NORTH LONG LAKE
His guiding name is "Walleye Dan" Eigen, but when the walleye season is over, he's strictly a panfishing man. He has also been known to take the occasional panfish trip during the walleye season. When he is in hot pursuit of slabs, his first stop is usually to North Long Lake.

"I usually get after them in the deeper holes of 371 Bay and then Merrifield Bay late in the season," Eigen said.

North Long Lake in Crow Wing County is full of big crappies and bull bluegills, and run-and-gun fishing for them is the name of the game for Eigen. The bluegills tend to sit anywhere from 6 to 10 feet of water along the edges of the reeds and throughout the cabbage beds. An ice fly tipped with two or three eurolarvae in different colors is usually the best technique for those bulls. The crappies tend to sit farther down along the same locations and prefer biting on a small Jigging Rapala tipped with several eurolarvae or a crappie minnow head.

ROUND LAKE
Crow Wing County's Round Lake has received a bad reputation in recent years because it has turned out smaller than expected numbers and sizes of walleyes. Ice-anglers in the know let people complain about the walleye bite because it keeps people off the lake and prevents them from discovering the tremendous bluegill fishing in the winter.

Eigen knows about it, and said Round is really easy to fish, particularly along the west side adjacent to Highway 371.

"It has the reputation of being a late-bite lake, but they are going throughout the winter along the first break, although sometimes you need to move out deeper into the 12- to 14-foot range," Eigen said.

GULL LAKE
While the walleye anglers pound the central portion of Gull, the panfishers love exploring the southern bays and smaller chain lakes on the north end. Either side is perfect for some hardcore running and gunning, whether it be for bluegills or crappies.

Access on both ends can be tricky, especially with the prevalence of springs and narrows where ice conditions are not always ideal. Walking is the safest option, but following the numerous snowmobile marks is even better, if you use caution.

In either location, finding the cabbage and coontail is the way to begin finding these fish.

"If it's green, fish it," said Eigen, adding, "and if you don't mark any or catch any in that location, just keep moving on to the next location."

The crappies tend to hang deeper in the basins of the minor bays of Gull, such as Booming, Steamboat and Wilson.

"They like the muddier stuff at depths anywhere from the 20s down to almost 40 feet," Eigen said.

Most people know Cass is a good lake for jumbo perch, but it's also home to some of the biggest bull bluegills around.