Just Passin' Through: Early summer can mean crappies for frying pan

I had just hung up and lost my third jig of the morning in the sunken brush along a Pineview shoreline, but that's crappie fishing. The same scene, I'm sure, was being played out at Willard Bay and Utah Lake, where panfish follow the rites of spring and make themselves easier prey for anglers. Fish had been staging for the spawn since the runoff began, waiting on water temperatures to rise. The warmer days of May were now paying off.

In late spring and early summer, when the crappies are around structures for spawning, the catching can be hot, and the dinner table set with tasty morsels of fish fillets. On this particular day, we sought crappie, but found a few perch to also be cooperative.

Tying on another 1/32 -ounce jighead, I knew that this meant I was having success, and a glance at the stringer trailing my float tube gave proof to that notion. Harvesting selectively, the bigger females were plump with eggs and many we released back into the 65-degree water. But others were just right for the taking and had a date with hot grease later that evening.

"Got another one," Kris spoke up. His short ultralight pole was dancing, and I hurried to get back into the action. But the distractions were to continue as Jon then hung into a tiger muskie.

Big fish follow small fish, and the muskies of Pineview are no exception. Their numbers are high in the shallows during spring, and to think you need a thousand casts to hook one then is unrealistic. And by the time he landed the 32-incher, several more crappies had been lifted from their lair.

A few quick pictures, a couple of good fish photographed and released, and all was quiet again, for a few moments anyway.

Whether busting cover the way we were, or making longer casts for depth and distance, be patient and allow the jig to sink before beginning a slow, pumping retrieve. To better attract hard-fighting smallmouth, upscale the size of your jigs and tube bodies to match with the fish's capability to inhale bigger baits.

For younger anglers, using a float or bubble set at a prescribed depth will allow them to slowly retrieve line and play along as they wait for the bite to come. This way, being too deep or too shallow won't be an issue for them, and success will increase.

When targeting tiger muskies from some of our northern Utah lakes, keep in mind that they'll follow their prey into nearby structure. Throwing Rapalas or Senko worms, for example, will entice some savage, head-shaking strikes.

After another flurry of crappies, I laid my pole across my tube to do some picture taking. I had allowed a lot of line to dangle off the end of the rod, and before I could finish snapping shots, my rod was hopping too. Just that suspended action with a 2-inch curly-tail was enough to cause a crappie to come investigate.

This leads to another good point: crappie tend to feed "upward" for their meals. While perch are bottom huggers, crappie will suspend, even around structures or near dropoffs, instead of hold tight. Their eyes are set more to the top of their heads and they see well "up", allowing their under-bite jaws to suck in a bait from just below it.

Maneuvering a small boat or pontoon quietly into place will allow an angler the chance to literally sneak up on fish without disturbing their position below.

Bluegill, white bass, and other panfish will offer similar action in early summer to anglers willing to get out and find where they are. Some searching, including a watch on water temperature and depth changes, is key to success.

We'll all have the flyrods going this summer, no doubt. But during crappie season, I have a hard time not pursuing panfish, and the occasional surprise, in northern Utah reservoirs with those short, ultralight poles.

When Brad Kerr isn't fishing he can be reached at bradkfisherman@msn.com.