panfish-o-holics

[slick2526]

Just wondering, who out there besides me, dedicates most of the ice fishing time for the search of the monster gills and slab-crappies. Good tasting if you want a few for dinner. Also a blast to catch.
What tatics do you use for locating and catching them on early ice?

[Guest]

Hey im one of them that like to devote 66% of my time to crappies and sunnies.
They are one of the best tasting fish, as long as they are fresh.
On early ice I have found crappies suspended over deep water and the earlier the better for the big slabs. Also I have found them in 20' of water near the bottom but normally not in as big of numbers as the ones that are suspended.
And if I may add a Question: Whats you fav. lure for fishing crappies?
Mine is the glow body jigs.

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FISHSTUNNER

[slick2526]

The jig I have had the best luck on more than any other is a white glow with a red dot Lunar grub jig by JB lures. only problem I have is finding them in stores around here. Any suggestions on were to look?

[Guest]

If you see me on the ice most likely I'm fishing for crappies. If hear that there is a crappie bite somewhere close to me I'll be there at the drop of a hat. Crappies, gills, and perch are my favorite.

As far as early ice patterns go...

1) I look for still standing weeds. Weeds mean oxygen and oxygen mean fish. Until the weeds die off or until ice thickens I'll search the shallow bays adjacent to the main lake. Some lakes hold small backwaters that hold cabbage and weed beds, these areas are prime. Depths as low as four feet are not uncommon.

2) Narrows inbetween sections of a certain lake. Some lakes feature a shape like an hourglass. These lakes are great for first ice. The narrow neck/inlet will hold fish early on. Lakes were these spots have depths in 8-20 feet are a plus. These spots are transitional points for roaming crappies and baitfish flock towards these areas like a highway to their next destination.

3) Adjacent (first) drop-off from shallow bay. On numerous lakes, crappies will head towards deeper water early especially if weeds die early. Nearby drop-offs should hold fish in most cases. Depths in 15-25 feet seem reasonable. Don't give up if you don't see fish on your locator, often times these roaming crappies will hug the bottom until provoked. Once provoked it can mean hot action.

4) Saddles and underwater points. Lakes where a lot of rocks are present might bring into play the issue of reefs/points. Underwater points or rock piles attract prey which inturn attracts predators, and in our case crappies. These underwater points/piles can be hot on minute and cold the next, especially if there are numerous of them in a certain area. Depths could be as deep as 30 feet but I like to fish depths in the 15-23 foot range.

All of these areas could hold crappies at any given time or only one might be the honey hole. I like to punch a lot of holes a few hours before sunset and then find were the fish are moving to. Once I solidify a pattern I'll choose my area for twilight fishing (sunset). You want to be on the most productive spot at sunset. Action can last all night or only fifteen minutes so extend your odds by figuring out the locational patterns during the day.

I fish these spots until ice and snow begins to thicken. Once this happens I head out to the deeper flats and holes, but thats another topic in its own.

Hope some of this helps. I'm currently in the process of writing a book on crappie location and presentation (ice fishing) so any feedback that you have as far as past ice fishing experiences would be graciously appreciated. I'm doing a whole chapter on fellow fishermen feedback/info and others experiences.

If anyone would like to talk crappies I'd be willing to chat or maybe head out onto the lake this season. You can either post or drop me an e-mail.

([email protected])

Thanks and Good Fishin, Matt.

[Rick]

They will also feed heavily in shallow(4'-10' deep) mud bottom bays-very early ice. You have to be on top of this one. Rarely does it last more than a week or two.

If you can find a bay on the NW side of your lake, the bite has better odds to last a little longer.

This can be a hot little known pattern in many areas.

As MJ5 said, oxygen would appear to be the key here as well.

