When we are talking about eating fish it is hard to beat pan fish. Whether it be perch, bluegills, or crappies, it is pretty hard to pass up a plate of any of these. Besides the eating quality of pan fish it is pretty hard to bet the enjoyment one gets from catching them. Whether it be casting slip bobbers into the weed pockets or drifting across rock piles, or even trying to finesse them out of heavy timber, it is hard to believe over all the years that I have been fishing how excited I get to fish these fish. 

Let’s start by talking about the Winnebago System. This system is probably more known for perch fishing than anything else. The perch population cycles up and down and there is no doubt that we are currently in an upward cycle. We have a lot of perch ranging from 6-10”. Some of my favorite places to fish out on the lake itself are the Asylum Bay areas or south of Oshkosh around the Wendts area. I try to get into the transition areas off of the reefs in 8-12 feet of water. The biggest problem with a huge body of water like this is that these fish like to move a lot. A big thing is to try not to get stuck on one or two spots. Normally I will give a spot thirty minutes to forty-five minutes and if they are not there then I keep moving. Using Genz Worms and Fat Boys tipped with red worms or leaf worms or one of my favorite baits are spikes. I know a lot of people think that spikes are only good in the winter but I think you will be surprised if you use them in the summer the results that you will have on them.  Also using scents can be very helpful.

Another trick of the trades is taking a piece of chain on a rope and lifting it up and down letting it hit the bottom every time. I will do this for about 2-3 minutes and then give it a half hour and see what happens. I think it is something about stirring up the sediment on the bottom and also the noise that gets thrown from the chain. I know that this might sound kind of hooky to some people but give it a try you will probably surprised with the results. Just don’t over do it. 

I prefer to use short little three- to four foot rods straight over the side of the boat with a real soft tip on them with 4lb test. Make sure you use a swivel 21/2 to 3 feet above your jig. This will keep your jig from spinning. I also like to use a quick snap on my jig it gives the jig a lot of side to side action.

Again the simple things can make such a huge difference in being successful in catching more fish. It is kind of like if you set your anchor and the boat ends up in 7ft of water and you are not catching anything by letting out a little bit more anchor rope and going to 8ft this can make such a huge difference just changing a foot. I also like to put an anchor out the back of the boat to keep it from swinging too much. It is nice to have a little bit of swing like a foot or two but that is about it. It is important to keep your lines as vertical as possible. The stronger the wave action is the heavier sinkers I will use to keep my line vertical. 

Now the upper lakes like Butte des Mortes and Poygan are better bodies of water for bluegills and crappies. Most of the time areas like Sunset Bay and Skipper Buds and places like Terrels Island is great pan fishing spots also fishing the edges of the cane beds can be very productive for bluegills and perch.

Now let’s shift gears and talk about catching giant gills on Big Green Lake. For years this lake has been putting out big bluegills and for the most part not many people have heard about this bite. But since the internet it is pretty hard to keep anything a secret any more. Fishing the weed edges on Big Green, using slip bobbers in 6-12ft of water is key, or by getting a Lake map and fishing the cribs on the Lake are most often the most productive. Again in about 8-14ft of water, using 6lb test with 4lb test fluorocarbon leaders due to the extremely clear water with Genz worms or Fat boys tipped with a piece of leaf worm or spikes. If you start catching a lot of small mouth you will need to move a little bit deeper. As far as eating quality this lake is hard to beat. A big thing to remember especially on this body of water when you start catching those 91/2 to 101/2 big females let them go! These fish will congregate on these cribs and can be fished out very easily with too much pressure.  It is not an unlimited resource.  If you take out all the big females there is nothing to replenish it with. It is called just being responsible. 

Now let’s talk crappie talk. When it comes to crappie fishing the Winnebago system is okay in the spring when the fish are in the bays and the channels but this is only about a 2-3 week window and then again in the fall the congregate up into the river. However the rest of the time it is a mystery to me where these fish are. You can catch a few here and there but that is about it. So when I want to catch crappies it is pretty hard to beat places like the Petenwell Flowage and Stevens Point Flowage. These places are excellent bodies of water for crappie fishing. When fishing the flowages for crappies the key areas are heavy timber anywhere in 8-14 ft of water.  A lot of my favorite crappie spots I found when I was drifting for walleyes either in the river or on the lake. I would get my jigs hung up on the timber that are lying down there and then in the next pass I would try to stay away from these spots but a lot of times I would catch a crappie or two as I was trying to get my jigs out of the timber. That’s when I started using the Lindy  Timb’r Rock Jigs and I would hover right above the timber and the key is to work your way down. Some of the timber that’s in 10-16 feet of water, some of the branches may only be 2-3 feet below the surface, so I will let me jig down about 2-3 feet tipped with a minnow or just plastics and work that zone for a little bit and then go down a foot at a time. You would be amazed at some of the bluegills coming out of the top zone and the crappies normally were 6-12 feet down. It is never as productive just dropping it down to the bottom and working your way up.

It is also a good idea to use 10lb test PowerPro or Fire Line not so much that you are going to get the jigs snagged up on the branches but when you hook one of these heavy hitters they love to wrap around the timber and with the superbraid you just put a little tension on the line and about 70 percent of the time the fish will work its way back around the branch and you can get him out. Another key thing to remember is using scents like Pro Cures Natural Scent in the stained water.

Sunny days are always more productive. One thing nice about fishing the flowage is that you don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. I always call the flowages for walleyes, pan fish or whatever you want to catch a Bankers bite from 9:00 to 3:00 is normally the best time frame. Again on these flowages don’t be surprised to catch a few bluegills from 10.5 to 11” or crappies from 15” to 17”. But these fish are definitely not the ones you want to eat. If you are looking to get one mounted I can see keeping a couple of these but eating quality on a fish like this, I would rather eat a carp. Well, maybe not that bad but pretty close. The 7”to 10” are about the best eating. We surely are lucky to live in a state that has so many good areas to fish.

Always have respect for the resources and your fellow fisherman.

Good Luck Fishing

Larry Smith Outdoors, LLC  

L & J Smiths Pheasant Hunting Club
Wisconsin Hunting Preserve .com
Wisconsin Walleye Guide