panfishing advice please!!

[boiler5]

I'm in college and me and my friends are on spring break this coming week and we want to do some fishing. I know it isn't the best time for it, but we want to catch a bunch of pan fish and eat them while we camp all week, as this is the only week we can. Any and all advice and tips are greatly appreciated. We are going to be fishing in southern Indiana, more specifically Lake Shakamak, Lake Kickapoo, and Lake Lenape. Thanks in advance!

[Moveon]

If it's cold fish deep. If it's above 70 deg F for a day or two and sunny check out the very shallow waters on the North Side of the lake. You might find some crappie that are in prespawn and up in the shallows feeding on minnows. Look for water that's warmer than the rest of the water in the lake. Areas where crappie have spawned in the past may hold fish if it's warm. If it's cold look at these areas but fish the first drop off or the second drop off toward deeper water.

Also the mouth of the bays hold schools of crappie before they swim into the back of the bay to spawn in the shallower water.

Some crappie can be caught year round in deep water. These fish receive very little pressure from most fishermen and when you find them you can load the boat.

USE live Minnows and 6 lb test monofiliment line. A #6 Aberdeen gold hook or up to a #2 size hook of the same design. Add a couple of split shots above the hook about 12". Or you can fish with a drop loop tied off the main line with an 18" long fee end. Add a weight to the long free end below the hook. Look the loop of Mono though the eye of the hook and then over the hook to secure it to the line. The hook will then stand off from the line a few inches. You can slow troll this at 0.5 mph or slower around deep brush piles and search for crappie. Deep means about 15 to 25 ft deep to the bottom with the brush coming up to within about 10 to 15 ft from the surface. The crappie will suspend in the top of the brush piles or submerged trees. Look for brush piles along the edge of the creek channels in the creek arms. The creek channel may be 25 ft deep or more. The ledge along the top of the creek channel may be 15 ft deep at Patoka Lake where I fish for crappie. Your lakes may be different so adjust accordingly.

I'm in college and me and my friends are on spring break this coming week and we want to do some fishing. I know it isn't the best time for it, but we want to catch a bunch of pan fish and eat them while we camp all week, as this is the only week we can. Any and all advice and tips are greatly appreciated. We are going to be fishing in southern Indiana, more specifically Lake Shakamak, Lake Kickapoo, and Lake Lenape. Thanks in advance!

[Panfish Man]

The forecast is showing a warm front moving in, the fish may move up in the shallower warmer waters. I would long line troll jigs, or grubs, 10' or shallower for crappie, and you may even be able to catch them moving into the shallow cover once the sun has been out for a while. Before the massive amounts of rain over the last couple weeks, I was catching crappie and gills in around 20' of water around 10' to 12' deep, jigging standing timber.

[Moveon]

When you long line how fast do you move your boat? And what type of line do your use and how much is let out behind your boat to get the lure or bait to the depth you want to fish.

There is a book out about trolling crank baits etc but I don't know how to get the bait down to a certain depth ..yet. I have seen a guy long lining at Bluegrass and he caught some nice crappie. I have yet to figure out exactly how he did it.

How do you long line in an area with submerged timber without getting hung up a lot? I have caught crappie trolling Bandit Crank Baits in open water but I had to be careful to stay high enough in the water column to not get hung up in the top of submerged trees on Patoka Lake.

I use to drag bomber crank baits when going from one spot to another while bass fishing on KY lake and every once in a while I could catch a nice big crappie. We used a 20 HP Mercury Motor on a 16 ft long v hull aluminum boat back in those days and didn't go very fast when moving from one spot to the next. Most of the time we just drifted thought the fishing area using the wind and then after we drifted downwind so far we would either row back up wind and repeate the drift or start the gas motor and motor back upwind above the spot and drift though the area again. We would cast crank baits though the area while drifting though there and catch a lot of good bass. I think that our catch rate dropped when we started using electric trolling motors in the late 1970's. The noise probably scared the fish more so from the electric trolling motor than from the oars. When I used the gas motor I would not motor though the fishing area but went well around it until I got upwind again. Then I shut the motor off and used the oars to get the boat into position for a good drift though the fishing area. That way we didn't make as much noise in the fishing area and didn't scare the fish. We fished the edges of the islands this way a lot.

The forecast is showing a warm front moving in, the fish may move up in the shallower warmer waters. I would long line troll jigs, or grubs, 10' or shallower for crappie, and you may even be able to catch them moving into the shallow cover once the sun has been out for a while. Before the massive amounts of rain over the last couple weeks, I was catching crappie and gills in around 20' of water around 10' to 12' deep, jigging standing timber.

[Panfish Man]

I usually run between .8 and 1.2mph, you need a good gps to keep a steady speed. Speed varies on the bite, and the wieght, and the depth. I run three rods, with two 1/16 th or 1/32 heads, about 3' apart. I takes some practice, and trial and error, but you can pick it up in no time. As far a trolling through wooded areas, you can, if you like to retie. I try to troll, points, ledges, and flats. I would rather vertical jig, or spider rig standing timber. Once you pick up on long line trolling, you will be hooked, it flat puts crappie in the boat, pre spawn and spawn.

