20180913-Panfish Harvest Day!

Every now and then I select a trip and a lake to harvest a few slot fish… today was 8.0 and under B.Gills for the slot on a very popular sports lake with numbers of mid-sized Panfish. Every now and then I’ll hook up with a trophy on this lake… they are few and far between. The fish are generally healthy and well nourished with an above normal growth rate.

I spend a lot of time on the water and know my lakes very well when it comes to the fish populations and ranges of size. I have a good idea of what lakes are safe and even beneficial to harvest without damaging a population. A guideline I usually follow is I will usually keep a slot of 85% or under of full Master Angler Rating for the fish… eg. A 10” B.Gill is 100% Master Angler Rated. So at 85% the B.Gill are set at 8.5 a crappie is 12.0 85% of 14.0”. Today the slot was set at 8.0” for B.Gill. I never cull.

Note: I’ve had several 100 fish count days from this lake!

With a FAL sitting at 49% fish could show for a decent bite to bring home about 15 fish. The weather was fantastic with above normal temps and above normal water temps at summer peak levels. Fish should be on that pre-fall eating binge.

Winds were near flat and calm… partial cloudiness. IMO fish bite in the bright sunshine as well as the cloudy skies. Solunar periods matter more than weather.

Once launched and on my way to the first waypoint, water conditions looked perfect for the lake this time of year. Just a slight algae bloom … but did not pose a problem thru the trip.

This lake in particular first thing I make a beeline to a particular waypoint with an underwater cluster of stumps… an area that is small in size but holds quantities of quality fish. A PB LMB earlier in the year came from this very spot as well as some jumbo B.Crappie. I never see fisherman fish this spot. The stump field was discovered when I mapped the lake with my sonar unit last year. Pays to know your lake bottom!

My rod bundle included the popular mix of Micro-jigging rods for the long-cast as well as a couple float rods one with braid and the other with Nano-fil.

I found some jumbo P.Seeds close to the shore in the wood as well as B.Gills at the 2nd break (deep) weedline edge.

Im at the point in my fishing career that I take this sport very serious when it comes to balanced tackle. I don’t use a one rod “does everything approach” like I used to back in the day with LMBs’ etc. I have separate slip float rigs for shallow slop to deeper weed line edges same thing with the Long-Casters for the Micro-Jigs several different setups to fill the need. I enjoy that!

Using the balanced tackle, tagging fish and enjoying the weather the endorphins were flowing!

I filled my 15 fish personal limit quickly ( Michigan Limit is 25 panfish in combination) laying the fish on the ice in the cooler then started focusing on trophy fishing. Came close with a few P.Seeds that were CPR’ed.

I started fishing at the beginning of the Lull.Period… caught fish and the pace picked up as the Major.Period approached along with quality.

Really enjoyed tagging the fish on the slip/float/fly/waxie method on the visible structure along the shore.

Very good trip for the books!

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