finding "sumu" gills on a favorite lake

[CALVINIST]

I have been hitting my favorite panfish lake and catching tons of gills, many are a respectable 8", with a rare 9". My goal is to find at least one at 10" on this lake (cpr). I am confident there are some this size in there, but haven't connected. This lake has a vaviety of structure (a reef, humps and holes) and the depth goes as deep as 40-50 feet. I have been catching fish shallow, in 3-6 FOW, mostly on top of the reef or a hump, or the outside weed edge of the shoreline. I use paddletails (any color will do) because these seem to get bigger fish (I also use bait tipped flu-flu's under a float). Also, I notice that bigger gills will hold closer to the bottom. Where can I find one of these much sought after "sumo" gills? I was thinking of trying a bit deeper, like 7+ FOW. What do you think? What are some of the behaviors and habits of big gills? Do they school up or are they loners? Are they aggressive or finicky?

BTW, I ordered some of Crappie Tom's Rat Grubs and Stub Grubs today...can't wait to try 'em !

[CrappieJohn]

Good Boy, Cal! lol

You will find the fish where the food is at right now. Often the smaller fish will hang above the larger, deeper ones simply because they get tired of being beat up trying to eat.

Aside from the period involving the spawn, now will also show you larger fish that are aggressively defending their food supply. They'll push the smaller fish right out of the area where a good supply exists, the small ones cruise in the peripheral zone and take what they can.

One thing to remeber is that while pannies can be temperature driven, food is their primary objective and they will enter into water well outside of their temperature preferences to feed, and then retreat to cooler climes.

I have always considered the fish hanging over deeper water and higher in the water column to be the feeding fish and those quite close to the bottom or much deeper in the water column to be neutral. Neutral fish will still hit quite well though. The deeper fish are the ones I prefer to target because they are less likely to be spooky, but there are times when small fish will be found deep with larger ones if the mood is laid back.

I guess if it were me, I'd begin searching for active and larger fish by looking at gradually deepening water depths. If weeds tend to be key areas, look for weeds that get progressively deeper. And don't fish at just one time of day. Vary your fishing times. Often times in the heat of summer the pannies and crappies will be found in the same areas of deep water that they were during the dead of winter and fishing them in an almost identical fashion, using larger jigs and baits of course, can yeild some unreal catches while others are putzing.

[united jigsticker]

I am a deep water guy....so I look for Crappies deep before I look for them on the weedlines...(where they are now in central MN)

By this token, I see fish on the bottom off of bars, breaks, points, etc where I typically see Crappies come August.

I get curious, stop and fish them...and wouldn't ya know, they are usually the 9 inch class Bluegills.

I am talking depths from 14-18 feet deep in most cases.

Of course, my interest in "panfish" doesn't stray from Crappies, so I catch a couple to ensure that there are no active Crappies present in these schools, and I move along.

Sad isn't it?

Point is...Don't hesitate to go deep. Typically I find the biggest gills are the ones to go deep first.

[CALVINIST]

Good tips from both of you. I'll post the moment I pull in a 10"! Thanks.