Ice anglers who enjoy catching it all have a
lot more fun, plain and simple. They have more options for one
thing, and they can stretch out a season right to the bitter
end for another. Getting hung up on one species really limits
where you can go and what you can do and your timing has to
be precise. The multi-specie angler on the other hand can almost
always find something to fish for, and can take advantage of
the good peaks that happen every hard water season.
One of the better patterns to set up is deep water panfish and
if you’re interested; your timing couldn’t be better.
Right now is when you can typically find bluegill and crappie
action in deeper basin areas where they are easy to find and
easy enough to catch. That doesn’t mean the deepest water
in the lake though (which can vary from lake to lake) and it’s
difficult to put a finger on it but the twenty to thirty feet
range would be a good place to start looking. Deeper flats near
shallower weed beds are what we’re really talking about
and it could be in the center of a bay off of a bigger lake
or the main lake basin of a smaller one. A good map can get
you pointed in the right direction. A great map like a Navionics
Hotmap loaded into a G.P.S like the Humminbird 97 Matrix mounted
on the dash of my sled can get you to an exact spot and save
valuable fishing time. Instead of looking and wondering where
you are you can see your precise location on the plotter and
see it in relation to breaks, dropoffs, flats, etc.
The toughest piece of the panfish puzzle to place is location,
and it will probably take some legwork to get it done. That
is unless you get a hot tip, or you know where they’ve
historically showed up this time of the year. Even if you get
the info or know where fish have been found in the past; it
wouldn’t hurt to do some digging on your own and see if
you can find your own pile of panfish to pick on. You can deal
with the pressure and still get your share, but if you’re
able to find your own hotspot you can have it all to yourself
and be able to enjoy the satisfaction of doing it on your own.
Doing it on your own means going where no man has gone before
and drilling plenty of holes that don’t produce. That’s
the price you’ll probably have to pay but its part of
the challenge, and part of the fun.
Once you’ve found an area that you want to check out the
next move is to drill some holes, and is where a gas powered
auger can be invaluable. Mid to late winter can mean extra thick
layers of ice and you really can’t cover enough ground
without it. With a super fast super sharp auger like the Eskimo
Z51 Shark with an eight inch auger you can punch out a bunch
of holes in a matter of minutes which will allow you more time
to spend trying to get your share of the panfish pie. After
you’ve turned an area to Swiss cheese you can finally
get down to business and see if you’ve made the right
move. It’s also a good idea to use a bait that has plenty
of universal panfish appeal, and can attract bluegills as well
as crappies. One of your best bets is a tiny jig like the #10
Northland Tackle Fire-Eye Grub tipped with a maggie, mousie,
or eurolarvae, at least to start with. The Fire-Eye has an ultra
fine and super sharp hook that makes it much easier to hook
on soft squishy maggots without tearing them apart. If you find
‘gills you’ll probably want to stay with the bugs,
but if you’re running into an occasional crappie you better
have some small minnows along. Crappies will hit the jig and
bug combo but small minnows can mean more slabs. You can still
use the jig, but you might have to go a little bigger and heavier
to be able to get the minnow down in deeper water.
The author went out on his own for this big late winter
slab |
Light line and softer action rods like Northland’s
new 24” ultra light Gold Series rod and reel combination
loaded with two pound test Berkley XL will allow you to
work light baits in deeper water and do it without adding
a weight. If you need more weight go with a heavier jig.
You can even drop down to one pound test but you really
have to be careful or you’re going to break off
bigger fish.
With the jig and maggot you can drop it down and know
soon if enough if there are any fish around because they
will at least come in for a look. If you’re watching
your bait on a depthfinder like the Marcum LX-5 you’ll
see the action or lack thereof and whether you should
stay put or move on. No fish means no fish and if you’ve
given a hole more than ten or twenty minutes you’re
probably wasting your time. Once you’ve found some
fish and have caught a few it would be a good idea to
drill extra holes in varying directions in case the pod
of fish you’re working moves, and chances are they
will. |
They might move ten yards this way or twenty yards that way
and probably back again. With an underwater camera like the
new Marcum VS 820 which has an LCD flat screen display that
you can see in broad daylight you’ll notice how panfish
seem to be constantly on the move. For them it’s a way
of life. For you it means micro moves when needed. You could
sit and wait and see if they come back but you’ll put
more of them on the ice if you can try and stay with them. See
you on the ice.
Ron Anlauf
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