By Joe Greco:
Well, it’s the dog days of summer. The fishing can be hot for many species during the summer months and all too often panfish take the back seat. After the spring spawn run has come and gone, and the ice rods have long been put away there are not too many anglers out chasing panfish. Typically around the time period of July through September, the largemouth bass takes center stage for many anglers when heading out to their favorite bass lake. There’s a great panfish bite that takes place all summer using techniques most panfisherman would probably laugh about, and that is using in-line planer boards and spinners for suspending crappie and blue gill. Once you’ve had your fill of catching bucket-mouthed bass or just plain old feel like trying something new you have to give it a shot.
So why bother with such complicated methods for catching members of the sunfish family? Well for me it’s about using a technique that can offer anglers another completely new fishing experience aside from the ordinary in a similar fishing situation. This program is also extremely efficient and it will keep you busy, or more importantly your younger anglers who get rather board with bobber watching (I have two of my own!) This is a great way to learn how to use planer boards as well as become more familiar with trolling speeds and boat control. It will increase your confidence at locating and targeting suspended fish and most certainly help you trust what you see on your electronics. Usually schools of panfish at this time of year are eager to bite once located giving you instant verification of what you have marked on your fish finder.
Let’s get into specifics. I am prefacing this article with summer months being the key factor here. Once summer conditions settle in, there will be a variety of factors that will not change for the most part. These key factors include but are not limited to water temperature, thermocline and feeding areas. After the post spawn for most panfish species, (specifically crappie and bluegill) the water by now has warmed and the thermocline (that is the most dramatic change in temperature at one particular level in the water column) has set into place. Many species including bass, walleye and panfish will use this thermocline as a form of structure and comfort zone, and will spend much of their daily loafing time within it. This along with presence of baitfish can provide numerous overlooked angling opportunities. Many lakes are simply not commonly associated with these “big water” techniques and the adventurous angler can really take advantage of this.
The first thing you will need to do is scout some classic areas keeping a close eye on your electronics as you cruise. These may include river mouths feeding into deep basin areas, deep water nearby weed lines or evening feeding areas and steep rocky structure adjacent to deep water could all be potential hot spots. Often times you will find fish in the wide open basin areas and there may be no rhyme or reason to why they are there. This can be frustrating, but taking the time to locate the fish will be key as they most likely will not go far. Keep a watchful eye on your electronics for a large mass of smaller classic “hook” shapes, and be sure not to confuse these with baitfish which will be much less defined and appear as a large blob. Mark these waypoints on your gps for later return when you are ready to get out your gear and get fishing.
Once you’ve found some fish and have the coordinates roughly marked it’s time to start trolling. I am a big fan of trolling with my Minn-kota i-pilot when weather permits and winds cooperate. The auto-pilot feature is a must have for fishing boards as there will be lots going on and you will not be able to focus on steering. My bait choices are either small crank baits like the Berkley flicker minnow or classic in-line spinners that I tie using small #2 and #3 colorado blades, beads and a simple Snell on a Aberdeen hook. This set-up is perfect for a half crawler or even a small curly tail grub which can work just as well. I prefer spinners as I know that when fished behind a diving apparatus (which I will get into) there will little to no diving depth in the bait alone. You’ll need either the mini planer boards like the or-34 made by off shore tackle or the larger or-12 will work with the tattle flag kit. This is important as the larger boards alone may drag the fish and make strike indication challenging. The other tool needed for the job are the new tadpole diving weights by offshore tackle. These precision trolling weights dive to precise depths at certain speeds. Offshore provides a chart which I laminate for reference on the boat. For example, at 1.0mph, a (good starting point for pulling crawler harnesses) the #1 tadpole will get your bait down to 20ft with 30ft of line out. Tie your spinner with a 6ft leader and this will attach directly to a snap swivel in the tadpole. Line counting reels are a necessity using this method, and a small line counter reel with a medium light action 8ft. trolling rod will do the trick. I like the custom trolling rods Jeff Goldberg has at Fish307.com as these are lighter action rods designed for finesse trolling, yet they are capable of handling the drag of a smaller planer board. As for line, 8lb Berkley xt gets the nod in my book. Plenty heavy enough to troll with and not too light, just in case you hook in to any larger predator fish. Catching big “bull” blue gill and crappie on this set up is surprisingly fun.
Another good bait to run behind the tadpoles are the Bay Rat Lures shallow runner stickbait. This bait had an incredible enticing wiggle that panfish cannot resist and can be fished at speeds as slow as 1.o knots.
So here is the program. Most fish will be marked in the 10-40ft of water range, depending on where the thermocline is and what the water temperature is. You’ll want to run at least 4 boards, two on each side of the boat, staggering your baits so your covering different areas of the water column until you find the most productive depths. Remember, it’s usually better to be over the fish then under them. Using the precision trolling chart, set your lines out according to where you are marking most fish. If is am seeing schools in the 20-30 ft. range, I’ll set up so I have those baits at 15, 18, 24 and 28ft for example and make a few passes. Then simply count out your line, clip on to your planer board and send it out. Distance from your board to your boat is not too critical as you’re trying to keep a tighter spread then if you were targeting spooky shallow water fish, like spring salmon for example. If on every pass the 15 and 18ft rods fire but nothing had hit the deeper rods then make adjustments accordingly to dial everything in. Experiment with leader length but with panfish I’ve found 6 to 10ft is plenty. Once you get into the fish you will be busy! Baiting hooks, snapping boards on and off and netting fish!
If you are into fast action fishing you will love planer boarding panfish, and you may be surprised how many other species are hanging out right there with them. Give it a try, put the bobbers and the bass rods away and get trolling!
Justy-Joe charters is one of the longest running charter fishing operators on Lake George, with thousands of satisifed clients from all over the world! Captain Joe Greco has been a licensed captain since 1991 and has years of experience taking people of all ages and from all walks of life fishing. If you’d like to spend a day with him out on the waters then you’ll want to visit http://newyorkfishing.com/index.html.