Tiny spinners can be panfish killers across Mississippi, especially as summer wanes and fish need a little convincing.
To catch bream, most anglers dangle a worm or cricket under a float and drop it next to a log, weed patch or some other cover. Others use fly tackle, pulling feathery creations through the water or tossing floating wood, cork or foam poppers over beds.
Both methods catch bluegills and other assorted sunfish and give great enjoyment to the fishermen involved. However, you can catch panfish many other ways. Anglers without fly rods who enjoy something other than waiting for a bobber to disappear might pick up an ultralight spinning or spincasting outfit loaded with 4- to 6-pound line and work small lures for big rewards.
Fishing for bream with ultralight tackle greatly resembles bass fishing. Throw a temptation to a likely spot and work it out, hoping something clobbers it. Practically any lure type or method that will fool bass will also catch bream. Just downsize the offerings and equipment when targeting pint-sized panfish.
Assorted panfish species frequently hit tiny spinners, crankbaits, jerkbaits and even topwater lures. I’ve even caught bluegills about the same size as the lures meant for largemouth bass that they so viciously attacked. What those fish were thinking. Were they trying to eat that large “creature” or mate with it?
Among the most-versatile lures on the market, spinnerbaits catch multiple species from top to bottom, and they go many places where other lures would stay snagged. With vibrating blades giving off flash, spinnerbaits sometimes provoke vicious strikes, even from non-aggressive fish that might refuse other offerings.
Most panfish anglers throw “beetle” type spinnerbaits, also called “harness” or “jighead” spinners. Such baits consist of a wire harness temporarily attached to a jighead. Since the components separate, anglers can easily switch blades, arm sizes, jigheads or trailers to adapt to changing conditions. Onto the jighead, anglers can hook any number of trailer combinations in different sizes, shapes, colors and configurations. If fish won’t bite, thread on a different trailer without having to retie and start fishing right away. To make fish attack more aggressively, tip the hook with a scent pellet to add more flavor.
Easy to work, a beetle spinner can catch a variety of panfish throughout the entire water column. Retrieval speed determines how deep the lure runs. Like in bass fishing, simply toss it to good cover, like a grassy edge, lily pad, fallen tree, shoreline structure or another place that might hold bream. Let the lure sink — one foot per second — to reach the desired depth. After it hits bottom or reaches the proper depth, slowly retrieve it just over the bottom or through cover.
Warmouth especially like to hit spinners and often engulf bass-sized baits. Also called goggle eyes, these fish with larger mouths than bluegills love thick woody or weedy cover. The fat, little fish thrive in murky, river backwaters and swampy lakes. A warmouth can exceed 2 pounds, but most weigh less than a pound. The Mississippi state record weighed 11/2 pounds.
Around thick, grassy patches, buzz beetles over the top so the blades churn the water. Anglers can also wake them just under the surface with a steady retrieve so they make the water bulge. A surface commotion can bring fish up from the depths or pull big bream out of thick grass beds. Sometimes, fish come up and explode on a sputtering beetle spinner like a bass obliterating a topwater bait.
In areas with loose, floating vegetation mats or patchy grass, use the stop-and-go method. Pause the retrieve periodically to let the bait sink a foot or two. As the bait slowly descends, the blades continue revolving, giving off fish-calling flash. Fish commonly hit lures as they sink. Try this method around submerged aquatic grass growing below the surface. Let the bait fall into the grass or run it so the blades just tickle the grass tips.
Beetle spinners work particularly well when run through bream beds. Bluegills spawn several times a year and bed from April through October, perhaps into November in the southern part of the Mississippi or during especially warm years. Keep slow-rolling the bait at different depths over any shallow depressions on the bottom. Occasionally, let the bait sink into the bed. A good bream bedding area can produce fish for weeks.
During summer swelter, the biggest bluegills habitually make beds in deeper water along shoreline shelves. Redear sunfish, also called shellcrackers, prefer slightly deeper water than bluegills throughout the year. For fishing deeper beds, slow-roll a beetle spinner just off the bottom. Barely move the reel handle, just enough to make the blades flutter.
