fishing for panfish in stained waters

[CALVINIST]

I am targeting a specific lake for panfish (and walleyes) that has very stained water; I'm talking 6", and has a maximum depth of 6'. According to the DNR report, it has a very good population of white and black crappies, (and walleyes) some of them sampled were 12+ inches. Does anyone have advice on fishing in water that is so stained? I use primarily plastics, but will use whatever presentation works.

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Calvinist
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[CrappieMagnet]

I would go with either a beetlespin with a bright silver blade in the white/with a red eye or yellow and black stripe.I use this bait on my Moms lake and the water clarity is similiar to the water your talking about.Beetlespins not only work for bass they work on crappies and walleyes too.Anytime I'm on heavily stained water,i use bright colors with flash.You can experiment with the colors,but have a good assortment of them.Also you may want to check out any structure,that is close to shore that might hide fish.A tree that's fallin' into deeper water will hold fish.I slipbobber them with the bobber set at 1-2ft.depending on how deep the water is there.

Good Luck and i hope this helps.

CM

[CALVINIST]

CM,

I happen to have beetle spins in both the colors you mentioned. Do you think walleyes would hit the panfishes sized ones as well, or should I upsize? Something esse I have that might work for both species is the Rapala spoons that I got in a bargin bin for a buck apiece.

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Calvinist
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[CrappieJohn]

You may be surprised at how well the fish can locate food in water this thick. Still, Crappiemagnet has the right idea for locating the fish....throw something that really thumps the water and beetlespins are good for this. Once you find fish though I'd settle for something very dark (blue, black, purple), on cloudier days (bright on brighter days) in the plastics line and slowly work that thru them. You may have to bobber up if they are being depth sensitive. Plastic on a jig will contrast nicely with the murk and not create so much commotion that it scares them into a non-hit situation after just a few casts. If the dark plastic solo doesn't work well go back to the spin. You may want to go with a twister with a little larger, broader tail for extrea "thump", but that will not irritate fish like a spinner chopping water will. In this darker water the fish will be in a heightened state of defense and a heavier "thump" given off by a metal blade could be construed as a predator. Then again, this metallic noise may not bother them at all.. The fish will let you know what they want and how to serve it.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

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Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
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[united jigsticker]

Hey Calvin,

This lake you mention is loaded with Walleyes and big Crappies.

However, it lacks any amount of structure, including a weedline. It has alot of sand and rock bottom, so the only thing I could suggest is looking for a transition area where it goes from hard bottom to soft bottom.

The carp population is huge, so huge in fact, that when I fished this lake, I could almost walk on them.

Did you go there yet? I'd be interested to hear your results. I fished it last spring and did not do well.

Water that dark for me in the past has meant fish sitting 1-3 feet below the surface, so I would suspend a bobber and jig/minnow combo down and just kind of comb the lake over. There's no real breakline anywhere that I found, but again, a slight transition area may hold fish.

Let us know what happened. (ps, I hope I didn't make any typos in this posting)

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[This message has been edited by united jigsticker (edited 07-08-2004).]

[CrappieMagnet]

Hey Cal..I would try the large beetlespins first and if you are not hammering them then,move onto a smaller bait.Only downsize when fish are aggressive once you find them.The larger baits will allow you to cover lots of water in a short time.If an area is not producing,move on.Cover lots of water till you find fish.

Good Luck!

CM

[This message has been edited by CrappieMagnet (edited 07-08-2004).]

[CALVINIST]

U.J.

I'm glad to hear that you have fished that lake before and that there are lots of crappies and wallys in there. I'll post and let you know how I did.

C.M.

I'll make sure I get a couple bigger beetle spins and try 'em out.

Thanks,

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Calvinist
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