As good as it gets

Panfish providing action across the state

Last weekend’s “super moon” — which involved the full moon phase coinciding with its closest proximity to Earth this year — led to incredible commentary and photography that filled social networking sites.

The phenomena also led to extraordinary catches of bedding beam that filled iceboxes and deep fryers across Mississippi.

From private lakes and farm ponds to river oxbows and public lakes, the panfish activity peaked, just as expected.

“As fast as I could put a cricket in the water, all day Saturday and all day Sunday,” said Joe Watts of Canton, who filled two ice chests with slab bluegill at his private subdivision lake in Madison County. “I knew it would be good, but, man, this was nuts. It was stupid good. I had to go to town and refresh my cricket supply twice.”

All of his fish came from two bedding areas, both 2- to 4-feet deep, on hard bottoms off points with the beds surrounded by vegetation.

OK, so private lakes are always good, right? But what about public lakes?

“It was insane,” said Billy Thomas of Terry, who took his sons to Calling Panther Lake near Crystal Springs on Saturday and to Okhissa Lake near Bude on Sunday, before leaving town Monday for a month of offshore work. “The conditions were perfect — very little wind and 70-degree mornings. My sons and I were done by 11 a.m. both days before it got too hot. We had the limit, which in our case meant we had our two ice chests filled with fish. They’ll have lots of fish to eat until I get back.”

The Thomases fished man-made bedding areas at both lakes, gravel bottoms built when both Calling Panther and Okhissa were created.

“It’s not rocket science,” Thomas said. “We started doing this a few years ago, and got the maps that showed us where the beds are. The Calling Panther spot was off a point in 4 feet of water, and the Okhissa spot was this large spot on a shallow flat. It was big enough that there were 10 boats within 50 yards, and I think everyone was catching fish.”

Thomas said he alternated between crickets fished under bobbers, and worms fished on the bottom. “Both worked, extremely well,” he said.

Eagle Lake fishermen didn’t move far from where they’ve been catching big bluegill all spring.

“We just moved up a little bit on the piers,” said George Williams of Vicksburg, who along with his neighbor Tim Johnson caught “all we wanted to catch Sunday morning.

“Tim and I fished a pier about halfway down the lake that has been producing good fish for us deep all spring,” Williams said. “We went there and there were already two boats there fishing the deep end. They were complaining about slow fishing, so we moved up shallow and Bam! Bam! Bam! I guess (the bream) moved up there to bed but in 5 to 6 feet of water, they were burning it up.”

Williams said some friends of his also reported catching fish on the Louisiana side of the lake, fishing 5 feet deep around cypress trees. “They didn’t find beds, but they sure caught some nice big bluegills,” he said.

In other fishing news:

* The full moon phase also produced some late spawning crappie action at Barnett Reservoir, especially on the lower end of the main lake, and at some oxbows like Eagle, Washington, Bee and Wolf and at some north Mississippi reservoirs — Sardis, Arkabutla and Pickwick.

* Catfishing activity is picking up on most waters, as the spawning season begins. This writer caught a 20-pound blue on a Bandit 250 crankbait Friday on Barnett, fishing on a 10-foot ridge surrounded by 20 feet of water. A check with grabblers — the season opened May 1 — indicated that only blues have moved into the shallow houses. Few flatheads were reported.

* Bass are quickly moving into postspawn patterns on most waters, which are warming quickly into the 80-degree range. Look for fish forming schools in staging areas near shallow spawning flats. The first drops are loading up with fish, but they aren’t expected to stay long. As fast at the water temp is rising, the fish will quickly move to deeper summer homes like deep drops and the ends of long points.