Now is the time for suspended fish

[Jason_Halfen]

I spent the past weekend with good friends in the Brainerd area and tapped into a solid panfish bite. With late winter at our doorsteps, now is the time to start looking to those basin areas for suspended fish....crappies and gills in particular. These fish are roamers, covering a lot of water horizontally, but often present in a narrow 2-3 foot band in the vertical water column. A quality sonar unit like the Humminbird ICE 55 will help you find those fish quickly. I set my ICE 55's sonar to the broad cone (19 degrees) and use the Humminbird-exclusive 6 color palette to find just a few blue blips at the edge of the cone. Active jigging will bring those fish back to the hole, changing their returns from weak (blue and green), to moderate (light green and yellow), to strong (orange and red). The photo below is typical, with two solid fish returns just below my (blue) presentation.

As those fish returns brighten up, I stop actively jigging and hold my bait stationary until the tell-tale "tick" of a hungry panfish. Gills are often an all-day affair, with crappies prevalent in early morning and late afternoon.

Don't be surprised to find some nice predator fish mixed in with the suspended pannies. These northerns fell for the same presentations, and their full bellies are a good indicator that they're making quick work of some of the smaller suspended crappies and gills.

Move off the weedlines and look to nearby basin areas for some great late winter panfishing!

[bobber_down_1979]

Wow great post, great photos. If every post was like this one I would never get any work done! Pike #1 is pretty healthy looking for sure. Be carefull not to hyper-extend your elbow holding pike number two out so far:o) Just a little good natured fishing humor. Great post!