The northern states, such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, are speckled with lakes of varying sizes and classes. And most lakes possess some capability to produce legitimate panfish. But it takes a special mix of environmental circumstances to create hog bluegills on a consistent basis. Traditionally, preferred lakes fall into the class of late mesotrophic to eutrophic. Features like abundant shoreline vegetation characterize late mesotrophic lakes, stained water, shallow soft-bottomed bays, minimal to no rock structure, and a main basin that's dominated by clay and mud where there once was sand, gravel, or hardpan.
Eutrophic lakes are even older and more fertile.
Their clarity ranges from stained to murky and water deeper than 20 to 25 feet is rare. They feature flat weedy shorelines and usually a bay or channel that fades into a marsh. Eutrophic lakes commonly occur in agricultural areas and bog-country. Littoral zones breathe life into a lake. A lake's oxygen production and basis for a food chain originates from a vegetated littoral zone.