March 9th Report

[Rob Manthei]

Gamefish season ended this past Sunday. What a rollercoaster winter season??!!! Kinda glad that it is over.

The best panfish bite is yet to come.....the next 4 weeks will provide some awesome fishing for bluegills, crappies, and perch.

Crappies can be found right now in both deep and shallow water....some days they are suspended 4 to 8 feet off the bottom and some days right on bottom in very shallow water.....until they move closer to staging areas, these guys will make their locations from day to day a guessing game. Look for deep holes and thick cabbage areas right now.

Bluegills are somewhat mixed in with the crappies right now...however, I have found some good schools just outside weededges in 10 to 12 feet. Early morning and right before dark has been best.

Perch are cruising mud flats, sand bars, and rock edges looking for wigglers and red worms. Drilling lots of holes and moving around is the key for the next couple of weeks. Small Jigging Rapalas, Marmooska's tipped with waxies, and tip downs with minnows are the best approach.

The biggest mistake I see made is fishing where there is no fish....use your electronics to find the depth the fish are at and target that depth...if you have an underwater camera, use it to check to see if there are any fish around prior to drilling more holes...Use the lightest line you can get away with and keep your rigs clean of unwanted hardware.

Good Luck!!