The best days of fishing are often the result of happenstance — a happy coincidence. They can also be valuable learning experiences. I spend a lot of time fishing walleye. They taste great, are fun to catch, and I have access to a lot of water where walleye fishing is top notch. Best of all, they’re relatively easy to clean and at an average of two pounds, you don’t need a whole bunch for a good feed. Many of my most memorable days started out with the goal of simply catching a limit of walleye for a fresh fish-fry. But, these days turned out to be about more than just a hot walleye bite; they included a strong supporting cast of panfish, particularly yellow perch and black crappie. And a meal featuring a variety of fish that’s shared with friends and family is something to cherish. Elusive panfish Most of the waters where I target walleye also have populations of yellow perch and black crappie, but for much of the year, eating-sized perch are hard to come by. The same is true for black crappie, although a few places have a good, or even great, spring crappie bite. Catching perch and crappie on my favourite walleye waters was initially an enigma. But, after a little experimentation, some good fortune, and paying attention to the signals, some good days have been made great with the addition of panfish to the menu. One such day took place a couple of years ago on the walleye opener in May. I was fishing with friends Mike and Deryk Anderson. Our focus, of course, was walleye. The lake we were on is well-known for its walleye and there are also good numbers of jumbo yellow perch, which we load up on when ice fishing. But after ice-out, the perch seem to vanish. We’re lucky to catch even one. Walleye chop On this particular day, there was a “walleye chop.” The water was still cold and the wind made it a tad chilly, but the bright sun’s rays were warm, so all in all it was a very pleasant day. The first place we plied our lines was a shallow flat at the mouth of a creek where we do well in late winter. We weren’t catching or marking fish, so we moved down the shoreline into a small bay where the wind was blowing inward.
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