Want to Catch Lake Zumbro Panfish Wed 9/21 AM?

Hey guys,

On Wed 9/21 I am going to Lake Zumbro to test out some different panfish presentations. Yeah, I know the mini mites are the hot ticket but it is in my blood to try out different things. I would like to have another person along to fish with the mini mite while I try out different stuff to see if one is better than the other.

If anyone has Wed morning off and would like to catch some panfish, give me a call 507-289-2884 (cell 507-269-9614) or reply to this post before 8 pm Tue. I plan on leaving Rochester about 7 am Wed and fish until about 2 pm. I will provide the boat, tackle, bait, and transportation at no cost to you – all you have to do is reel in fish.

I plan to catch and release everything, but it is OK if you would like to bring home some for a meal (that is if we catch enough).

Dave Gulczinski

Oh David, that is a very tempting invitation, but unfortunately I have to work tomorrow, 6AM to 6PM.
Yes, Mini Mites and Flictails are a sure thing, but yesterday Mike/HOF went out and delibertly experimented with different things. We got some very big/nice Gills on hair. White head, red collar and yellow hair. A couple of nice Crappies also went for this presentation. We were talking that next time, going to target the Crappies with bigger presentations, such as tubes, etc., just to see. I can’t help but think a minnow on a plain hook might be the ticket. We know where they are at, now just to get them to bite.

Well there were no takers to go with me on my Wed fishing trip so I went solo. The first two hours of fishing were so bad that I would have been embarrassed to even bring another person along. But about 10 AM the fishing gods must have felt sorry for me as the bite turned red hot for about 1 1/2 hours — you could catch nice sunfish and crappies on anything. Then it died again – ugggg. After that I was able to find a good number of suspended big sunfish far out from the shore by slow trolling and drifting with the wind. Overall it turned out to be a very good day for the bigger panfish.

I did change presentation about every 15 minutes all day long and the best presentation was a plain hook and bait (waxies & crawlers). The darn fish kept pulling the plastics off the jigs and they would even take the live bait off a tiny bare jig without getting hooked. A plain hook was the only way I could get these light biters. I tried bigger plastics for crappies but there were no takers and I don’t yet have any hair jigs for panfish. Spinners were also worthless today.

Dave Gulczinski

Hey Dave,

Thanks for your report! Lake Zumbro can be frustrating at times and wonderful other times. There are certainly days when nothing short of explosives will bring a fish to the surface, and other days when the fish seem to almost jump in the boat. Being willing to search for fish, try different baits and different depths will usually pay off in some nice fish.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Thanks for the update Dave. Those fish being able to take the bait with out being hooked is why I love my St. Croix Avid 6.6” light action rods so much. Very sensitive and makes me able to set the hook after the first tap [and my reflexes aren’t what they use to be] as if I wait til the 2nd tap its too late. These fish are hungry when they pull the plastics part way off. Good sign of an agressive school of fish as theres completion down there for food with the size of the schools we have been finding lately. Which is great for the fisherman. Its fish like these that makes a walleye fisherman put aside the walleye equipement [never far away though, ] and spend time on this body of water when you can catch bullgills like these on light action St. Croix rods that make each fish put a real nice bend in your pole again and again and again. Gotta love it! Something tells me I should bring my ultralight action St. Croix rods along next time. For anyone wanting to really get the most out of catching bullgills and crappies I strongly suggest getting some really good St. Croix light action rods. And they come two different ways: factory rods or custom built St. Croix rods from Hooked On Fishing Bait and Tackle in Rochester. Clicking on the Hooked On Fishing words in my signature will take you to Hooked On Fishing’s website just like clicking on St. Croix rods will take you to their website. St. Croix rods are great rods for every kind of fish there is. They make catchin so much more fun.
Thanks, Bill

My go-to rod when the fish hit the jig fast and spit it out, is a stiff 5’6” light weight custom made St. Croix rod with a small spinning reel taped to the handle. I also use 6 lb Fireline on it — for me I have not found another rod/reel/line combination that can match it for quickness. This rod is great when vertical jigging walleyes or panfish under these conditions, but for other presentations and conditions I do prefer different rods.

My guess is that the light biters were just nibbling the tail end of my plastic or live bait and never even got the hook in their mouth. When they were in the aggressive mood they would engulf whatever was around.