crappies

Not seeing many posts on the subject of panfish, so I thought I would give it a line.
Have been getting lots of crappies the past couple of weeks. Yesterday myself and a fishing buddy were out and had to have caught at least 50 in abour 3 hours. Not many spots had lots of fish, but past fish producing locations all had some.
Nothing huge the largest going 12 and most around 10. Best spots were wood or weed edges with fairly deep water close by. Bait of choice was plastic, green or white did the trick. For me summertime crappies are the easiest fish to pinpoint, don’t keep any, but they are fun to fish.
I also like to catch perch this time of year, but so far I have not found any. Any help on the perch would be appreciated.

I don’t know what kind of lakes your are getting out onto this time of year. But one thing I like to do when I take kids out, or my wife. Is to drag beetle spins tipped with crappie minnows around weed edge/rock transition areas. When I say drag, I mean the bait needs to be on or near the bottom. Perch school in tremendous numbers, and I have found that the lower you are in the school (depth-wise) the better the quality of the fish.
Or if that doesn’t work, Power Nibblers on a teardrop around weed beds usually produces also.

I usually try to get out in Pool 4 near Wabasha, MN. I havn’t been out yet. I’m gonna try to hit it on Wednesday weather permitting. Has anyone been out near this area fishing yet. I usually use minnows or white tube jigs.

Since I was a kid fishing for panfish, I used a bobber with a minnow AND a piece of a nightcrawler on it. It helped make the decision easier on which bait they might be biting on. It also helps guarantee bait on your hook if the fish strips one of the baits off. It is flexible if crappies, gills, bass, etc. are biting. Two poles with bobbers at different depths also helps to locate where they are biting.

I try to use two poles but it usually ends in disaster. I get too many fish going at once. I do switch back and forth to find the right bait. You are right if you can use two poles that is the cats MEOW

You’re right two poles works to try different things if the biting is slow. If they’re biting too fast to keep up, I’ll drop down to one.

It’s always a guessing game if you see the bobber has a small nibble to wait, or take it right away.

Krisko, the Wabasha area is great for pannies. I fish crappies there all summer long and get them in the timber, deeper water, and a touch of current. Both minnows and jigs work well.