Category: Crappie, Bluegill, Sunfish & Perch
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Catch More Crowded Crappies
By Daniel Quade Visions of icing slab crappies seldom include crowds of anglers. More often, sweet dreams of icy nirvana center on remote backcountry waters or hidden gems that somehow fly under the masses’ radar. However, while untapped fisheries can be dynamite, you can also enjoy banner catches on waters besieged by the bucket brigade.
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Maintaining Trophy Panfish Fisheries
By Andrew Ragas, with Jim Gronaw Panfish are the largest, most popular, and widespread freshwater fish species in the nation. Because these species can be terribly prolific in certain waters, stocking is generally not required for other than species introductions or in highly used public fishing waters. But when the largest fish of any system…
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Gronaw’s Gills: The Baddest Panfish Out There
By Jim Gronaw One of the cool things about fishing for panfish with today’s ultra and even micro-light gear is that it makes little fish seem big. This is especially great news for guys like me who catch mostly small fish anyway. Where as 50 years ago the panfisherman was limited to a cane pole…
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The Other Lepomis
By Kenny Lookingbill Bluegills are one of the most popular fish among anglers in the United States. Many times, they are an angler’s first catch. They are known for their spirit and spunk, being a dependable fish to catch when other fishing slows down, and great for the frying pan. But there are other lepomis…
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Late Fall Nighttime Crappies
By: Kenny Lookingbill – Date Posted: October, 2010 It’s been two years since that very cold mid-November day of autumn 2008. I recall fishing the Du Page River in Chicago’s western suburbs. We caught some quality rock bass and smallmouth bass. As our daylight was dwindling in late afternoon, we left for a dinner break…
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The Bluegill Spoon Connection
By: Bill Modica – Date Posted: May 11, 2012 It was a warm sunny afternoon back in the summer of 1997. The morning bluegill bite had ended hours before, and my traditional offerings of small jigs tipped with bits of night crawlers that had worked so well for me earlier in the day, was now…
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Wade Small Rivers For Crappies
By: Andrew Ragas – Date Posted: May 5, 2012 When it comes to crappie fishing, lakes and reservoirs are the most frequented destinations for serious anglers. However, many of them fail to realize that small streams and river systems offer excellent fishing opportunities as well. Rather than fish for crappies by boat on the pressured…
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Underwater Surveillance Mission
By: Tony Boshold and Ted Pilgrim – Date Posted: December 11, 2011 Ice fishing ace Tony Boshold sees the big picture. Give the world champion angler an auger and an underwater camera in the morning, and later that day, he’ll have discovered the lion’s-share of a lake’s secrets. Many of the top anglers fishing the…
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Ice Out Crappies
By: Jim Gronaw – Date Posted: March 13, 2012 Alright, let’s set the stage…the wind is a little stronger than you’d like and the temperatures could be a bit better than the 40 degree F reading when you left the house. Your fingers are starting to get just a little bit numb from the stinging…
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Small Ponds, Big Gills
By: Jim Gronaw – Date Posted: May 11, 2011 It all started about 53 years ago. My father got me out on the water at a small pond and there it happened…I caught my first fish! It was a bluegill, probably no more than five or six inches long, but to me, it was a…