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I spent a few minutes on the phone with Zack this morning, at Frankie’s Live Bait and Marine, and he reported that the panfish bite has been very consistent lately, despite the long stretch of bitterly cold weather that we just put behind us. Also, we’re experiencing something a bit unusual on our area lakes this season in that the crappies have been very active in the early afternoon. About a week ago, a friend and I experienced this early bite firsthand. Beginning at 1:30 p.m., the crappies on North Center kept Paul and me busy enough to cull some of the smaller fish and put them back down the hole.

The south end of Chisago Lake has been a consistent panfish producer, particularly out in front of the A-frame and Eagle’s Nest. Also, look at the “saddle” between Sunset Point and Park Point, as well as the west side of Pancake Island on South Center Lake for brisk sunfish and crappie action.

If you’re looking to pick up some pike on tip-ups, folks have been doing fairly well in the big bay off the west end of Green Lake.

For those of you that like to venture across the river and into Wisconsin to chase your dinner, Jason, at St. Croix Outdoors, reported that sunfish and crappies are being caught on Long Lake (east of Centuria), Wapogasset (near Amery), and Big Butternut (due east of Luck).

Tip of the week:

There’s hardly anything worse than missing fish after fish, is there? You set the hook, briefly feel the weight of the fish, and then are left with nothing but a stripped jig. After giving away your limited supply of minnows to the crappies for a while, it become downright discouraging and you begin to seriously doubt there’s a hook on your jig at all. Sounds familiar, eh? Well, if you’re having trouble telegraphing and hooking light biters, you should consider replacing the monofilament line on your reels with one of the many braided superlines out there on the market.

Unlike mono, superlines are incredibly thin in diameter for their lb. test rating, don’t stretch and will not develop reel memory. Your line will hang as straight as an arrow down to your bait and telegraph the lightest of bites, without the coils associated with mono that can rob you of sensitivity. Although superlines are thin, they are quite visible to the fish, so it’s imperative that you use a 3-4-foot length of mono leader. Most anglers use a small barrel swivel to connect superline to mono, but I prefer to use a double uni-knot to join these different lines, which eliminates the use of any hardware whatsoever that might act to dampen sensitivity. Tying the uni-knot is very simple (it’s the same knot used for making bobber stops), but explaining it without a diagram is, well, nearly impossible. When you purchase a superline, you’ll find a handy pamphlet inside the box that includes diagrams of many knots, including the uni-knot. Otherwise, run an Internet search for “knots, fishing,” you’ll find plenty of sites with diagrams to help you out.

Superlines run about $11 - $12 for a 150-yard spool, so filling your reels with it isn’t too cost-effective, and it just isn’t necessary. Topping off your spools with fifty-feet or so is sufficient for chasing panfish.

Give it a try. I’m confident that using a superline will put more fish on the ice for you this winter.

Dan Brown’s weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankies Bait and Marine in Chisago City and St. Croix Outdoors in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Dan Brown is a director at the Chisago Lakes Achievement Center in Chisago City. In addition, Brown is a fly casting instructor and trout fishing guide at Seven Pines Lodge in Lewis, WI. Recently Brown was featured on Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound and ESPN II’s Backroads with Ron and Raven, as well as KSTP channel 5’s Eyewitness News Morning Show. He is a Taylors Falls resident and can often be found on the area lakes, trout streams and the St. Croix river.

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