[Moveon]

I usually run between .8 and 1.2mph, you need a good gps to keep a steady speed. Speed varies on the bite, and the wieght, and the depth. I run three rods, with two 1/16 th or 1/32 heads, about 3' apart. I takes some practice, and trial and error, but you can pick it up in no time. As far a trolling through wooded areas, you can, if you like to retie. I try to troll, points, ledges, and flats. I would rather vertical jig, or spider rig standing timber. Once you pick up on long line trolling, you will be hooked, it flat puts crappie in the boat, pre spawn and spawn.

Thanks for the tips. I'll pass those along to others if that's ok with you?

I also vertical jig in the timber. When I do that I some times used weedless jig heads but then I miss a lot more fish using them. But it beats retying on new baits and hooks or jig heads all the time

I'll have to work on the long lining. It should be a good tactic for open water and the deep side of ledges.

[boiler5]

thanks for the info friends. me and my buddies are not expert fisherman, we just get out a handful of times a year. Do you have any advice for a more beginner angler?

[Moveon]

Yea. Just try to have fun even if you don't catch any fish. Just enjoy the day out on the water.

Other than that I would take a 7 ft long graphite rod with any type of reel used to hold the line. I use 6 lb Stren Magnathin line. And I tie on the hook using a loop knot or you can use a palomar knot if you want. Google palmar or palomer knots or "loop knots" to learn how to tie them. Tie the knot about 18 inches up from the end of the line so that you have a long tag line. Add a lead weight to the end of the line and attach a hook to the loop knot so that the hook is about 12 to 18 " above the lead weight. This way the lead weight will hit the bottom and the hook will sit about 12" off the bottom of the lake.

Start fishing at the bottom and reel up a few turns and fish a few feet above the bottom and if you don't catch anything reel up a little more and try again. Repeat this though the water column until you locate the fish's depth. Then set all the other baits at the same depth. Move around to different spots on the lake. Get a good topo map of the lake and look for areas that are marked fishing areas. Hot Spots Maps are good.

Don't spend too long in any one spot during this time of the years. Look for the warmest water if you want to fish the shallow water.

Early March in Southern IN is prespawn or even still in the Winter Phase depending on the weather. So the fish will probably be deep still. But if it warms up fast then they can rise up to feed in shallower water. So you have to fish and find the fish and follow them as the weather warms up.

Normally in the dead of winter they are in the deeper basins of the lake. Then as spring arrives they will follow the creeks up into the bays. When the water temperatures reach the mid 60s they will come into the shallow water to spawn. Males come in first and build the nests. Then the bigger females come in and drop their eggs and then leave to go back into deeper water. The smaller males will guard the next for a week or so and then they will leave to go back to the deeper water. This is the time we call Post Spawn and the fish are harder to catch. They may suspend in the lake in areas called " Confined Open Water" and rest there until the water gets hot and summer arrives. Then they return to the deeper water again.

Just remember that the fish use ditches and creek channels to migrate from the deep water to the shallow water like we use highways to go from place to place. And there are certain areas of these creek channels that the fish stay on longer. Areas like sharp bends in the creek channel or the intersection of a creek channel with a ditch. Areas where a road way went across the old river channel before the lake was flooded can also be good.

Fish with live bait. Minnows are best. Add a Berkeley Crappie Nibble (Chartruese) to the hook even when using a live minnow. This will increase you catch rate. I like a #6 size hook but a #2 will work too. Use the gold thin wire hooks that can bend but not break. This way you can pull the hook free if you get it hung up in the brush pile.

Try to fish the top of the brush pile before you fish deep into the brush pile. This way you catcht fish that are suspended above the brush pile.

Fish from 8 ft to 15 ft deep when the water is cold.

Look for a brush pile that's along the edge of a creek channel bend and if you don't get a bite in 15 to 20 minutes move to a new spot.

Crappie like the bait moving slowly. 0.5 mph or less when it's cold. I don't anchor the boat but instead hover over the brush pile or slow troll though the brush piles using the trolling motor. Troll though and over the brush pile from different directions. You will catch more fish that way.

A good Depth Finder really is a must if you want to catch a lot of fish. You can't be the new Side Scanning Sonar Units for eliminating empty water and finding areas that hold the fish.

A good sensetive rod and a tight line helps you feel the bite. Set the hook the second you feel the tap on the line when fishing for crappie.

The crappie spawn in Southern IN can take place from Late March to late April but most likely will be around the second or third week in April. The spawn will last for a few weeks as not all the fish spawn at the very same time or in the same places. Some fish spawn in deeper water and can be caught out on the underwater humps that rise up to the 10 to 15 ft level at the top of the hump.

That's about it. Just remember that there are many different ways to catch fish and other's will fish differently. These methods above work for me and have proven to help me catch limits of crappie on lakes that I fish a lot and know well.

Knowing the lake and fishing it a lot helps you learn the good spots and that makes all the difference in the world.

If you fish a lot get a good GPS and mark the spots with your gps unit so that you can find them again the next time you fish.

thanks for the info friends. me and my buddies are not expert fisherman, we just get out a handful of times a year. Do you have any advice for a more beginner angler?

[raporter]

Lots of good info here. We long line jigs, roadrunners and beetlespins along the weedlines with good success also.