Has anyone found the panfish in shallow yet? Or still staging?
Reports I have heard have been spotty at best. My guess is that the water is not warming up significantly yet. I have found some pods of fish in Southern lakes, but few and far between.
Just wondering of anyone has seen an uptick yet or not, South, Metro, or even North?
Just wondering of anyone has seen an uptick yet or not, South, Metro, or even North?
I found some last Thursday afternoon in shallow about an hour north of the metro. Crappies and sunfish both, mostly dinks. But it was 60-something degrees and mostly sunny out. Water temp was about 50 in the shallows, 40’s on the main lake.
It should continue to improve this week with the gradually warming weather and sunshine.
I was on Minnetonka/Grays Bay area this weekend and didn’t see any panfish shallow, although I did catch a nice (accidental) smallmouth who was lurking in some backwater reeds in about 2-3 feet of water near shore.
They are staging outside of the shallow spawning areas. I wasn’t fishing for them but found some schools in those areas the other day. I’m sure some are even deeper still with the water temps still in the 40s.
I caught them in 4-8ft on Saturday when it was cool and raining. Lots of fish up shallow, just need some warm sun to really turn them on.
Caught them 6-8′ but I hear that on that clear lake some are always in that zone,
rushes on the end of a huge flat with deep water nearby, so easy for them to slide in or out, lots of options in a spot like that, good because our weather has been all over the place (even more than usual).
Caught them 6-8′ but I hear that on that clear lake some are always in that zone,
rushes on the end of a huge flat with deep water nearby, so easy for them to slide in or out, lots of options in a spot like that, good because our weather has been all over the place (even more than usual).
Oh goodness, you one of the 500 guys lined up shoulder to shoulder for the 8.5 inch crappie. They spawn in that spot every year because the creek running next to it produces lots of food. We fished that area for years until it blew up in popularity.
Well, I dumped the boat in yesterday for a quick spring checkout, went to a lake I know well west of Faribault. Day was perfect, warm, light winds, boat ran as expected. But I could not find a panfish anywhere, any depth. There were about 10-15 other boats out, all that I talked to same answer, nothing. They were not shallow in the pre-spawn areas, 55 degree water temp. Could not find them in the staging areas, 6′-10′. And also tried the deep holes, just in case, 12′-25′.
No idea….they fooled me again….
The last few outing my buddy has been getting them shallow in the Saint Cloud area. Boat harbors and channels off the main lake.
The kid and I and his buddy found them shallow last night fishing on shore in a quiet spot. We could cast to maybe 7 ft of water and floated a jig 1 ft bellow the surface.
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i’ll be finding out later!!!!!!! 
I’ll be in Chetek this weekend fishing a fun tournament, but I’m going to take some time and fish crappies too. Supposed to have some nice ones in there and I am dying to use my new TUCR ultralight. First nice panfish rod I’ve owned. And it feels REALLY nice.
well Glenn struck out with fish!!!!!! but i did meet a pretty darn cute CO at the landing!!!!! 
Bear-does not sound at all like the spot I was on, and I had it to myself on a Sunday-don’t assume so much. One thing I absolutely hate is fishing in a crowd.
I did pretty good today. Caught about 25 crappies in the 10 – 12.5 inch range. Not the 15 incher I was looking for but can’t complain because it was a glorious spring day and I was catching quality fish. They weren’t up in super shallow yet – still a little deeper. Also saw a nice 40+ inch muskie swim by under the boat.
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Another item of interest I observed out there today is the lack of boaters wearing PFDs. The water was 48.5 degrees on the main lake and when I was leaving, I counted 7 boats heading out. Not a single person in any of them was wearing a life jacket. Do people just not care or what’s the deal with this? I understand the law is that it only has to be accessible, but if you fall in to water that cold, you’re toast.
Another item of interest I observed out there today is the lack of boaters wearing PFDs. The water was 48.5 degrees on the main lake and when I was leaving, I counted 7 boats heading out. Not a single person in any of them was wearing a life jacket. Do people just not care or what’s the deal with this? I understand the law is that it only has to be accessible, but if you fall in to water that cold, you’re toast.
But its 70 degrees out.. 
Bear-does not sound at all like the spot I was on, and I had it to myself on a Sunday-don’t assume so much. One thing I absolutely hate is fishing in a crowd.
That was more a question Timmy. Clears a easy beast. So it was a 50 50 answer
Was talking about the water clarity, not saying I was on ‘Clear Lake’ drive by that one a lot and it does get a lot of pressure.
Some of these clear lakes can be so different on a rainy morning, looks like more rain this weekend.
Buddy and I were crappie fishing near Shawano WI last weekend. we looked for warm water but no dice. We found them in a channel where crappies, bass and bluegills spawn. Water temp was 48 degrees. My buddy speculated the crappies would spawn early so as to be done before the bass showed up. The males were all stacked up.
I found some shallow panfish in the Avon area. Fishing a couple muddy shallow bays. 4-5 feet of water with the float down only a foot. The young guy got a whole bunch off hook sets in which made him smile ear to ear. We found sunfish, crappies and a few bass. He even wanted to keep a couple for fresh “crunchy fish as he calls them ( Pank, egg and flour). Fishing from shore is fun and something I love to do.
Must be some big panfish staging off the old river channel on the mill pond I live on. Those two guys in the low sided boat with two power poles on the back were a good 200yds from my window and I could see their lures make quite a splash in the rain each cast. Must have been going for trophy crappie since game fish season doesn’t open until tomorrow.
Gotta try to not let that stuff bug you if you can, I have been on lakes where i have seen that and I catch more bass than those bass fisherman anyway, a suspended wiggly fathead is usually better for them than a zippy lure in 45 degree water.
Must be some big panfish staging off the old river channel on the mill pond I live on. Those two guys in the low sided boat with two power poles on the back were a good 200yds from my window and I could see their lures make quite a splash in the rain each cast. Must have been going for trophy <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie since game fish season doesn’t open until tomorrow.
WI opened to catch and release fishing for bass when not in season in 2020. They were not doing anything wrong or illegal.
I stand corrected. I don’t bass fish anymore and I haven’t fished the mill pond in close to 10yrs.
Got out on my favorite east metro lake today. First time out in the boat so it was a shake down cruise. The old Merc was grumpy coming out of hibernation but ran fine once it finally started. Trolling motor acted dead until I plugged it in a few times to clean up the contacts. Electronics worked fine, and I was delighted to see that I can still use a fly rod.
Water temps were anywhere from 60 to 64 degrees. The weeds are not doing much yet, and water clarity was very good. Anywhere you found a hard bottom along the shore there were plenty of sunfish and a few Crappies. This lake is notorious for stunted little panfish and apparently that is still true. I did connect with a few stout pumpkinseeds that put a good bend in the 6 weight. Further out from shore there several hundred million Bass swimming around in circles. They seemed to be preoccupied about something as they sure weren’t chasing anything. You know that alien looking globular mossy algae blob stuff you see here and there? The Crappies were all over that stuff, probably because that’s the only shallow cover available right now.
It sure felt good to be sitting in the boat out on a lake in sun catching a few fish. A good day!
SR
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