Springtime Panfish Bonanza

The two times of year that get fishers excited are fall and spring. Although for most crappie folks, anytime of year they are biting is exciting. However, the spring brings an added bonus to the fishery. After the post spawn crappie blues are over with, most fisheries flourish with not only crappie, but bluegill, shell crackers, goggle-eye, bass, catfish, and a host of other fish. It can be down right fantastic or as they say "stupid good". The great thing about the spring is that you can catch all these fish in the same areas or at least here in the marshland, it is that way. Case in point was on a recent trip here in the marshes of South Louisiana in Terrebonne Parish. We found one canal where the water was clearer than most and the fish were active. One cast you would have a big gill, the next a goggle eye, and the next a nice sacalait (crappie). It becomes the perfect storm of fishing. While waiting on the crappie bite, there is always something tugging at the end of the line. It is one of the best times to cast a small jig or spinner with your favorite color jig tail attached. Its one of the few times I may abandon my jigging pole for a spiniest or spinning rod and reel. However, that being said, I have stumbled upon the perfect jigging pole that acts like a spinning rod and is light enough to toss a beetle spin or roadrunner and still be great for tight lining. It is the Berkley C Series 10 foot crappie pole. It's easy to cast a light weight jig using a small spinning reel and the action is sweet. I also like a curly jig tail over a straight one in the spring, but that's just preference. Color wise is starting with the standard black/chartreuse, but I also love blue/chartreuse for the crappie and brown/chartreuse for the goggle eye. But to be honest, when you get fish in a frenzy, any color will work. A lot of folks use hair jigs also. They are very effective and more durable when catching great numbers of panfish. So, it's that time of year to get out on these warm spring days and have a blast catching bunches of your favorite panfish. Good luck fishing. Hope to see ya on the water.

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