Shallow water combined with wood and the right plastics below a bobber were the right combination for both crappies and bluegills on Lake Zumbro Sunday. And this day I brought the camera for a few pics.
I spent Sunday afternoon and early evening fishing Lake Zumbro with panfish geru Mike Smith of Hooked On Fishing in Rochester. We started hitting the usual spots with minimal results and seeing alot of fishing pressure from alot of anglers on the water this day. We were using plastics instead of live bait most of the time so we would go to an area and if no bites after a few minutes we would move to another area to fish. We were looking for active fish and not willing to sit and try coax them into hitting live bait.
After doing some searching we found both crappies and bluegills in an area that we pretty much had all to ourselves. The fish we found were in shallower water [3-4 feet] relating to wood in the order of logs, branches, docks and boat lifts. Wood seemed to be the key this day.
The best presentation for us was using a plastic called Mini-Mites on a small jig under a bobber both casted to the wood and even carefully set right into the wood branches. Different colors worked with a pink or purple body working the best. Notice the plastic in the last photo of Mike holding a crappie. [You can click on the photos to get a better close up of the pic.] These plastic baits have a long tail with a very small stub on the end and that tail really bounces up and down enticing fish to bite. Mike does carry these plastics at his store and have been a top seller for very good reasons-they catch lots of fish. With the right kind of plastics set a couple feet below a bobber fishing the wood will net you some fish also. Hope to see you on the water.
Thanks, Bill
I would be happy to help you out with a few of those bluegill fillets Bill
!I have used minimites as well,for years when I fished panfish,they were also successful in fooling more than 1 walleye and northern as well!Are there any spots near the resort I might check on for a Gill? Thanks! 
I have heard that Sawmill Slough, which is just below the entrance to Goose Lake in the backchannel, [2nd entrance down right below goose lake entrance] is good for gills and crappies. Fish the wood with a bobber and live bait. Wouldn’t hurt to try plastics too.
Let me know how you do. 
Thanks, Bill
ps. Its area #16 on the Fishing Hotspots map Mississippi River Pool 4. Goose Lake shallow weeds can hold them too along with suspened fish on the deep hole edge too in Goose Lake.
Mini mite come in colors other than glow? Now that panfish assassins come in glow nothing is safe…
Must be close to a dozen colors of them. I’ll get Mike from Hooked On Fishing to post all the colors he carries. I know there are pink, white, red, chartruse, green, lavender, and some more.
Thanks, Bill
Youre lookin good there Billy! I really got to get the light poles out soon for the Pannies!!! Great fun and eatin!!
They are ALOT of fun on light action rods for sure. I missed out on alot of things last year so this year I’m not only going to chase walleyes on the river some but also fish for other species too as I want more time on the water. Doesn’t matter if its eye, bass, crappies, bluegills, trout, whitebass or whatever bites my hook.
Can be from boat or shore. Just give me a rod and water and I’ll be content. 
Thanks, Bill
Great report Bill.
We carry 18 colors. Pink, red, green, orange, black, brown, purple, chartruese, and white in assorted combinations. These have become my best fish producing lures this spring.
Good Fishing,
Mike
Great report Bill! Looks Like you had a nice day for it also!
We were out on Memorial day too. Went out in mid-afternoon and fished until about 7:00. What a zoo. We started out very poorly using mini mites. However, after doing some switching around we found a small tube that produced well. Luckily I bought more than just the mini mites when I stopped in at HOF a couple weeks ago. Hard to understand why someone can do so well on one bait while we did so poorly. I guess that’s why you always want to have plenty of choices in the tackle box. We caught the fish in the same locations that we had no luck earlier. The tube was a diff color than the mini mites we had used so maybe that was the difference.
Anyway, over the last couple of hours the 3 of us caught 30+ crappies and lost a fair number too. My wife, who has never caught a fish larger than 10 inches, had something large on for over 5 minutes. Unfortunately we didn’t even get to see it before it came got off.
We were fishing the tubes with 1/32 oz jigs and no bobbers. I was pretty impressed that she was able to get the hang of it somewhat and catch some fish. Not the easiest thing to do if you haven’t fished for over 20 years and then only with a canepole and bobber. We tried doing some fishing with plastics under a bobber, but with no success.
Nice fish ad report Bill!
So you DO get out once in a while huh?
Are those Mini Mites the same as “Cubbies”? I have used them for crappies, and will be using them on Red this next weekend.
Tuck
Yep I DO get out and fish. I just don’t do alot of reports as I spend so much time with the tournament forum and we have some good pool 4 reporters already. I probably could start doing a few on other bodies of water though and on other species besides walleyes too. Here is a couple pics [same pic] with different background as I didn’t know which background would show the best.
Thanks, Bill
Heres the same pic with different backgriound. The mini-mites have a tail that really moves up and down so easily causing attention to itself.
Thanks, Bill
The tail part is thinner than the body and yet has a little thicker stubbed end on it that has enough weight difference that the tail is very lively. It makes the bait look alive to the fish. And that means more fish in the boat.
Thanks, Bill
Yep! That’s what I use. They also go by “Nail Tails” and the Mini Mites I think are Cubbies. We won a crappie tournament on them one year. We fished in a circle of boats, all casting into the same spot, they used minnows. We used the Mini Mites, and caught probably 4 fish to their one. They really work! I rarely use live bait any more! Although, I will be bringing meat to Red this coming weekend!
Great work on the Tournament Forum too! A couple minutes, and I am up to date on what is going on!
Yep, they are Cubbies. I was out at Hooked On Fishing yesterday when Mikes new supply of them came in and on the box it said Cubbies Mini-Mites. They work so well for Crappies and Bluegills that I just had to buy some more.
Thanks, Bill