On May 14th, I made my first trip to a local farm pond for a few hours of pan fishing. The term “pan fish” means any fish other than a “game fish” such as trout, bass, walleye etc. The quarry on this trip was bluegills and the black crappie.
In two hours of fishing I was able to land 10 bluegills and 4 nice black crappies. That may not seem like a big haul; I do not fish fast, usually sitting down after landing every fish. The catch yielded 35 nice fillets; a good treat for a lucky couple whom we will invite to dine with us this year. Our farmer friends really enjoy a fish dinner; they get plenty of beef at home.
The setup for pan fishing that I use is a glass rod about 5 ½ feet in length with and an ultra light spinning reel. 4 pound test line completes the rod. For a lure, I use the Bass Pro Shop’ Squirmin” Squirt rubber jigs. While all colors will work just fine, I use the color combination of the yellow body and white legs. The lead jig I use has a yellow or white head. I also use a foam bobber. Set the bobber so that the jig does not touch the bottom of the pond. You may have to experiment some to get the depth just right; it can and will vary as you fish along the shore line. Resharpen your hook after every 5 fish.
You should cast into any breeze and simply reel enough to keep out the slack of the line. The wave action bounces the jig which fish find irresistible. When the bobber goes under water, you simply raise the rod and set the hook. I like to start in one chosen spot and cast in directions of a clock. Start at 12, and vary to 3 and 9. If you get action in one direction, keep casting to that spot until the action stops. It should take at least ten minutes to fish one spot without moving assuming you get no hits; that is rare this time of year as the black crappies are spawning and the bluegills will in just a few weeks. You will often catch fish near shore so you do not have to cast way out. I often have multiple bites on the same cast.
When I catch a fish, I put it in a wire mesh floating basket. It keeps all the fish alive until time to go home. Once home, they go into a small garbage bag and into a dish pan into the refrigerator until the next day. It is much easier to fillet a fish after they are chilled and firm up.
After the fish are filleted, they are soaked in cold salt water in the frig for several hours; then put into an ice cream container filled with water and into the freezer. Fish kept this way will easily be good for at least a year.
This column is dedicated to my fishing buddy, Gary D. Avery, who died December 14, 2014 at the tender age of 74. Gary was also my best friend and long time insurance associate. It is hard for me to realize that we will never fish together in this life again.
Jim Collins is an outdoor writer for this newspaper. To contact him, email jimcollinsinsurance@frontiernet.net; or write to him at Outdoors With Jim Collins, 87 Windfall Road, Alba, PA 16910.