[rascalP]

MJ5
Judging from your past posts and pics, If I see you on the ice you just may have a very close neigbor. You've put out alot of very good and very specific info, which alot of people( myself included )might tend to keep to theirself for obvious reasons. I don't think I would have anymore useful feedback for your book, but the question of bait choice is always on my mind. Minnow or euro/waxie? I tend toward the euro cause they're easier to deal with and at times have outdone a minnow. Other times not. How bout you? Do you bring both?
rascalP

[Deitz Dittrich]

I too dedicate about 98% of my ice fishing time for sunfish, crappie and perch...Cant get enough of it.. For being such a diehard basser during the summer its nice to go with ultrlights and battle with the scrappy fish during the winter months...

I would like to weigh-in on the bait debate.. I usually fish wax worms and eurolarve during light hours... If I am on crappies and I plan on staying after dark, I will switch to minnows then.. I find the minnows to work better after dark usually.. and the waxies better during light hours...Just my humble opinion!

[Guest]

rascalP,

I appreciate the kind words. I'd be willing to let you join me if you saw me on the lake as well. I have a few more pictures of crappies that I could put up if anyone wants.

Now as far as bait is concerned. I bring both Euro Larvae and minnows out on the ice. Most of the time I'll jig with Euro Larvae and dead stick with minnows. Some times only minnows will produce and other times only larvae. I've had a few instances in the past where only tail hooked minnows produced. Often times I'll use two larvae when fishing becasue it appears as if the jig has antenna which symbolizes the larvae and copepods/plankton that crappies eat except for that the size is relatively larger.....and tell me the truth, would you rather want a 8 oz steak or a 16 oz steak? Sometimes only one larvae will work too. It all depends on the situation and finding the right presentation. Often times I'll spend a whole day figuring out the preferred presentation before I bring home the bacon. Thats what ice fihsing is all about, locating fish and then getting them to bite.

Good Fishin, Matt.

[Guest]

i too only fish for panfish,belive it or not but my hard water pattern does not change much from my summer pattern,i can almost alway find bluegills n 12 ft. of water with weeds,the weeds r the key for me and as far the crappies they r usally there too but if not i can somtimes find them n deeper water that has structure,the structure is the key for me when looking for them crappies,if there not on the structure they r usally suspened not far from it,as for fravorite jig for some reason i don't the marmooska does the trick for me ,i don't do that good with minnows for some reason i don't know but i always bring some there must b something i doing wrong,maybe someone can give me a tip on y i do better with maggats than with minnows

[slick2526]

For the bait, I think I always have better luck on smaller crappie minnows then waxies/maggots. Sometimes, but not often will I have better luck with maggots.

I think its all just to do with the type of lake your fishing on. I know in the lake i fish there is allot of minnows and very murky up untill winter.

So, guys, what is your favorite early ice presentation for crappies, and sunnies? As i stated i like a noodle rod, 3lb test, and a white lunar grub jib from JB Lures for sunnies.
Crappies, same jig but with a light action rod, ice buster bobber, and 4lb fireline micro ice. I stoped using split shot all together. Seems to help the more finicky fish bite.
Also do you like non-glow colors for the day?
Do you switch your colors on your jigs from different ones in the day to night?
Planning on trying some new jigs this year, what do you suggest?
Thoose Tackle city jigs that rick is carying sure look nice, but do they catch fish? I know im going to have to pick up a package or 2 of glow devils and some mini angel eyes.
SO WERE IS DE ICE ANYWAYS?

[slick2526]

MJ5, I noticed in the lake I fish, more of the bigger crappies I catch are located in with the sunfish. Have you ever noticed this? I did very good one day on a local lake. I was in about 18ft of water with lots of structure near by. All after noon I caught perch untill it was the twilight period. I believe about 1 1/2 hours b4 dark the sunnies started to bite. they were nice ones 3/4-1lb. Well anyways, me and my step dad were nailing them untill dark, it started to slow down a little bit then i noticed my other bobber was acting like there was a crappie going after the bait. I set the hook, sure enough about a 9 1/2 to 10 inch crappie. I would say most range 6 1/2 to 7in's in this lake. Well, I caught about 8 more of thoose perodicly while fishing the sunfish. Any Idea why the bigger crappies were in with the sunfish?

