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2/15/2002
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Article/Press
Release
Southern Style Panfish
By Doug Newhoff with On Ice Tour
To many
outdoor enthusiasts, winter in the Midwest means statuesque
whitetail bucks and colorful ringneck pheasants. To a growing
number of hard-water fishing enthusiasts, it also means panfish,
and plenty of them.
Opportunities to pursue bluegills, crappies and even perch along
the southern reaches of ice-fishing country have never been
better. From tiny borrow lakes and farm ponds to natural lakes and
sprawling reservoirs to the backwaters of the Mississippi and
Missouri Rivers; there is no lack of panfish quality and quantity
as far south as the Iowa-Missouri border.
By late
December, there is usually enough ice somewhere in this region to
support anglers and their gear. By January, the season is in full
swing. The best fishing, of course, comes as soon as the ice is
safe.
In some
respects, tactics don’t change much whether an angler fishes the
big lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin or the smaller waters typical
of Iowa and surrounding states. What does change is habitat.
Rather than
working the structure-filled, clear-water lakes of the north, some
of the best hardwater fishing in the southern region occurs on
manmade lakes that are full of flooded timber and brushpiles, and
on small farm ponds that often appear better suited for bullfrogs
and cattle than crappies and bluegills.
On the
surface, these tree and stump-filled lakes look like a maze of
undistinguishable habitat where panfish could feel at home nearly
anywhere. However, as is the case in most angling situations, even
the most subtle change in characteristics can make the difference
between filling a pail with a limit of crappies and bluegills or
going home without enough to make a good snack.
Fishing the
standing timber is largely a matter of being mobile and making
good use of a quality flasher. Most of these lakes were built
around an old creek, and locating that original channel goes a
long way toward success. Contour maps will reveal the general
direction the channel runs, and the angler can take it from there.
Bends in the
channel are always good places to start, especially when they
feature 15 to 20 feet of water and twist close to shore. Most of
the time, the edges will be most productive. Locate them and drill
a series of holes all along the bend. It’s amazing how one small
area along one of these turns can hold the most fish, or how one
area seems to produce the largest fish. Keep moving until you find
it.
Crappies
tend to suspend around standing timber in 8 to10 feet over 15 or
more feet of water. Your flasher will make it easy to determine
the presence of these fish. When they disappear, move a hole or
two down the channel and try to relocate them.
Catching
early season slabs is largely a matter of getting their attention.
Take minnows if you wish – they will catch fish, as will small
jigs tipped with wax worms. Often, however, small rattling jigging
spoons, such as those produced by Lindy and Northland, will
produce faster and more exciting action.
Approach
bluegills in standing timber the same way. Location in wooded
reservoirs follows the same pattern as crappie location, although
the ‘gills can often be found just off the creek channel or deeper
in the water column than crappies. In lakes that don’t feature
flooded timber, seek out the main points and concentrate your
efforts there.
Small ice
jigs tipped with wax worms work well, although Berkley Power
Wigglers can be just as effective early in the season when the
bluegills are active and aggressive.
Some lakes
don’t offer creek channels and standing timber. The majority of
the habitat in these waters consists of manmade brushpiles or
stake beds. Many are made of snarly, discarded Christmas trees,
and they can eat jigs faster than a teenager eats potato chips
unless the angler pays careful attention to location and
presentation.
Try to find
the edges of the brushpile, if possible. Often, the iced-over
holes of previous anglers offer a good clue to where those edges
are. If they can’t be found and one is forced to fish directly
over the brush, it’s a matter of trial and error to find the depth
where one can stay out of trouble and still attract hungry
crappies and bluegills. These situations are ideal for some of the
new brush jigs like the Northland Weed-Weasel and Lindy No-Snagg
Veg-E-Jig. They won’t interfere with hooksets, but will often
slide across a branch rather than stick to it.
No
discussion of southern ice-fishing would be complete without
giving farm ponds their appropriate due. Acre-for-acre, they
probably yield more quality crappies and bluegills than any other
bodies of water. They can be found across southern Iowa and
northern Missouri, as well as surrounding states.
Access to
farm ponds usually requires a knock on a farmer’s door. Present
yourself properly and courteously, and most will happily permit
you to fish their waters. Clean up after yourself and make sure
you close any gates behind you, and you’ll likely be welcome the
next time, too.
Many
landowners tend to protect their largemouth bass and catfish, but
don’t mind if an angler takes out a few bluegills and crappies.
And when you strike upon the right pond, some real trophies are a
definite possibility.
“Some have
really good fish, some don’t,” says Waterloo’s Randy Kollmann, who
has probably fished as many different Iowa farm ponds as anyone.
“Pond size
doesn’t matter. On one of my favorite ponds, you can take a 16th-ounce
jig and cast it clear across in any direction. It’s got 11-inch
bluegills, and nobody fishes it. They just drive on by.”
Kollmann
concentrates his pond efforts in water at least 10 feet deep at
the edge of the weedline when it reaches that deep, and usually
finds that small jigs tipped with wax worms and small jigging
spoons are effective, just as they are on larger bodies of water.
Give
southern ice-fishing a try. It’s better than you might think.
Editor’s
note: ON ICE TOUR – cofounded by Chip Leer and Tommy Skarlis – is
an intensive effort aimed at expanding the sport of ice fishing
through instructional articles, seminars, in-store and ice fishing
contest appearances, and one on one exchanges with the public.
Learn more about ON ICE TOUR and the greatest of winter sports at
www.onicetour.com |
