We’ve all heard or used the mantra “that’s why they call it fishing, not catching” when the fish don’t cooperate. Over the weekend I got the chance to actually say for certain, you could have called it “catching.” The weather, although not the best conditions, was perfect for catching BIG sunfish and crappies.
The legal limit on pool 8 for Minnesota Boundary Waters is 10 and even at that, 10 sunfish like this, is more than a meal. What the DNR is trying to do is improve the overall size of the fish, and I have to say it seem as though it’s working. My first 3 casts resulted in 3 sunfish large enough to be called “slabs” by any angler. All 3 of those fish made it safely back to the water as I was looking to spend the morning fishing not filling a limit. It’s safe to say that a well selected limit should result in a limit of fish that measure over 8" to 9".
fast many times my small bobber hit the water and sank on impact as the sunfish were extremely voracious and hit the jig on the fall. When the bite slowed on the Shrimpo, I switched to a medium sized Moon Glitter ice jig tipped with a waxworm. More times than not, this was the ticket for getting the fish to bite. The highlight of the morning had to be reeling
This last pic is of a great friend of the family and “Story Valley Legend” Dennis ‘Gunner’ VanGundy. In his hands he has two 9" sunfish he caught on redworms. Nice fish Dennis! I hope to fish with you again.
Way to go boys!
Nice report Tom,
What kind of depths were you fishing from shore? And ws there any current going through the area you were fishing ?
I think the slough runs about 6 ft deep. We were fishing about 24—30 inches deep. The isn’t any current in there either.
Nice Panfish!
Prefect Eaters.