Summer time panfish

[czl99]

Are the crappies and sunnies moved out into 15-20ft of water or can you still catch them in shallow water? What presentations are working best at this time of year?

Thank you for any help.

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Fishing isn't everything it's the only thing.

[CrappieJohn]

cz....last week the crappies had moved over deep water on the Zumbro and the panfish had also begun a slight shift to deeper spots. At my last outting the water temp was at 74 degrees, there wasn't any sign of nesting activity there and we caught no sunfish with spawn in them. I'd say the summer bite is on.

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

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[riverrat56]

monday on washington by mankato we were catching sunnies and crappies under docks and in the weeds in 4 ft of water and then we moved into 20 ft of water on German and caught them suspened at about 6 ft down so you could probally fish both areas right now, we fishes slipbobbers and minnows or waxies

[The Grebe]

We tried the shallows on lake Pulaski yesterday, a tough lake to fish anyways (In my opinion)and got little dinks.

Moved out a little deeper and got afew snakes and a couple of decent LM Bass. Moved to 20 plus feet, same deal.

Worked the deep edges of the sunken island to no avail, same as above.

We would mark suspended fish in small groups, at about 6-8 ft. but could'nt buy a bite, unless it was one of the above.

Water temp out in main lake 74 deg. and
76 deg. surface in the little lake.

We were fishing the most unproductive time of the day, mid-morning to early afternoon.

It was the only time my friend and I could steal some time away from work and get in some fishing together. Sooooo, good or not, it had to get done!

Fishing was lousy, but the trip was great, we had a lot of laughs and got a chance to reconnect. As an added bonus, we both got burnt to a crisp!

[Lost]

My experience the past few evenings has shown that they're hard to come by, period, during the day. As sunset approaches they've been biting good as long as natural forage is in the area. They've actually been suspending at about 4-8 in 10-12 feet of water.

[CrappieJohn]

Once we get into the midst of the summer fishing, one of the best approaches to crappies can be to do so like we do the winter fish.....we look for pods of fish suspending over deep water and vertical jig them. Only now we can cast a ways and let that jig slither down thru them.

At this time of year, especially in waters with an established thermocline or ones that are very clear, crappie movement will be very vertical in nature when actively feeding, yet horizontal while nuetral, negative, or even snooping for food.

Another consideration is the amount of activity on the water. Right now there is plenty and the weather hasn't brought much rain to help keep people off the water...the crappies may be annoyed with the noise and simply adjust their prime feeding times to periods when all the bustle is slowing down or before it gets heated up. And this warm weather brings bug hatches by the boatload along with it.

Summer crappies quite frankly live in a round-the-clock dining hall.

Summer crappies are not an easy study all the time. The mid-periods of summer and winter can be very challenging when it comes down to targeting crappies for a good catch, but you can help yourself out if you approach these fish the same way for each of these periods.

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

muckbootsonline.com Pro Staff
Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
Catch-n Tackle
[email protected]