Lake Zumbro Valentine Panfish

Crappie Tom and I had some time to head out to Lake Zumbro for a couple hours this morning. The cold weather we’ve been having for a couple weeks seemed to put the fish in a negative mood, but we thought today might not be bad because there was a front coming through the area.

The plan was to punch several holes and move around staying on active fish. Our Marcum’s let us know quickly when fish were present and ready to take a look at our jigs. The majority of active fish are anywhere from 1-6 ft. off the bottom. There is lots of fish activity right on the bottom, but those fish seem to be much less interested in biting.

We used Diamond jigs and some custom painted jigging spoons that Tom made. Red spikes seem to be a very good choice to add to the lures providing both scent and attraction. Most of the area we fished was 22-24 FOW with the active fish off the bottom. A slight jiggle of the lure seemed to be the trigger to get a bite once the fish showed an interest in the lure, but there were lots of lookers that swam away without taking a bite. Overall, the fish were fairly active today.

When the wind came up and the temp started to drop, we decided hole hopping had come to an end. It was a little too chilly to stay outside. Tom kept a good meal of fish. Sure was fun to be back out on Zumbro slamming those nice panfish! Thanks for the good company Tom. Let’s do it again soon. Hope you all have a chance to get out and enjoy some fishing soon.

The fish were there again today with the same baits being good again as well. Same water for that matter.

I favored a gold jigging spoon [jigging demon] with purple on one side and a “headlight” of glow near the tie-on end. 5 to six spikes dressed this up to get the fish to hit.

Different today was the length of biting activity….they were still going when we left at noon. The best fish were anywhere from 2 feet to six feet off the bottom and basically every fish that I caught personally had deep hooks. The were not shy at the hit.

Size was smaller today for the crappies. One white was about 12″ while the blacks were shorter by an inch and a half. Another nice smallie came to visit my line again too, as did a shiner- hence answering the big question of what all the fish activity at the bottom was.

My fishing partner for the day was using a diamond jig that had the hook tipped out and he was still having a heck of a time getting the crappies to hook good. Many came off on the way up while a couple others came free at the hole.

It was chilly today and we opted for heated comfort, which I am sure put a damper on our catch rate. The fishing should be great tomorrow.

Thanks for the report and pics guys. Sounds like fun.
Thanks, Bill