Whats with the Pan fish and Crappie

[tomg]

So whats with this craze that people love going after Pan-fish and crappie through the ice? I settle for large perch, but prefer walleye and northern down here in PA.  I loked the salmon and northern in Vermont. 

When I was in Vermont, I was Ice fishing and the craze there is perch.  I was fishing for land lock salmon and one of my riggs I kept picking up perch and I was stuffing them back through the hole. Two guys come over and look at me like I am some kind of crazed maniac. And they say, "what are you doing? Why arent you keeping them? " I says they are just perch."  There were no large ones.  So then I says,"do you want the ones I catch after this? You can have them all. " Boy, did I make their day.  I guess to each his own.

But I would like to know why some folks go after Crappie and Pan-fish.  Do they taste good? Are they worth all the fileting one has to do to get a decent meal?

[Bean]

The same reasons you like fishing for walleye's and salmon. The fillets of them are quite tasty. If you asked me if I would rather have salmon or perch for supper, I'd tell you perch. That's just my preference, like you fishing just for walleye and salmon is your preference. If you have reasons for not fishing for panfish as you have stated, then you're missing nothing. Like you said earlier, to each his own. Where I fish there are very few walleyes and no salmon, so I fish for what's available near me.

[tomg]

Thanks Bean.  I just thought it was something more.

I like fishing for salmon, Walleye and northern because you can pull something big out of the ice and feed the whole family.  No salmon down here where I live in PA.  I will keep a nice perch because you are right they are mighty tasty.  But I put walleye up there with perch on taste.

[Bean]

I also put out tip-ups for Bass, Pike, and Pickeral. But that is just for the fun of hand lining a nice sized fish. I don't keep any of them. It's more fun when you have a little action now and then, and panfish are usually cooperative in this respect. I take my son out fishing now and then and if I were only targeting bigger predator fish most of the time, I think he'd get sick of icefishing pretty fast. Sure it's fun when they're active, but that's not always the case.  Keeping him on panfish keeps his interest up for this sport, and hopefully he'll learn to enjoy it as much as I do.
I can feed the whole family with panfish too, it just takes 4 or 5. Doesn't take me too long to fillet them since I've had lots of practice. 

[tomg]

The guys on The PA site have convinced me to give it a try. It could keep me busy when the big ones arent bitting.

[perchnut]

Tomg, if you see me on the ice, you can just give me those  nasty, boney, tasteless perch...   

Fun to catch and good to eat.  I grew up catching them in Wisconsin.  Few things better than a good perch fry.   But dont let me talk you into keeping them.   

[tomg]

I only keep the good sized ones because they are tasty.

[Fat Boy]

Tom, there are many reasons to target panfish, and some covered here.  I like targeting any fish any time, but during my ice season I mostly target panfish.  Why?

1)  They bite readily during winter and through the ice, so it's fun
2)  The action can be intense at times
3)  They can also offer a challenge finding them and figuring out what they will bite the best
4)  They taste terrific
5)  You can still catch other large species either on purpose or by accident while targeting panfish

I caught a 31" Northern Pike once on a power wiggler on a 64 oz. jighead using 2 pound test.  Well, 31" isn't very big and not much of a story for those that use tip ups and braided heavy pound test line, but for 2 pound test on a panfish ice rod it sure gave me a heck of a fight.  I've also caught walleyes and largemouth bass up to 4 pounds and several decent pickerel, and lot's of those PA stocked rainbow and brook trout!

[Strike Lead]

It has been my experience that there are two typse of ice fishermen on DCL.

The tip up guys are hanging huge minnows on the bottom looking for big fish. Once the fish show up the action can be good for about a half hour and these guys can sit and jig for hours. They are happy with a stick, a line, a hook and a split shot. They pump their money into heaters and "keeping warm equipment. They often drink alcohol in groups until someone yells "tip up!!!!!" then the whole gang runs across the slick ice to watch the angling.

Then, there are the panfish jigging boys. They like the shallow water and the constant action. They often use more sophisticate equipment and are on the constant search for the "jig of the day". They are skilled at maggots and worms.


I was the "kahuna minnow" man for the first couple decades and have become a maggot and jig man as of late.

To each his own. But more important.......you can always learn something new from the other guy. There are millions of different ways to fish the ice.