Look like something you’d be interested in? Early warm days make catching them as easy as you getting out to find them. Why wait? (Press Pros File Photos)
If cabin fever has you confined to your own fantasies, understand that the kind of early spring panfish are now biting at a pond or lake near you.
Back after several weeks in the field, I can report that the mild winter in Ohio has had a number of people for weeks now yearning for that first day on the water in search of a mess of spring panfish.
And why not? Really, is there ever a bad time to fish?
No, is the answer, and especially if you’re dreaming of some of those big spring black crappies that are just coming out of winter hibernation.
Actually, there is no such thing as hibernation with crappies, because people have been catching them through the ice now for weeks. But ice fishing and a warm winter day on the water are two different things. And if you know your habitat, and where to find them, crappies will be there and eager to bite on whatever method you choose to use to fill a stringer.
A lot of people are going to seek out convenient brush piles and use live bait – minnows or wax worms – somewhere around four feet under your bobber. It’s leisurely fishing, but it’s effective fishing as those adult slabs are going to be hungry and aggressive for a meal. All you have to do is be in the right spot at the right time. Minnows, in particular, are always effective as an early spring bait. But in the event that your bait shop doesn’t have a supply yet, wax worms will do just fine.
If you choose, jigs are another alternative, but my experience tells me that jigs are better later in the season around spawning time. Again, fish around submerged brush with a wax worm on a brightly-colored jig and you’re sure to attract attention because crappies school, and once you find them you could have as much as a full hour of explosive action.
Some of the best spots in Ohio?
Well, I’ve written about Salt Fork Lake, near Cambridge, before, and people who fish for crappies there are rarely disappointed. On the western side of the state Grand Lake St. Mary, Indian Lake, and Lake Loramie are good. And in southern Ohio, you find not only crappies but some aggressive bluegill action on Lake Vesuvius, outside Ironton.
If you’re willing to travel a bit, I know people right now who’ve headed south to Georgia and Florida to panfish in the rivers and lakes for red-eared sunfish (shellcrackers) and crappies. The Ludowici and St. John rivers are two of the favorites spots, but the inland lakes of Florida (Lake Kissimmee and Okachobee) will provide you some unforgettable fishing, as well. And of course, the bass fishing in those two spots is out of this world if you choose to change rods and baits.
The point is, there’s no reason to dream about it when good fishing, and fishing in the middle of winter, is already at hand. All you have to do is make a few calls, find out where the action is happening, and go do it.
It beats watching Bill Dance on television…every time!
Olde English Outfitters sponsors area sports and stories of the outdoors on Press Pros Magazine.com.