[Jig stick]

I too fish strickly for pan fish.You wont eat any better.1.yellow perch,2.crappie,3.bluegills.I been haveing pretty good luck with the marmooska jig tiped with maggies.Have yet to try minnoes.Find them with the vex.And catch em.

[Guest]

slick2526,

I've also found that most of the day time crappie locations hold bluegills as well but not so much at night. During the day I can find a lot of schooled gills mixed in with the crappies. The gills will hold a little closer to the bottom while the fish that ride a little higher and suspend are mostly crappies. When I fish the deeper holes I mostly encounter crappies, but I have caught a few gills there but limited. At night I try to target suspended fish because they are often more active. And most of these suspended fish are crappies. Some of my bigger gills came at night though but not an everyday occurance. During first ice and late ice when I fish shallow bays I tend to catch a lot of both crappies and gills because they begin to come in an find spawning grounds.

When I target bigger gills I typically find them alone away from the crowd. Last year I was ice fishing Linwood Lake and found a school of smaller crappies and gills. The action was fast but the fish were small. I headed off the crowd and found a strip of underwater grass beds/humps and began catching some real dandy's. A few were pushing a pound with the rest all 3/4 of a pound. This was probably the best bluegill outting I've ever had.

Larger crappies tend to roam with eachother as well. I was on Green Lake during mid season last year and was fishing a shallow flat in about 7 feet of water. I was doing alright bringing in 9 inchers but I wanted to catch atleast one nice slab before I headed to another lake. I headed towards the adjacent drop off and punched a series of holes. The first hole I dropped my line down was in 13 feet of water and I noticed some thick lines on the Vexilar a few feet below the ice. I got the jig about three or four feet below the ice and wham! A 14 incher, followed by three more all in that range. Then the screen went blank and I headed to the next hole that I punched and caught a few more. Small moves like this are things that are sometimes needed to catch the fish you're looking for.

All of these larger fish, both gills and crappies traveled in packs and seemed to venture away from the school of small fish. This happens a lot with crappies. Just head to the nearest drop-off and you might find the larger ones.

If one spot isn't producing the fish you want then move. Most likely there are bigger fish out there and its just a matter of finding them.

Sometimes the first fish I catch out of a hole are the biggest. Do you experience this? I think it is because the smaller fish in the area are attracted to the comotion and come over to investigate pushing the larger fish away. I believe that this is part of the reason why I find larger fish just off the nearest edge. What do you guys think?

Ok, now for my favorite early ice presentation. I like to use a Genz rod, Tiny 20, and 2 lb test Berkely Micro Ice. Two-spots by Custom Jigs n Spins is my choice of jig. I hook two euro larvae on and I'm set. I rig another rod with a small one inch kastmaster or pimple as well. Sometimes the jigging spoon will attract the fish in and will catch a few before finessing them in with the two-spot. Plain hooks with a tail hooked minnow works in the channels real well during early ice too. I like to deadstick with a noodle rod and minnow. Plain hooks, demons, haugers, or flutter spoons are good for deadsticking. I normally don't stick with one presentation but these are my best producers.

I like non glow colors for during the day. Colors like orange, red, or mustard are my choices. I will normally switch to a plain green glow jig before sunset to provide maximum attraction. I only use a small amount of light to charge the glow because I've found out in the past that too much glow actually scares the fish because they are unfamiliar with it. Sure they will come over fast to check it out but they seem more reluctant to bite because of the strong glow (just my opinion). Crappies have good vision at night so moderate glow jigs work fine. I'm anxious for the sport show to see all the new gear this year. I'm gonna need some extra money this year I think.

Anytime the ice wants to form I'm ready. Bring on the ice!!!

Good Fishin, Matt.

[This message has been edited by MJ5 (edited 11-12-2002).]