Make Sure Your Light Action Rods Are Ready

April 12, 2016

This April has been an emotional challenge. As outdoors people and anglers, we have all been struggling with the gale-force winds and super-cool temps. My family and I had a very successful Maple Syrup campaign this spring, but it sure has been difficult to get on the lakes. I really enjoy bank fishing for early season panfish, but I couldn’t find a warm enough day to take the kids out this week. Ouch. My kids and I are pretty hardy, and while we still spend a lot of time messing around on our yard on cool days, it’s actually counterproductive to fish panfish during periods of cold weather. It’s the warming air and bright sun that brings sun fish and crappies and bass into shallow waters in the spring, so when we have stretches of cold weather, the fish retreat away from the shorelines and station themselves in deeper water in the middle of bays or, in extreme cases, wander back out into the bigger lake. That said, there wasn’t much happening this past week in Otter Tail Lakes Country.

However, the “big balance” is on it’s way! Temperatures always balance out. We had March warm, 2 weeks of April cold, and now 60 and 70 degree temps are going to descend upon Otter Tail County this week and the fish are going to really enjoy it. The walleye will begin a true spawning run—one that has been off and on so far—and the panfish will charge into the shallows, in mass, and should give everybody a chance to catch a handful for dinner. It might not be that cut-and-dry, but I’m pretty excited about the warm up. Make sure your light action rods are ready and spooled up with new 4 or 6 lb test line which casts very nicely. Use light-wire hooks so that when you hook into a tree branch or stump (in the lake or on shore!), that you might have a chance to pull it free. Here’s my tip for the week: Since the panfish will be near the surface after a couple days of sun and warm, set your bobbers (if you’re using a bobber—you should use a bobber), approximately 1-3 feet down. Therefore, you shouldn’t need to use a slip bobber. If you do snag debris, and you do break your lure off, a slip bobber will slip off the line and float away. Then you’ve lost about $5.00 worth of stuff. If you use a simple spring action or clip-on bobber that fixes itself to your line, then at least you won’t lose that too. You should expect some snagging while early season panfishing. If you never snag (bullrushes, trees, stumps) and you’re not catching fish, it means you’re just not close enough to shore and/or the water is too cold where you’re fishing. Good Luck in Otter Tail Lakes County this week.