Gary Engberg Outdoors

gengberg June 30th, 2011

Cool Tactics for Hot Weather Panfish 

 This time of the summer when the thermometer and water temperatures are over 80 degrees, many lakes are covered with weeds, and the Wisconsin River is running high and dirty. Where does an angler go to catch some fish? Here is a good way to beat the summer slow-down and catch some tasty panfish in southern Wisconsin and most of the Upper Midwest.
  Early in the fishing season it’s relatively easy to catch most species of fish and particularly panfish in shallow water (less than 10 feet). Initially after ice-out, panfish and other fish are attracted to the warmth of the shallows after a cold winter and a period where they have had a slow metabolism. The shallow water is where the food chain gets in motion with the first hatches of insects and zooplankton. This, coupled with the warmer water temperature brings in the fish. Many of the fish in a lake also will lay their eggs and spawn in the shallow water of most Wisconsin and Upper Midwest lakes. The first weeds of the year are also growing giving cover and food to the young fry that have recently hatched. During the first two months of the fishing season, it’s possible to find most panfish fish shallow and often you’ll have numerous fish species all in the same shallow water locations. But, now things have changed with the advent of summer and warm weather. Most if not all fish have spawned and now have moved to their summer haunts. As we get into the warmer months of August and early September fishing can be difficult and sometimes it seems as if every fish has what my grandfather called “lock-jaw.”
What really has happened is that many of the panfish (crappies, perch, white bass, bluegills) and most gamefish (walleyes, northern pike, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and muskies) have moved away from the warmer and shallow water to scattered mid-lake locations and deep weed lines. There, the water is cooler and more in their specific “comfort zone.” There needs to be zooplankton close by and often suspended throughout in the water column for the fish to eat. These locations can be about anywhere in the lake, but mid-lake structures like rock piles, humps, cribs, underwater islands, and deep-water weeds are always worth checking out besides anywhere in the lake’s open basin. Fish and schools of panfish constantly roam or move around a lake, especially a mesotrophic lake, chasing and feeding upon the tiny zooplankton that is moved by the wind currents. Zooplankton can move vertically or up and down in the water column, but they need wind to move them horizontally or around the lake. Often, you’ll see clouds of zooplankton rising off the bottom of a lake and scattered up and down from the bottom to the lake’s top on your Lowrance electronics. These “clouds or balls” of baitfish and zooplankton are what you’re looking for and ideally is where you want to be fishing. This is why one needs quality electronics like those from Lowrance or Hummingbird to see the forage or food (zooplankton) that’s suspended. Initially, I suggest that you slowly motor over the areas that you intend to fish with your eyes “glued” to your electronic unit while looking for schools of baitfish and or zooplankton. The key is to find the food and then you’ll find fish in the immediate area of the forage. Besides the need for good electronics, also pick up a map of the waters that you plan to fish and go over it before you hit the water. Good maps like those made by Navionics are well worth buying and studying before fishing any lake. Navionics and LakeMaster also make “chips” for the better GPS units that show you everything that you need to know about most northern lakes. Everyone can’t afford or needs a high-end GPS unit with countless lakes you’ll never fish, but a good unit is still a must for the successful angler.
  There are good two tactics for fishing for panfish during the heat of summer and early fall. One way is to drift fish across the main basin of a lake and its structure or fish the lake’s deep weedlines. Depth is a relative thing depending on the waters that you’re fishing. Continue Reading »