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March is a key month for chasing panfish and that’s just fine by me. I couldn’t be happier, to be perfectly honest, because I’ve just about had it with the cold weather and straight-line winds that threaten to send my portable – with me in it – across the lakes at breakneck speeds.

Each season I look forward to the aggressive panfish bite during late-ice, and it’s a welcome change indeed to sit outside with the warm March sun on my face and hands. And if I time things right and catch the spring sounds of a “Grapefruit League” Twins game on the portable radio while I’m out there, well heck, I’m downright peachy.

Brad Dusenka, with Frankie’s Live Bait and Marine, reports that the sunnies and crappies are really going right now, and it’ll only get better as the month progresses. If you’re after bluegills, Brad suggests visiting the usual haunts: Pancake Island on South Center, out in front of the Government Center on North Center and the south end of Chisago near the A-frame and eagle’s nest are good bets.

If it’s crappies you’re after, the water out in front of the old Dew Drop Inn on South Center has been giving up fish and the saddle between Sunset and Park Points has been productive too. Jigging any of these spots from mid-afternoon until dusk will most likely yield a mixed bag, so it’d be a good idea to bring along both waxies and minnows, wherever you decide to fish.

Also, take the time to auger a number of holes before you begin fishing. Or, if other anglers have recently worked an area you intend to set up, you can get by with a chisel alone - a few whacks with a chisel will easily open 2-day-old holes. The idea is to keep moving, if necessary, to locate fish, and once you’ve located a school of sunnies or crappies, it shouldn’t be too tough to get them to bite, particularly at this time of the year.

Hey, now that I think of it, I’ve been out on the lakes quite a bit this winter and I’ve never bumped into Brad on the ice. Not once. You don’t suppose he’s keeping a couple of top-secret, off-the-beaten-path spots to himself, do you? Hmm, maybe I’ll let you know after I get my hands on one of those magnetic vehicle-tracking device gizmos. Whether I tell you or not will be entirely contingent on how good his spots really are.

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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