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Thread: New experience catching panfish

  1. #1
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    Default New experience catching panfish


    I went with a new friend to a lake I hadn't fished for years, remembering the excellent crappie caught which was the reason we went. The day was perfect: overcast with a breeze. At first we beat the banks but found nothing. Sonar showed the lake to average between 7-8' with pad islands all over the place. Finally I suggested we fish open water between the islands in deeper water which proved very productive. Bite after bite from sunfish as well as a pickerel that sliced the line easily and a 2 lb bass that felt like a 3lb on a light action rod. The crappie were small as were the sunnies but still fun to catch.

    In fact many times the fish were near the surface and hit soft plastics as soon as they hit the water. Many times fish kept attacking the lure all the way back to the boat until hooked or hooked on the second cast to the same spot. I would say that in 7', the fish were schooled in the upper 2'. One gent did well catching LM bass using a Senko, but for my money numbers matter more. I have never experienced a deeper water bite and no shoreline action!

    I will get back to the lake soon to learn it better even though many areas are thick with pads and won't be fishable until spring pre-pad growth. The lake has sure changed since I fished it 10 years ago and hopefully anglers haven't harvested too many of the 13" crappie I remember catching.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spoonminnow View Post
    In fact many times the fish were near the surface and hit soft plastics as soon as they hit the water. Many times fish kept attacking the lure all the way back to the boat until hooked or hooked on the second cast to the same spot. I would say that in 7', the fish were schooled in the upper 2'.
    I have seen this consistently in the summer. The fish are very shallow out in the middle of the lake. I would often troll in my float tube: throw out a long cast and paddle slowly. I was using a floating line, so the fly couldn't have been more that 12-18" deep. Big bluegills would practically jerk the rod out of my hands!

  3. #3
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    Agreed! Here bluegill and sunfish is slow biting also but flies still work for the little guys. Haven't fished for trout in years so looking forward to this coming winter stockers with JDM rod and SOS 2lb.

  4. #4
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    One gratifying thing was catching five species yesterday on different soft plastic lure designs (sunfish, crappie (all under 7"), yellow perch, bass and 2 pickerel; total caught 36 in 4 hours, mostly after 1 pm).

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by LVSpinfisher1 View Post
    Haven't fished for trout in years so looking forward to this coming winter stockers with JDM rod and SOS 2lb.
    I had a ball last fall with stockers— perfect UL fish.

  6. #6
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    With the cooler weather coming I have been doing better in the 2:00 pm and later time as well. Poppers are working with the 3 Wgt.
    Bob
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    Fun, fun!

  8. #8
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    Does cold surface temperatures in the morning, say 7-9 am, affect the bite? Mornings have been an unseasonable 33 degrees nighttime temperature.
    Maybe that's why we did much better after 12pm ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spoonminnow View Post
    Does cold surface temperatures in the morning, say 7-9 am, affect the bite? Mornings have been an unseasonable 33 degrees nighttime temperature.
    Maybe that's why we did much better after 12pm ?
    It most certainly does both because of a "comfort zone" for the fish and because it often takes warming water to bring off the insect hatch. This time of year fish, especially panfish, are more active when the water is warmer and so is the forage they chase.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by no1son View Post
    It most certainly does both because of a "comfort zone" for the fish and because it often takes warming water to bring off the insect hatch. This time of year fish, especially panfish, are more active when the water is warmer and so is the forage they chase.
    I think you are right on with this. My warm water creek starts to come alive as the afternoon goes on. The pans start dimpling the top as the hatches get underway. A real fun time for topwater!
    Bob

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