How would you like to catch 20 to 30 fish on a "bad" day, or have a freezer full of top-eating fillets that probably caused more good to the lake they were taken from than harm?
Possibly driving shorter distances and catching more fish would turn you on, or maybe one battle after another with hard-pulling fish whets your interest.
Want to get in on the fun? Then consider panfish--those feisty, abundant, pint-sized brawlers that present challenges to catch.
When I'm talking panfish, bluegills and crappies are the basic quarry, although much of the following advice will apply to other panfish. This is especially true when we get into the ultralight jig presentations which have taken more than their share of perch, rock bass, and white bass, along with some scattered bass and walleye.
Panfish, especially crappies, will start biting shortly after ice-out; when the first warm, sunny days of early spring begin to bathe the sheltered shallows, inshore movements of panfish will begin. Sun-drenched protected areas off the main lake and away from prevailing winds will warm up first and draw the fish. The ideal area will be on a lake's northern end. This area will be more protected from a temperature drop and biting northerly winds. In addition, the north/northeast shore will receive the bulk of the warming spring sun, especially in the afternoon hours when the sun is warmest and fishing is usually best.
Exact location and perfect timing make for the majority of truly outstanding catches of all species each year. But understanding when the best action will occur and how to anticipate it is really something only the best anglers can do with consistency.
The Crappie/Bluegill Connection
Bluegills and crappies often favor the same general area. Crappie will hit the shallows in spring a little sooner than bluegills, and so will become active first. They also spawn first and will tend to hold farther off structure and breaklines than bluegills. Crappies will tend to feed more on minnows, while bluegills forage heavily on insects and plankton. But active and/or bigger bluegills won't hesitate to feed on small fish, nor will crappie fail to take advantage of an abundant insect hatch.
Sometimes the crappies will be prevalent for a week to 10 days before action begins to phase out, at which time a bluegill peak will begin. At times the bluegills will be scattered over a weed flat, while crappies will be at its edge. Or the bluegills will be on the edge with the crappies stationed 10 to 20 yards farther out. Often bluegills will be holding on the near-shore portion of a large fallen tree, while the crappies are meshed within its outer branches.
Where the Fish Are: Choosing a Spot
A single area probably won't have all the features listed below, but you don't need all of them to catch fish. Often a spot or two will produce all the action you need.
The spot you choose should be a protected area located on a northerly shore, a best-case scenario being a man-made channel. This can be a hot-spot early on for bluegills and crappies, particularly if it's a dead-end channel. With its limited water movement it will warm quickly, especially if it has a dark bottom.
Check out any cover along its edges, such as an overgrown bank or reed bulrush bed. Casts should be made parallel to any slight edge that exists. Also check out any floating debris that's stockpiled in a windblown corner.
Other advantageous features would be a limited or small connection to a main lake. A widemouth connection would mean more water movement, thus a slower warm-up and less overall water temperature stability.
The ideal combination would be a spot with a soft black bottom, adjacent to others with a lighter firmer bottom such as marl or a sandgrass-coated flat. This combo would tend to hold spring fish for the longest possible time.
Also, look for an area where a slight and little tighter contour exists. This can sometimes be found by "reading" the shoreline, by noting a water-color change that swings inward, or by feel while swimming in a jig. Spots like this seem to produce better as fish become less active on other spots. Active fish roam more, but when they begin to shut down they often move in tighter to a breakline such as this or to cover.
Cover: Techniques for Over and Under
Covered areas of water can be honey holes for panfish. Look for a large isolated piece of cover such as a tree, brush pile, or anything else of this nature. Cover can provide a gold mine of consistency. These spots may be picked up on a depth finder, but much of my early spring fishing has been from the shore, so I watch for other clues.
Frequent baitfish or panfish action over the same small area is an excellent clue to the presence of underwater cover. Sometimes a big water-color variation or small twig barely breaking the surface can be seen. Walking the bank while casting and moving a few feet every couple of casts will help you uncover hot-spots like this. Don't limit your casts to ones directed at open water. Casts made parallel or at about a 45- degree angle from the shore are also effective.
Sometimes limbs scattered across the bay's bottom will attract panfish. There are several ways to detect these limbs. They can be found by accident if a slow-retrieved jig bumps across or hangs on a limb. If this happens, take note of the cover and fire another cast in the same direction.
To avoid hanging up on follow-up casts, I would use the same jig but reel it in a little faster to bring the lure in shallower, or lighten the jig weight. Over heavier, snag-infested cover where pinpoint depth control is a must, use a bobber to suspend the jig over the obstruction.
Wood on the Shoreline
Scattered underwater wood will tend to be found along shorelines having towering trees at or near the water's edge, especially if the trees are dead and limbless. To quickly check for offshore timber, space a few casts through the area using a deep-diving crankbait that will skip across the bottom. Line up each cast with an object on the opposite shore so you can easily duplicate a wood-finding cast with a following jig presentation.
A fallen tree is an obvious holding area. Quietly vertical fish or "dabble" a tiny jig down into its pockets and tight to the trunk; check the bottom outside the main trunk for scattered limbs that have broken away. Use tactics described in fishing under limb-cover to check for and fish this location.
