The power of Humminbird Down Imaging for mid-summer panfish
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Many anglers begin their fishing seasons in pursuit of panfish. Warming spring waters draw large numbers of panfish into the shallows to feed in, and months later, to spawn among, the emerging weedbeds and other shallow cover. Spring is a time of bounty for anglers pursuing panfish, and many baskets of panfish leave lakes in the spring, destined to be guests of honor at early-season fish dinners. Things begin to change quickly, however, after the primary bluegill spawn winds down. Suddenly, the shallow waters that weeks earlier teemed with abundant, aggressive panfish now play host to the "potato chip club", scores and scores of young panfish in the 4-6" class and smaller. Finding quality mid-summer panfish requires anglers to move out of the shallows and hunt these fish in cooler, deeper waters. In this article, I'll show you how I use Humminbird's Down Imaging feature to identify the areas that hold these fish, as well as the fish themselves.
Dr. Jason Halfen
Professional Walleye Angler
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Crappies
Crappies in many northern lakes move systematically as spring turns to summer. They begin the season scattered among very shallow weeds, then move to weeds along the first drop-off. As the water contunes to warm into early summer, crappie group up near the drop off (but still relating to weeds), and eventually, these schools move into open water. As soon as these schools move off structure, angler success declines sharply... but it doesn't have to! Schools of crappie in open water are easy to spot with Humminbird Side Imaging and Down Imaging.
Bluegills
Once crappies schools are identified, they can be easily targeted with standard presentations. My favorite way to target larger crappies in summer is to troll Rapala Shad Rap #5s on Sufix leadcore when I spot schools of crappie roaming depths between 20 and 30 feet....such as the schools of crappie illustrated above. While not necessarily a "numbers" pattern, pulling cranks for summer crappies regularly puts 13-15" summer specks in my boat. Other, slower presentations such as jig/minnow or jig/plastic combos can be worked through these schools to pick off additional fish once the most aggressive fish have been caught.
Early Summer school of crappies, relating to a deep (16-18') weed edge, identified by Humminbird Side Imaging (455 kHz) sonar.
Mid-summer crankbait crappie
Mid Summer schools of crappies, found in an open water area, identified by Humminbird Down Imaging
(455 kHz) sonar.
Avoiding the "potato chip club" requires summer bluegill anglers to move out of the warm weedy shallows and target deep weed flats. I look for areas that are outside of the first drop-off yet still offer thick weed growth. In these areas, weeds generally have 7-10 feet, or more, of open water above them. The Humminbird Down Imaging screen capture below shows how weed growth transitions from cabbage in shallow water to elodea in deeper water. It is this deep weed growth (and the nearby soft bottom areas) that hosts mid-summer panfish.
Weedbed profile as revealed by Humminbird Down Imaging. Note that the weed growth transitions from shallow cabbage to dense elodea as water depth increases. Note also that the bottom outside of the elodea growth is much softer (darker) than the sand bottom in the shallows (brighter).
Humminbird Down Imaging is a powerful tool for targeting the panfish that inhabit these deeper weedbeds. Not only does Down Imaging allow me to identify likely locations and the weeds that are found within them, but Down Imaging also allows me to see the fish themselves, as illustrated in the screen capture below. This group of panfish provided (quite literally) hours of entertainment in my boat during one recent trip. We simply set 1/32 oz black flu-flu jigs tipped with small leech chunks approximately 8 feet below a slip bobber....and waited briefly for the fun to begin!
Deep elodea weeds, and abundant fish riding over them, as revealed by Humminbird Down Imaging.
Hunting these deep weedbeds for mid-summer bluegills reveals the power of Humminbird Down Imaging, and the advantages that is possesses over "traditional", down-looking (200 kHz) sonar. The razor thin Down Imaging sonar beam allows for much better resolution of close-together objects, and in many cases, allows the angler to image individual weeds within a weedbed. For example, consider the screen capture of a deep weedbed shown below, with traditional 200 kHz sonar on the left and Down Imaging sonar on the right. Down Imaging does a wonderful job of identifying individual weed stalks and leaves within this bed of deep water cabbage.
Humminbird Down Imaging
(455 kHz) sonar
Humminbird "traditional" 2D
(200 kHz) sonar
Humminbird Down Imaging, available on new 798c, 898c, 998c, and 1197c Side Imaging fishing systems (as well as some older systems through a free software update from the Humminbird website) is a powerful tool for finding mid-summer panfish and the areas they inhabit. Once you locate these deep-water fish, catching them can be just as easy as it was earlier in the season. So, grab your favorite panfish presentations and your Humminbird Side Imaging fishing system, and hit the lake for some great mid-summer panfish action...without the potato chips!
