Pool 7 Panfish Report 09.12.09

For as much as I love summer, I sure love the months of September and October for fishing on the river. The foliage colors change in tandem with the annual transitions of all the fish on the river. All the spots I drove by turning my nose up to them throughout the summer months, are now at the center of all my attention.

I called my Dad bright and early telling him the boat was fueled and the bait stores were stocked for another pool 7 adventure. For as new as everything is, it’s very fulfilling to find fish returning to their old fall haunts, albeit, a little early. If you do well to keep in mind where fish winter, you can easily track them as they make their way back to their winter destinations. The fish I’m targeting right now are starting to move back off the main channel and towards their winter home. As far as I can tell, the Bluegills are using these wingdams as a source of food and structure. If you look at a map and study where you know the Panfish will be in the winter, you can make solid theories as to where they will be when the seasons start to change.

As I was paying for my bait this morning I overheard the bait shop owner tell someone on the phone, that all the Panfish have moved off the main channel structure and are now on the wood in the backwater sloughs. I thought to myself "I sure hope he’s wrong, I’m not done toying with my wingdam Bluegills."

After we quietly slipped in our 2 boat anchors, my hopes came true minutes later as I hoisted a meaty Bluegill over the side of the boat. It wasn’t too long after that, we had a nice batch of gills in the cooler and we were on our way to the next wingdam. Once again, after setting the boat in place, we found the Bluegills very willing to entertain us in the dense morning fog.

I will say this, the overall size since my last trip out has improved greatly. This morning, was saw more fish on the positive side of 8" than I have all year. That in itself is always a bonus.

Having our fill of those Bluegills, we made our way to one of our better Crappie spots. In no time, my Dad & I found ourselves in the middle of a great Crappie bite. Just like the Bluegills, the size so far has been outstanding. Lots of Crappies over the 10-11" mark. Even the 9" Crappies bear shoulders wide enough if you wanted to harvest a few for a lunch or dinner.

This bite should continue to improve as the days grow shorter and the air becomes cooler. I look forward to pursuing these panfish another year.

On a side note, the Smallies are starting to make their move as well. From what I’m seeing, their still feeding down, chasing crawfish and other aquatic bugs. But every once in a while, you can taunt one into hammering a topwater bait like this one was.

Good luck out there.