Now is Prime Time for Slab Crappies and Hefty Bluegills

Nature is full of prompts to remind us what’s happening beneath the water’s surface. All of the signs say it’s time to head to the lake in search of plump panfish. The spring-to-early summer transition finds the shallows absolutely teeming with some of North America’s most popular and tastiest angling targets: bluegills, crappies, perch, white bass and more. Depending on where you choose to fish this time of year, you may find those species in one of three different phases: pre-spawn, spawn or post-spawn.

THE CHILLY NORTH

In the cool waters of the far north, where lakes may have only been ice-free for a relatively short time, panfish have begun to flood the shallows. The reasons are simple, this is where the warmest water is, and that water will attract bait, get bug hatches going, and kick-start the metabolic process that prompts fish to reproduce. A temperature rise of a few degrees can make a huge difference at this time of year. So forego water in the 40’s and keep pushing shallower, looking on the north and west sides of the lake to locate water temps in the low 50’s.

When faced with large areas to cover, it’s important to resist the urge to start fishing until you know with certainty that fish are present. Now is the time to take full advantage of your marine electronics, in particular, a fish finder equipped with side imaging.

Cool water, pre-spawn panfish aren’t quite ready for fast presentations. Instead, dabble a compact soft plastic, like a 2-inch minnow imitation rigged on a 1/32-ounce jig, several feet beneath a pencil float. Make long casts to avoid spooking fish in skinny water, popping and then pausing the float to tempt strikes from the largest and most aggressive panfish in the area.

Many anglers will bait with live minnows or grubs at this time of the year. But once you find the numbers we’re looking for, live bait won’t be necessary. Moreover, using soft plastics for these vulnerable, shallow-water panfish is more conducive to selective harvest and the healthy release of smaller specimens.

WARMER CLIMES

In the warmer waters found in central and Southern states, panfish will likely be either spawning or coming off the spawn. Side imaging is once again a powerful ally here, simplifying the process of locating active spawning colonies, as well as nearby post-spawn fish. In many ways, finding aggregations of spawning panfish may be as easy as cruising the shorelines of your favorite lake, where many fish will bed in water two to four feet deep with a firm, sandy bottom.

If you’d like to find bedding panfish that have yet to be heavily pressured by anglers, however, turn your attention offshore. Not out in the middle of the lake, but rather offshore flats that are connected to shore, with a 6- to 8-foot depth and featuring some scattered cover, such as weeds, stumps, rocks, etc.

TIPS ON FISH ID

Even on the screen of the latest fish finders with side imaging, like Humminbird’s XPLORE, any fish will have the same general appearance: its body will look like a small white or bright spot, which will be accompanied by an equally-sized dark spot found off to one side. That dark spot is the sonar shadow that the fish’s body casts on the bottom, a small area of the bottom that can’t be scanned by the side-imaging beam because the fish’s body blocks it.

I never get excited about seeing a panfish here and another there on my side-imaging display. I’m looking for big numbers associated with large schools numbering in the dozens or hundreds. Once you see that, it’s finally time to fish.

Active, spawning colonies tend to look like honeycombs, with densely packed depressions in the bottom that are dark in the middle and bright on their circular edges. With side imaging, it is frequently possible to see not only the beds, but also the fish guarding them. Look for that small bright spot, which is the fish’s body, positioned in or near the dark center of the bed.

FAIL-SAFE TACKLE

I will only use soft plastics when targeting panfish on beds, as they foster a quick, injury-free release essential for preserving desirable panfish-size structure (especially big, male bluegills). My favorite soft baits differ depending on the type of fish I’m after. For crappies, I opt for 2-inch minnow profiles. For bluegills, I prefer baits that are shorter and “buggier” looking, like a 1 1/2-inch tube. I rig each plastic on a 1/16-ounce jig head and recommend you look for jigs with a wire plastic “keeper” that will hold the soft bait tight against the jig head.

As for gear, I find a 7-foot, light-power rod with extra-fast action, matched with a 1000-series spinning reel spooled with 10-pound test braid ideal for lobbing panfish lures. Adding a 3-foot section of 6-pound fluorocarbon leader helps produce more bites as I swim and hop that jig back to the boat to entice those portly panfish.

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• This article was featured in the May 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe

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