PANFISH FOR FUN ALL YEAR LONG

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Panfishing can give you tons of fun all year long. They are some of the best tasting fish in the lake. they will provide action most any time. Panfish consist of the following fish, crappie, bluegills and perch.

Lets start with springtime fishing. Crappies are usually the first fish to start biting in the spring. They start in the warm shallow bays with dark bottoms. The water warms up first. The crappies will be in 1 to 3 feet of water. You can usually see them schooled up. They will be near the new weeds and pencil reeds. To catch these crappies use small crappie minnows fished below a small pencil bobber, mini twister tails on a 1/64 oz. jig. Work the jig and twister tail just below the surface. look for the schools and work the baits right in the school.

Another good bait to use is a Frizzy. This is a small bait that looks like a small spoon that has a little hair on it. To use this bait you use it under a small pencil bobber and work it real slow. Barly moveing the bait. The bait wobbles back and forth and it drives the crappies crazy. The nice thing about using this bait is that you fish it bare not using any live bait on it. This means no rebaiting after every fish.

As the water warms up the crappies will start to move to the deeper water and the new weeds. When this happens work the bait just above the weeds. Another good place to try is around brush piles and down trees. you will have to work the bait as close to the branches as possible.

Bluegills will also be in the shallow water in the new green weeds. A good way to catch this fish is using a black fly tipped with a wax worm. Fish this under a small spinning bubble. Throw it tight to the shore and work it back slowly. The key word is slow. As the water warms up the bluegills will also move out to 5 to 8 feet of water. When this happens garden worms and red worms will work well. Use a number 8 or 10 gold long shank hook fished under a small pencil bobber.The long shank will make it easier to unhook the fish. Check the 8 foot depth for beds to find out where the fish are. Another good bait is a 2" Gulp Minnow on a 1/64 oz. jig. Again work this bait just above the weeds. The perch will be a little deeper on the weed edges. Look for the new green weeds in 5 to 8 feet of water. Small minnows on a gold long shank hoo will work very well. Wax worms on a 1?64 or a 1/ 32 oz. jig fished under a pencil bobber also works well.

As spring starts to turn to summer the panfish will locate to deeper water.The crappies will tend tio move out to the deeper water. Look for them in 8 to 12 feet of water. Watch your locator to find them suspended in the deeper water. Crappie minnows on a 1/32 oz. jig will work good for this.

Look for the bluegills in the 8 to 10 foot range. Look for the pockets in the weeds. Use a piece of night crawler or a small panfish leech on a gold number 8 or 10 hook. Use a split shot to take the bait down in the weed pockets. The action can be fast and fun with this setup. The perch will move out to 12 feet plus outside of the weed edge. Use a wax worm or a piece of a night crawler. Drop the bait down to the bottom and lift up slowly about 6 inches. If you do not get hit drop it back down again and repeat. Once in a while drop the bait down and pound the bottom. This will send up some clouds from the mud or sand makeing it look like some fish are feeding there. In the dog days of summer the crappies will be harder to catch. Look in the deeper water for suspended fish. Use a crappie minnow at this time of the year. For bluegills this time of the year go out to the deeper water looking for suspended fish.I have caught bluegills in this time of theyear suspended 20 to 25 deep in 50 feet of water. A good method at this time is to drift use a bait rig with a 1/2 to 3/4 oz. sinker. Use wax worms on this rig. when you start to catch fish throw out a marker bouy. Keep drifting and when the fish stop hitting throw out another marker bouy and work the area in between the bouys.

Perch will be in deeper water over mud flats sitting tight to the bottom. For this type of fishing use a heavy enough sinker to take your bait to the bottom. This is also a good time to pound the bottom with the bait and sinker. Minnows, wax worms and thunder bugs are good baits to use for this type of fishing.

In the fall all of the panfish will stsrt to move into the shallow water again and fatten up for the winter. Minnows, worms and plastics will work well at this time. Winter time will also provide some exellent opportunities to catch panfish. Just make sure the ice is safe before going out on it. Crappies will be in deeper water during the winter. 8 to 12 feet of water over the weeds will hold the crappies. Later in the year the crappies will move into shallow water. When they are shallow fish at differnt depths. Work from the bottom up to 1 foot below of the ice. Crappie minnows work well along with wax worms and spikes. Another good way to fish at this time of the year is with tip downs with a minnow on a number 14 treble hook. Bluegills will provide some fast and furious action. Fish any where between 3 to 8 feet of water over the weeds. Use wax worms, spikes or mousees on a small jig like a tear drop or a RatFinkie. The perch will be in deeper water. I have caught perch on Madisons Lake Mendota in 50 to 70 feet or water. Look for the deep mud flats. If you are on a deeper lake also look for the mid lake humps and fish around them. Wax worms, spikes and minnows work well fished on an ice jig. Remember panfishing will produce all year long. Keep what you can use and release the rest for the future of fishing. Panfishing can be fun for people of all ages. So get out and have some fun. Good Luck and I hope to see you on the lake.

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