Panfish bite is hot in Otter Tail Lakes Country
Tight Lines by Garett Svir
Fishing in Otter Tail Lakes Country has been a challenge this week as I believe it has state wide with all the snow and slush.
That being said we are still getting out and the panfish bite has been great. My suggestion for those without a snowmobile would be to stick to the larger lakes with plowed roads and beat down trails. The snow cover is also killing off most weeds and leading to lower oxygen levels on the smaller lakes so the larger deeper lakes are also your best bet for an active bite.
I was out yesterday with customers and we hit a lake off the beaten path for some big crappies and could not even drive into the access. We unloaded the snowmobile off the road and eventually made it to where we wanted to fish but not before finding a large pocket of slush. If I would have let off the throttle at all… I would have definitely had my work cut out for me getting un-stuck. Use your head and tell someone where you are headed. Crappies and bluegills are most active now over mud bottom basin areas. Keep drilling until fish are located before setting up. We’ve been using bigger tungsten jigs like the Drop from Clam Outdoors packed with either euro larva or a wax worm to quickly get down in these 13-25′ depths. Once a fish is caught getting back down to them before they move on has been the key. The perch bite has been very good as well around the county. We’ve found some really nice perch this winter. I haven’t spent any time on walleyes lately but have seen and heard about some nice catches this past week. Sounds like drilling lots of holes over main lake structure to locate active pods of fish has been the key.
Last day to fish for walleyes and pike is Sunday. Also time to get a new fishing license as the old ones expire on the 28th. Almost time for that March madness panfish bite! Hopefully we start to see some warm days and the panfish will begin moving shallow again and eating everything in sight.