Day time fishing

[Icy]

I was wondering if anyone could lead me in the right direction. Im going out tomorrow around noon and I was wondering how deep I should be fishing to catch some panfish. Any advice is greatly appreciated

[deadeye]

I started out at around 20 feet of water for crappies and did well. If I were going after gills I would try starting out at the weed edge and work my way out. Sometimes is pays to find pockets right in the weeds and fish those too.

[gill man]

It's hard to say for sure. Do you know what type of lake you will be going to? This time of year, you might find out that if you find where the panfsh are, they will be biting all day long.

This is a very general statement, but on a deeper clear lake the fish might be in deeper water, and could be active in shallower water on a dark water lake.

Also, if there is no structure in the lake they might be deeper in 15-30 feet of water. If there are weeds in 6 feet of water they could be there, or next to an 18 foot deep crib.

So, there are a lot of variables, but I would say if the lake is mostly shallow, you could find biting fish in 6-12 feet of water. If the lake is clear, try finding weeds in 8-12 feet of water. If no weeds, maybe check the breaklines/dropoffs, flats, and holes in 12-30 feet of water.

Sorry for the vague answer but good luck!

gill man

[The_Diesel]

Jig the bottom for perch. Stir up the lake bed for a bit, then bring it up about a foot or so and jig some more. Let it sit a minute, then jig it again. Do that a few times and if they aren't interested you either have the wrong color jig head or wrong bait tipped on it. Or, they just aren't there, which is always my excuse. It may take a bit to find em, but once you do you should have some good luck.

I also sometimes throw down a jig called an airplane that I used in Colorado ice fishing for trout - it spins around a lot and creates a lot of attention in water. Sometimes that will draw the fish in, and if it is too big for them to take you can quick drop down a smaller panfish jig tipped with a waxie or whatever you use and they may take that, since you've already got them excited.

These are just some techniques that seem to work for me. Now, maybe I just get lucky and think that what I'm doing is the trick when realistically it doesn't make any difference at all. Let me know if it helped you at all.

Where are you going tomorrow?