Start fishing outside the main limbs and work inward toward the thickest cover. Fishing tight to cover first may unnecessarily spook fish that could have been picked off with the right approach.
Rip-rap banks are commonly created to retard erosion along elevated, softer shorelines, and they can also provide a honey hole. The best rock-studded banks are those that receive direct afternoon sun. Dark rocks heat up faster and retain heat better than lighter rocks.
Banks that have a hole, deeper depression, or slight breakline adjacent to them are much better than those at the end of a shallow, slow-tapering, clean flat. A culvert or discharge pipe that allows water movement under higher-water conditions almost guarantees good depth off the rip-rap. A rip-rap bank between a bay and a backwater marsh is an extra good fish-drawing situation.
Cast parallel and tight to the heat-emitting rocks, then work outward with your presentation. If casting conditions are difficult due to heavy, erratic rock formations or because of a strong wind blowing into the rip-rap, a small jig suspended one to three feet under a bobber might work better than a straight jig rig. Under slow fishing conditions, panfish may be found holding out from the rip-rap over a deeper hole or depression, so check this out when fish turn off.
One tip that can tell you a lot about a rip-rap's potential is the presence of minnows around it. Once the sun begins to warm a rocky area, minnows will often appear just off the rocks prior to larger predators showing up. Quietly sneak up to a rip-rap bank, with the sun behind you if possible, and peer into the water. Polarized glasses and a long-billed hat will give you maximum in-water visibility to spot baitfish.
Weeds, Rushes, and Reeds
Prevailing spring winds will often cause a build-up of floating surface debris in a small bay, corner, or end of a narrower waterway. This surface-cluttering junk may consist of remnants from the previous year's bulrush or weed beds, concentrations of spring pollen or tree seeds, floating leaves, twigs, and so on. Often these areas are havens for panfish lying underneath the blanket of cover.
A cast and retrieved lure usually only works along the edges of this cover. Lure penetration into the cover is best obtained with a bobber-jig combo. Get it into openings, use a slow-falling lightweight jig and do more bobber-twitching than bobber-moving. A warm wind blowing into the cover is better than a calm condition. The wind seems to tighten up the blanket of cover making it more desirable to the fish.
A rush or reed bank is an exception to the rule, but in some cases may help you gauge conditions for spawning panfish. The deeper the emergent vegetation extends outward, which is a better condition for spawning, the more potential it has. Often brown plants (rushes) mean soft bottom, a better early pre-spawn condition. Green emergent vegetation (reeds) usually indicates a firmer bottom that has some sand, which is a better condition for spawning panfish.
Straight reeds or rush edges won't be as attractive as more erratic edges having plenty of cuts and pockets. Pre-spawn fish will commonly hold on the outside edge of this cover and even out from there, while spawners will get into the bed more to seek the security and tranquillity of its cover-shrouded pockets.
Man-made Structures as Cover
A diving platform or raft is obvious cover for panfish. The surrounding area is usually cover-free harder bottom. This condition isn't much during the pre-spawn and spawning period, but during the post-spawn period and into summer, a raft such as this can harbor a decent-sized school of panfish.
Many anglers pass up these rafts or make an ineffective cast or two toward them. Since they sit flush on the water it is difficult to put a lure into the shaded fish-holding area below the raft. Best results come on sunny days having at least a moderate wind.
A pier, like a raft, is another cover situation that some find useful. I've not had much panfish success around piers until the water temperature climbs into the 50s, but good results have come late in the spring through summer.
Better piers are usually the larger ones that come close to deeper waters. Piers with a "T" or "L" shape are better than straight ones, and piers near weeds or other cover are more productive than those on clean flats. Wooden supports under piers are favored over metal supports. Note any lights on piers. At night a lighted pier can draw insects and minnows by the thousands--and crappies by droves. Fish a pier the same as you would a raft, but with one change--use a bobber to float your presentation under the off-water deck.
Pilings under a bridge, like the previous couple spots, are a late-spring hot-spot. Bridge pilings tend to attract crappie more than bluegill. Perhaps this bottleneck near deeper water provides crappies with an excellent hangout to ambush schools of roving baitfish.
Fish very tight to the shaded sides of the pilings. A bobber and jig will give good casting accuracy and allow you to keep a lure at a set snag-free level. Little or no retrieve speed is needed if current or wave action is coming through this gap. Just let the bobber slowly dance up and down until deciding to reposition it next to a different spot.
When the Fish Turn Off
A slightly deeper slot, which may be only a couple feet below the surrounding bottom, is the home or sanctuary area for panfish-- particularly crappies. When they turn off, many of the fish will return to this slot and suspend. At best, fishing is spotty, but periodic fish can be picked off with an ultra-small ultra-slow presentation in this arena.
Tomorrow, in Part Two of this article, I will give you tips on jigs and presentations to land yourself a mess of panfish this spring.
Copyright (c) 1996 Spence Petros. All rights reserved.
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