CRAPPIE

Winter Panfish Toolkit The essential gear you need to ice panfish isn’t extensive. An assortment of baits, a light action rod, and a good auger are the key ingredients. Spicing up this menagerie are sophisticated tools, such as electronics. These aren’t mandatory, but they’ll help you catch more fish. The following items represent a well-rounded toolkit for coaxing pannies topside. 01/12

Hauling Baits for Panfish Spring to autumn, panfish occupy a range of habitats from shallow weed flats to deep, rocky structures. Casting has merits, but there’s plenty of trolling methods that will pull big panfish topside. Here are some popular strategies. 08/11

The Three “C” s of Early Spring Crappie Immediately following ice crappie flock to protected, shallow water areas. These zones are teeming with forage and crappie will feed heartily for several weeks until the water’s warm enough for spawning, which occurs between late spring and early summer. Cracking the code on early-season crappie relies on the golden rule of real-estate: location, location, location and when talking paper-mouths in spring, this means fishing the Three Cs: coves, creeks, and canals. 05/11

Panfish Jig Details If you’re a fan of panfish you undoubtedly have a good selection of jigs in your tackle box. Baits ranging from 1/32- to 1/8-ounce are common weights for catching perch, sunfish and crappie. Yet beyond their weight, another big factor is how these tiny jigs are dressed. When fish are finicky this is a critical detail. Read on for a review of some of the top panfish jig styles you should have in your tackle box.

Night-Bite Winter Crappie The sun about to hit the tree tops. I was sitting on a great crappie lake, charging up my glow jig and waiting for the start of the night bite. It didn’t take long and the action was fast and furious for just under an hour. While many anglers focus on walleye, crappie are another species worth chasing at twilight. Here’s what you need to know about this productive technique to catch more paper-mouths.

Spring Bluegill Micro-Crankbait Tactics Come spring, many species of the sunfish family move to warm, shallow water to spawn. Bluegills are no exception, and targeting these scrappy fighters with ultra-light tackle is an amazing way to spend a sunny, spring afternoon. Several lures will fool bluegills come spring, but sight fishing with micro-sized crankbaits lets you precision fish schools and target the largest fish.

Searching Out Springtime ‘Gills The spring heralds in new beginnings for those in the fishing fraternity. Making the change from ice gear to open water tackle and from portable huts to fishing boats feels like a time of renewal. And for many, taking that first cast for walleye or pike has become a rite of passage as the season unfolds before us. But what about the saucer-shaped ‘gills that flood the shallows during this time, eager to bite and hard fighters to boot?

Tough Bite? Try a Little Ice Fishing Finesse There were already a few anglers jigging as I pulled my hut up to the community crappie hole. “How’s the fishing?” I asked. “Slow. We haven’t got any yet,” answered one angler. I walked several yards away from the group, drilled a hole and settled into my hut. Over the next few hours I caught several decent crappies despite the slow bite. The trick was downsizing, finesse fishing, and trying several spots. Here are some details on the day’s events that will apply to most ice fishing conditions when crappies aren’t aggressively feeding.

Triggering Crappie Description: Crappies are a great species to target through the ice. At times they can be challenging to find, but worth the effort once you locate a school of slabs. Often eager to investigate lures, crappie can be wary to hit baits and, even then, takes can be extremely subtle. Here are some hints on how-to trigger crappie into biting this ice season.

An Introduction to Springtime Crappies We all as anglers have our special rites of spring. For some it involves floating roe down a tributary stream for early season steelies. Others enjoy the opportunity to lock horns with the ice out water wolves that slowly cruise the shallows. My early season angling is occupied by one specie and one specie only – and that is Mr. Crappie.

Scoring BIG on Springtime Slabs – As spring slowly makes its appearance, thoughts of opening day crappie waken me from my hibernation and begin to make my pulse quicken.

Panfish on Floats: Spring, Summer and Fall   We all grew up with ‘em. Ah yes, those glistening oversized red and white bobbers. They were a better match for Orca than nearby sunfish, buoyant as a “no-wake” marker and nearly as large. Never once did a tugging fish submerge it.

Pounding the Panfish of Winter  Playing tug-of-war with panfish during the cold of winter can be a rewarding and exciting endeavor for anglers across Canada. Nothing beats the pull of the line or the taste in the pan when dealing with these scrappy adversaries. Whether it be crappie, perch or jumbo ‘gills, finding and knowing how to catch them is the key for a season of constant action.