On the hottest days, cast to the coolest, shadiest places. Along a woody, river shoreline, fling a beetle spinner around cypress knees or trunks, fallen logs or stumps. Whenever possible, run a spinner directly into a log or other solid object and stop the retrieve so the bait sinks next to the vertical cover. After it sinks a bit, resume the retrieve. Around shoreline drop-offs, work baits directly over and parallel to the edge of a drop-off or slow-roll it next to the drop or just off the bottom. If necessary, add a split-shot to the line above the lure to make it sink faster. Use the lightest possible rig that will get the job done.
If fish suspend a little higher in the water column, try a yo-yo or helicopter retrieve. Let the bait sink to the bottom, pull it back up to the surface and let it sink again. Also, try popping the bait off the bottom a few feet and letting it sink back down. Keep trying different depths and retrieves to find the most-aggressive fish.
Magnolia State anglers can catch big bream in just about any freshwater system, from tiny farm ponds to massive reservoirs and the rivers that feed them. Some better places to catch giant bream with ultralight tackle and spinners in the fall include the oxbows off the Mississippi River. During late summer and fall, rivers usually run lower with less current than in the spring, and these backwaters can produce awesome fishing. One of the better active oxbows, Tunica Lake, aka Tunica Cutoff, about 20 miles south of Memphis, floods regularly. Floods frequently refresh and rejuvenate the lake.
“Tunica Cutoff is very fertile and produces good numbers and sizes for bluegill, and other species,” advised Keith Meals, a Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks biologist. “It’s a typical, active oxbow with little aquatic vegetation due to frequent water-level fluctuations. The best fishing occurs during a slow fall with a Mississippi River level at 10 to 15 feet on the Memphis gauge.”
Another great oxbow, Lake Washington near Greenville, covers 5,000 acres. It averages about 6 feet deep but drops to more than 20 feet in places. Highly fertile, the lake grows abundant forage and provides outstanding habitat for bream.
“Lake Washington is one of the oldest and largest natural lakes in Mississippi,” said Nathan Aycock, an MDWFP biologist. “The main levee prevents a direct connection with the Mississippi River. A low dam on Washington Bayou elevates the lake level 4 feet and permits boat navigation through much of the cypress forest. Some huge old cypress trees with lots of gnarly stumps hold good fish.”
In northeastern Mississippi, try Lake Monroe in Monroe County for numbers and Tippah County Lake or Lake Lamar Bruce in Lee County for big bream. Abundant brush piles and vegetation provide excellent habitat on Lake Monroe.
“Lake Monroe is on fertile soil, allowing bream to grow quickly,” said Trevor Knight, another MDWFP biologist. “Tippah County Lake and Lamar Bruce have historically been good bream lakes due to good spawning habitat and abundant bass populations. These conditions often result in large bream. Tippah County Lake produced the state-record redear sunfish at 3.33 pounds.”
Prentiss Walker State Lake in Mize and Roosevelt State Park, aka Shadow Lake, in Morton also produce good action. Prentiss Walker holds some bluegills exceeding 11/2 pounds.
“Prentiss Walker is the best lake in this region for big bluegill,” said Ryan Jones, an MDWFP biologist. “It’s a highly fertile lake, which contributes to bream growth. Roosevelt has always been a good bluegill lake.”
Smaller lakes can produce can produce big action, such as Lake Perry, a 68-acre lake near Beaumont. The state manages 20 public fishing lakes to provide good fishing. These lakes cover more than 4,000 surface acres all over the state. For more information on the public lakes, see www.mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/state-fishing-lakes.
Anglers casting lures like beetle spinners probably won’t catch as many bluegills and other bream species, but they will likely catch bigger ones than people using natural baits. Pound for pound, or more appropriately, ounce for ounce, bream family members will outfight anything in freshwater. Couple that pugnacious attitude with ultralight tackle and anglers can enjoy incredible fun.
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