Twin Cities panfish report.
Hair jigs and jig/plastics continue to be the preferred presentations. We’ve turned to more of a minnow-style plastics, specifically the Mister Twister Sassy Stingum—it’s been the dominant plastic of choice. We then pair that with a 1/32oz Drop TG tungsten jig from Clam Outdoors and you have the perfect combo! As far as delivery method goes, we’re fishing them under Rocket Bobbers or else just pitching them around without a bobber as well… we just let the fish decide which they prefer best! Otherwise the hair jigs continue to get bit as well, and sometimes even work better than the jig/plastics combo. 1/64oz and 1/32oz on the hair jigs. Color hasn’t really mattered a ton to be honest, we’ve caught them on all sorts of colors this past week!!
The bite continue to progress shallower and shallower. We caught crappies in as little as 2 feet of water the other day. They are definitely beginning to darken-up, too! So they are staging for the spawn. We’ve focusing mostly on 2-6 feet of water. Main lake weed flats and turns, along with some back channels and cuts. I prefer to stay main lake, as I feel like you can oftentimes catch a better average size in my opinion. However, it seems like a lot of spots are beginning to “light-up” and people are catching fish all over! Water temps in the upper 50s and even ticking 60 now… so GAME-ON!!
Best tip: Don’t settle. Meaning the fish are biting and biting good somewhere, so if you’re not getting bit them move and be active. The fish are aggressive, so if you’re not getting bites then they are most-likely not there.
Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson Outdoors
www.mattjohnsonoutdoors.com