Backwaters Panfish Report

Fall is Great, But Woods or Water?

How many times have you heard a sportsman lament the brilliance of fall?  They’re not complaining about the fishing and hunting, they’re complaining about not being able to enjoy it all.  It’s especially true when it comes to panfish in the backwaters of the Mississippi.  Not only are there other species to fish for during this time (walleye fishing now can be great), but hunting opportunities abound.  From waterfowl to whitetails, ‘tis the season as they say.  So why would anyone focus attention on pan-fishing in the fall?  I’ll give you a few reasons.

Fishing and Eating, Tough To Choose

Not only do you seem to find larger concentrations of fish in the fall, but you often have multiple backwaters species in close proximity.  Such was the case this past weekend when we fished, admittedly, during one of the poorer weather patterns autumn can throw at you; Indian summer.  No, fish weren’t doing backflips to bite our baits, but the locations were fairly classic.  Backwaters are made for exploring, as fish move around in them constantly, and where you caught them a week ago can have little bearing when the current day’s fishing comes around.  So much in a backwater system can change, especially with most of the pools dropping after some of the earlier September rains we had.  With this in mind, we had our hearts set on trying a number of different depths, flow speeds, and cover types before settling in on any one thing.

Perch Saved the Day

Too much moving water can be a deal breaker, especially for crappies and sunfish, but it seems like the perch are a bit more tolerant of it.  With this in mind, we set off casting for gills and crappies in a small, stagnant hole that was nearly 10ft. deep, only to see a number of fish up really shallow against wood.  Clarity was decent, and these fish were a bit spooky.  Small VMC jigs tipped with crawlers under a float took a few gills and crappies each for the boys, but this area was mostly “off” compared to what we knew the area could yield.  We set off in search mode, myself throwing a Rapala Ultralight Shad in Clown, and my fishing buddies throwing jigs and bait, both casting and under floats.  The fish were not very aggressive, but I got a number of perch especially to give up their location to the cranks, including one that I got to touch, but not land that went well over 12”es.  Doh!

Micah Caught On But the Fish Were Finicky

All the crankbait work was paying off, showing us that at least on this day, perch were holding on deeper outside bends, just off of the grass and weed edges.  Too far in the center of the channel, and you wouldn’t get bit.  Too close to the weeds, and you’d be fouled almost instantly.  There truly was a small strip of zones, on either shore which held these fish.  The great news is that once you found them it was game-on.  We landed a few fish up to 12”es, but most were in that 10-12” range.  Perfect eating, and great fun for the kids, even though the most productive tactic involved reeling a 1/16oz VMC jig tipped with a small section of crawler just off of bottom.  This isn’t easy fishing for kids, especially when you have to cast to a specific zone, but they got the hang of it in between eating sandwiches and begging to drive the boat.  Speaking of, I think they like driving the boat more than fishing, which is fine by me as long as they’re having fun (and not running into things)!

Joel