Early season perch & crappies, on the fly?

[troutbert]

I talked to some guys fishing for perch and crappies this past weekend and they showed me what they caught, and they did pretty well, using worms and minnows.

Can we compete with them using flies at this time of year, when the water is cold?

If so, what flies and techniques would be best?

 

[Fishidiot]

troutbert wrote:
Can we compete with them using flies at this time of year, when the water is cold?
If so, what flies and techniques would be best?

You bet! And NOW is the time.

Realistically... can we expect to catch as many panfish in the sizes that bait guys get 'em? No - not often anyway. However, panfish can be caught in great numbers on the fly, esp in springtime. If crappies and perch in particular are your target, you want to be out chasing 'em in late March and April. This is when they are shallow.
Big bluegills are still shallow thru May.

Unfortunately, too many FFers don't start thinking about panfish until summertime. By June, the crappies, perch, and larger bluegills in lakes are often too deep to target with fly gear. I was out for about an hour on Sunday at a local crappie spot I like. Got a strike on almost every cast and kept a half dozen for dinner. My favorite springtime crappie fly is an inch or so long, light weight streamer (emphasis on light, you want a slow sink rate) utilizing silver mylar with a touch of pink. Strikes are very subtle this time of year, a bobber type strike indicator really helps.
Get out now! There's a shoreline brush pile at your local lake just waiting for you to nail some crappies.

 

[jay348]

There have been a few panfish threads lately, so there may be more info elsewhere in the WW forum.

In my (limited) springtime panfish experience. I'd go with small minnow patterns (cant beat a small bead-chain clouser) under a strike indicator. I'm sure any kind of buggy nypmh would do as well. Either way, I'd suggest a longer shanked hook as removal can be a pain.

The fly wont matter as much as finding the school of fish, though. Look for any kind of structure, and cover water. Youll know when you find them.

 

[delta_dog]

Crappie on the fly is a blast especially on a 3 wt.

 

[addictedangler]

Water temps are still too cold even in Va. the bite is slow. When it hits fifty deg. things turn on for Crappie. You can go to crappie.com for good info.

 

[sandfly]

got lots of small jig flies and minnow patterns ready and waitin. still have lots of ice here.

 

[streamerguy]

As Fishidiot said, now is the time! Out my way the water's still icy and they haven't moved shallow yet, but the crappie fishing this time of year can be amazing. Once you locate them it can be non stop action!

 

[icyguides]

Fishidiot was spot on from my experience. I like small and more importantly lightweight jig type flies in white marabou or bunny with a little flash under a thingamabobber. The really slow fall of the jig seems to be what really entices more fish to bite.

 

[geebee]

nice fish Icy.

Yellow perch hit all winter don't they ?

even the ice guys jig for them as far as i know.

you guys might also want to look at Brian Chans Balanched leech fly - it uses a jig hook, a cut pinhead and a bead to produce a jigging effect as it falls or drifts above weed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ7qBirJyhE

this was on sportfshing on the fly TV show.

 

[icyguides]

Yes, yellow perch hit well in cold water. Very early spring (now) in Maryland yellow perch fishing during spawning runs is a big deal on the northeast river, the severn, and probably many others Chesapeake tidal rivers. Also the lower Susquehanna and other Chesapeake tidal rivers can get incredible runs of white perch in the spring which are very tasty, easy to catch, and grow to a decent size. The hard part about fishing for panfish is locating nice sized fish to keep.

 

[icyguides]

More Perch Porn...

 

[addictedangler]

If you do not mined fishing 20 plus feet of water perch bite is good through the ice. They are ready to spawn and will go shallow when temps warm. I almost never caught a perch through the ice except on the bottom in deeper water. Crappie will suspend in winter and can be caught anywhere in the water column.