All-Time Best December Panfish Outing in the Open Water

[Jim Gronaw]

Well, today, 12-27-14, was indeed a warm 56 degree day with sun and calm. My bro-in-law and I fished a local public lake and did not expect the kind of action that we would experience for a late December trip. Paul found a area where the gills were literally stacked up and we caught most of our 104 fish from this area. We got bass, crappie, bluegills and res ears.Here are a few picks...

We caught numerous red ears like this one above. Below is Pauls near citation red ear...

We also go a few crappies and bass...

No giants today, as the bulk of the catch was bluegills from 6 to 8 inches long. Their activity level was as if they were feeding in the summer, yet the water was a chilly 40 degrees!

Paul located the hot spot near an incoming drainage seep, as we had recent rains that may well have elevated the water temperature in this area of the pond. Total of 104 fish. 1/100th and 1/64th oz jigs tipped with either a mealworm or waxworm. fished 4 ft below a bobber. Some green weeds are still in this area and could be keeping fish shallow. Almost non-stop action...and it's almost January!

[Keith Ritter]

Lucky!!!!   Sounds like a great time Jim. Weather was awful here rain,rain,rain.

[Slip Sinker]

Congrats Jim! What a great outing especially on the ultalights.

My lakes thawed out today with the strings of mild days... some teens coming up though in the forecast.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Good job Jim and Paul......great trip and it just so happened to come in late December.......it has been mild in these parts and the 10 day forecast has us hitting 70 again next weekend..........

[Jim Gronaw]

Thanks guys! We had a series of upper 40 to mid 50 degree weather with some rain that spiked our water temps several degrees. It doesn't take much, but a little warming in the winter can trigger an open-water bite and put fish amazingly shallow.