The fall period can be a great time for catching bigger crappies and bullgills on Lake Zumbro in SE Minnesota. The bigger fish start showing up at this time of year and the Lake is not as crowded either.
Lake Zumbro is not your standard lake. First off all, even though its called a lake its not really a lake. It is a wider and deeper part of the Zumbro River which has been dammed up making it a reservior. There are no weedlines and weedy humps which make it easier fishing on a lake. The fish are either suspended or relating to a piece of structure on the bottom some where. Panfish are the most sought after fish on the body of water with bass being the second favorite spieces fished for.
Techniques most used to catch these fish are fishing a jig under a bobber, casting to the shallows when the fish are up close to shore, jigging when the are deep, and slow trolling Mini-mite jigs with your trolling motor. Last Saturday found me trolling slowly for crappies and gills.
Basicly I was picking off the suspended fish and the best bites came when trolling over a piece of bottom structure that was different than what the rest of the area around it was. Keeping your eyes on the locator for areas that had something differnt made a big difference. Fall is a great time to be on the water. The traffic is alot less than in the summertime and the air temps are alot more comfortable to fish in. Please practice catch and release with the bigger fish as they are needed to keep the fishery in great shape. They are the spawners that wee want to be around come spawing time. I decided to do a regular fishing report instead of just doing my weekly updates when posting results every Thursday about the weekly panfish events. I’ll see you on the water.
Thanks, Bill
Nice report Bill ,glad to see the weather and fish are co operating ,I have yet to make it there yet this year ,sounds like now is the time to put aside the walleye rods and get out the panfish rods for a weekend .
Nice Report, thanks Bill.
Jack
Nice report Bill!
Those pannies sure can make for a fun day on the water.
Boog
Good report Bill. Ron and I made it out yesterday afternoon and did pretty good as well. The fishing should just continue to get better as we get later into the fall.
Nice Report Bill!!
Fun getting after those bulls!
Nice fish guys !
Ya still using the secret colored jig?
Gotta love that hat Mike!
It brings out the…crappie fisherman in you!
Why is it when you guys post a panfishing report from the Zumbro, my mouth always waters??
Any truth to the rumor that there’s a good walleye bite going on?
Great Report Bill