access Manistee Lake off a public launch on the southwest side at the end of Darke Road. For information on lodging, amenities and attractions in the area, contact the Kalkaska Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-487-6880 or online at www.kalkaskami.com.

"Lake Margrethe has been giving up some really nice bluegills," claimed Brian Tessmer. "The great thing about fishing Lake Margrethe is that you don't have to go too far. Walk straight out from the state park about 300 yards and you'll find 5 to 8 feet of water and a good weedline. You normally can catch plenty of bluegills right there."

Other known winter hotspots for panfish on Lake Margrethe include the 10- to 20-foot flats in South Bay off Camp Grayling and off Eagle Point in 5 to 15 feet of water.

Lake Margrethe bluegills can be picky. "I like to use spikes and horizontal jigs when the fishing gets tough," advised Tessmer. "It seems that if you hook two spikes on the jig it gives the lure a swimming action that the 'gills can't resist." Tessmer said that super light line is also key. "I wouldn't think of going bluegill fishing without a flasher, either."

Details on motels, hotels and cabin rentals in the area can be had by contacting the Grayling Visitors Council at 1-800-937-8837 or online at www.grayling-mi.com. For live bait, lake maps and fishing information, contact Jay's Sporting Goods in Gaylord at (989) 705-1339 or online at www.jaysoutdoors.com.

"Last winter the bluegill fishing was about as good as it gets on Hamlin," said Greg Ellison, whose company, Weapon Outdoors, markets a variety of ice-fishing gear. "On first ice, you could take a limit in 45 minutes and they would all be right around that 8-inch mark. Nice bluegills anywhere you fish for them."

The action slowed as heavy snow blanketed the ice in January, but anglers in the know who were equipped with a flasher and knew how to use the electronics caught good panfish right through the winter.

Just about anything you put down the hole caught bluegills last year on Hamlin, but as fishing got tougher, using electronics and hair-thin monofilament line was needed to fool the finicky bluegills. The best fishing on first ice is generally on the upper lake off Wilson Park and in the bayous on the east side of the lower lake. Midlake weedbeds are productive later in the winter.

Bluegills aren't the only panfish that Hamlin is famous for. Hamlin Lake has a respectable population of black crappies that routinely top a foot long. The specks can be caught right along with the bluegills on first ice, but action for specks heats up in midwinter and on last ice.

"Some of the best crappie fishing on Hamlin is right around the full moons in January and February," said local angler Dave Luke. Ice-anglers gather at night off Grace Road just east of the area referred to as "The Narrows" and suspend minnows near the old river channel. Limits of specks aren't uncommon.

For more information on ice-fishing on Hamlin Lake, contact Pere Marquette Sport Center at (231) 843-8676. For lodging information, contact Country Haven Resort at (231) 845-5882 or online at www.countryhavenresort.com.