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There is something mysterious about crappie. They are good fighters that are tricky to catch and even trickier to pull out the hole. Crappie will feed during low light periods and will return to popular haunts near dusk. Crappier are suspenders. They will find a spot at the weed edge, around fallen timber or even in open water, where food is plentiful and suspend there waiting with open mouths! A good crappie area in a lake is a weedy bay. Early in the season and at last ice, crappie will be in as little as a few feet of water and as long as weeds are present, crappie will be too. As t …

Poppee set the hook and the Finesse Spring Rod seemed to break in half. The 1-1/2 pound test held even though the line was rubbing on the ice edge. "I-YEEEE,” he yelled out. This fish was bigger than the previous half dozen ‘gills that we had just caught. She came up to the hole and I realized it was one of those giant pumpkinseeds that Lake Geneva was noted for. "Whoooaaah look at that bluegill," exclaimed Poppee. "No, that’s a pumpkinseed," I said. "That bluegill is a pumpkinseed?" "No, that pumpkinseed is a Pumpkinseed." "Then what is the bluegill?" "J …

I looked around and it was dark       ...time for crappie. We moved more towards the weed edge, and sure enough the crappie appeared suspended up on the Marcum locator face. If we lowered our jigs to right above the suspended fish, we started to catch a few. We had made the switch to larger sized jigs (since crappie have bigger mouths). By 10 p.m. we had caught enough. We had one of our more successful days/nights on the ice. By nature Poppee and I prefer ice fishing in shallow water. But when the fish are biting in deep water in the middle of winter, then that' …

Some of the best bluegill, crappie and perch fishing occurs early on in the ice season on ultra-clear water. Shallow weedy bays are the first areas to produce and excellent fishing can occur over water only two feet deep! It’s true, these are areas that most anglers walk right past because they believe that good-sized fish can’t possibly be that shallow. But in reality you can catch some of the biggest panfish of the season if you follow some basic presentation ideas. Many anglers I know will make a quick trip before or after work. These prime times of 4 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m …

Early ice is one of the best times for panfishing. Fish are more aggressive and easier to catch. They move shallow and hang around channels until they migrate to shallow weedy bays where they relate to edges and open patches around weed growth. This is the time of the year when you can perfect your presentations for later in the year when thicker ice makes fishing tougher. Here are some techniques we tried last season that I'll share with you right now. Glow in the dark jigs for panfish Ice jigs and spoons painted with phosphorescent glow paint are key presentations in dark or …