Pool #4 Panfish

I had my son, Hunter, today so I wasn’t able to deer hunt so we decided to head down to the Bay Point marina in Red Wing for some panfish action. We fished the docks where the poles went into the water using Shrimpos. The hot colors today were pink/white and chartreuse. We did not put any meat on the jigs but I believe we could have increased our catch with some waxies. I just forgot to bring some. The crappie bite was not going very well until dark but we still ended up with 15-20 good sized crappies. The bluegill, however, were biting very well. We ended up catching probably three dozen decent gills. All fish were released for further enjoyment. The main key to keep on the action was to move from pole to pole rather quickly. If we did not get hit within 5 minutes we hit the next one. It did not take long to pick out a few poles that were better than the others.
We fished with my ice rods and used the Vexilar to find what depths the fish were at. Most of the gills were right on bottom but the crappies were suspend 2-5 feet off bottom.
The key to getting hit was giving a sharp twitch on the line then just holding it motionless. Keep an eye on your line because the fish are hitting very lightly.
For all you ice fishermen out there this is kind of like preseason for the pannies. Every year about this time they come in in pretty good numbers and the bite should continue to get better through first ice.

Gator fishing without a hairjig or ringworm?That is a report in itself…sounds like you had a great day with Hunter!

Thanks for the report Lenny. Sounds like a great way to satisfy the fishing fix for people who have their boats put away for the season already. Got one more day at Lake Zumbro Saturday playing with the boat to get an idea where I want stuff mounted as its going into storage at Nates place next week. Once thats done then might have to check out the Marinas myself before ice gets here.

Thanks, Bill

Don’t stop once the marinas start freezing over Bill. The ones around here provide steady action well into winter. In fact, the upper harbor in Red Wing has some mghty fine evening/night walleye action throughout the winter. It is a secret though so don’t tell anybody.

Lenny, could you just slowly move around in the marina with a boat and do just as well? or are the fish so tight to the dock poles that yoou need to fish from the dock itself? Thanks

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Lenny, could you just slowly move around in the marina with a boat and do just as well? or are the fish so tight to the dock poles that you need to fish from the dock itself? Thanks

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I suppose one could do the same with a boat but I think it would be quite a hassle. We were fishing within a foot of the poles and at times even dropping our jigs down the slats in the docks to get at the interior poles. Also from the docks we could walk from slip to slip fishing each one quickly. It would be much more work from a boat.

Thanks, that would sure make for easy trailering I’m just not sure how you pull those slabs up through the cracks in the planks but I’m sure there’s a way

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Thanks, that would sure make for easy trailering I’m just not sure how you pull those slabs up through the cracks in the planks but I’m sure there’s a way

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There are a few planks at the intersections that are spaced out about 3-4 inches. Plenty of room for crappie or sunfish. We did catch a bass through one today. I had to reach under the dock and lip it because it would not fit.

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Don’t stop once the marinas start freezing over Bill. The ones around here provide steady action well into winter. In fact, the upper harbor in Red Wing has some mghty fine evening/night walleye action throughout the winter. It is a secret though so don’t tell anybody.

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Thanks Lenny. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you haven’t told.