Adventure Your Way to Backwoods Panfish

When I started my fishing career, I was obsessed with finding hidden gems. GPS wasn’t even a thing yet, and the best maps were made of paper and difficult to get your hands on. It was a different time; a time when you could fish a lake for a week straight and never see another angler. I remember grabbing a buddy and traveling back into the bush to try a new lake, only toting an auger, our Vexilars and a few rods.

The author with a big crappie caught against the shelves of the National Forest on a backwoods gem. Photo courtesy of Matthew J. Breuer.

Sometimes those potholes would give up giant panfish, other times our buckets would be empty. Either way, we were venturing into the unknown. It was pure and it was exciting. When those potholes would give up their bounty, the fish were usually completely unmolested, and were absolutely gorgeous. True bruisers, caught off the beaten path.

Where to Look

When you imagine a “backwoods lake,” I’m sure you’re imagining a picturesque lake in the middle of the forest. There might be deer on the shorelines, fresh wolf tracks and no drilled holes in sight. You’re the first angler to touch it all season. And while most of the time those are the lakes that are referred to as backwoods lakes, some of the biggest and most popular bodies of water have spots much like the tiny lakes you’re picturing in your head. Areas inaccessible by river channels, bays that most anglers consider dead, or midlake structure that walleye anglers ignore because they top out too high, in too thick of vegetation. Millions of productive acres on big waters go unfished every season. Spots like these can be absolute panfish gems. Even Minnesota walleye powerhouses such as Mille Lacs and Leech have giant panfish haunts that rarely see anglers. The backwoods spots hidden in plain sight.

The author’s mobile angling setup. Photo by Matthew J. Breuer.

If you’re stuck with the picturesque lake in your head, I don’t blame you. There’s nothing quite like drilling the first hole of the year into a lake, especially a small one you’ve always had on your “wish list” of lakes to try. For me, between State Parks, National Forests, and State and County recreation areas, I have more than 700,000 acres of backwoods to explore. Many of those acres have miles of snowmobile/ATV trails winding through them and nearly all of them are close to tiny lakes in the forest.

These little gems, often only accessible by snowmobile in the winter, and possibly less than 100 acres, are the boom or bust lakes you’re after. Finding these little gems is simple. Google Maps and Navionics have made mobile apps that allow you to not only find the gems, but to navigate to them with your phone in hand if need be. Very few of these lakes are going to be mapped for depths or contours, so you’ll probably be on your own when it comes to figuring that out.

Planning Your Attack

There’s no handbook to uncovering the secrets to all of the little backwoods lakes, and I’m not going to tell you that I have the answers. I haven’t even tried half of the 400 lakes in the 30-mile radius around my home. However, I do have a lot of experience with off-the-map travel and drilling open lakes that are rarely touched. The first thing I can tell you is that you’re going to need a lot of gas for your auger, snowmobile, maybe even enough to light a fire in case you decide that you’re staying out until you figure out the bite on a lake 18 miles from the nearest road.

The author uses a Snowdog to access early-ice spots with ease. Photo by Matthew J. Breuer.

While I’m kidding about the all-night fishing adventures, I’m not kidding about the amount of gas you should have along. When trying a new lake, going through a tank of auger gas or a pile of batteries is common. As for your ATV or sled, the last thing you want to do is run out of gas back in the bush. Always have spare plugs, spare gloves, hats, an emergency kit, snacks, a lifejacket, ice picks, lots of hand/foot/body warmers, and anything else you can think of that would come in handy if you were to get stranded.

With the safety disclaimer out of the way, it’s time to get down to the beans of the hunt. Start in the basin; that’s my tip. Even if you’re after bluegills, I suggest that you start in the basin, looking for pods of suspended fish, and then work your way toward the nearest structure or break from there. This especially holds true during midwinter, when fish are starting to starve for oxygen, and will roam very high in the water column. Many of them will roam over very deep water to avoid predators and pick off micro-organisms floating in the basin. One of my longtime favorite panfish lakes holds giant bluegills, midwinter, 5-10 feet below the ice over 45 feet of water.

A true backwoods bruiser, caught by the author during an early-ice scouting trip. Photo by Matthew J. Breuer.

If the fish aren’t in the basin, or around the perimeter of the basin, look for areas where weeds may be obvious. Pay attention to the shorelines, as the contour of the land often follows the contour below the ice. Look for long, flat, sloping areas, where large weed flats may be present. Points, neck-down areas and bays are all good spots to check, as well.

If you’re targeting unpressured panfish on popular walleye waters, or big waters, look to the bays or shallow weed flats. Large cabbage flats, that many large bodies of water have an abundance of, can be great starting points. Just plan to drill a lot of holes and move often.

Modified Travel

I’m no longer a young man, and my legs and arms can’t handle near the punishment they once could, but I’m still passionate about exploring, and I’m always up for an adventure. I rely mostly on my Arctic Cat Bearcat these days. With a wide track and the wide-based flotation skis, I’m comfortable pushing it to the limits, and can reach most backwoods lakes safely and quickly. A quick search online and you can find hundreds of modifications that can be done to winter sleds to make life easy. Auger racks, bucket racks, Fish Trap racks, etc. Add a GPS on a RAM mount and you’ve got yourself a true fishing machine.

A very thick bluegill caught by the author on a backwoods scouting trip. Photo by Matthew J. Breuer.

Another great tool for accessing some of these backwoods lakes is with the use of a Snowdog. The Snowdog is a tracked machine that is incredibly lightweight and it actually pulls you behind the tracks in a sled. You can stand or sit, but standing gives you better balance and control. For gear, you can pull a lot of gear behind the sled, and the sled itself can be fully loaded down. These machines will go through marshes, over logs, and are incredibly nimble. If you’re a hardcore bite-chaser, the Snowdog is a must for you. Tight corners and squeezes through trees aren’t a problem for these compact beasts. The best part — they can run for extremely long periods of time on a single tank of gas.

Earlier I mentioned carrying in a lot of gear, but I want to emphasize that if you’re going to be bringing in a lot of gear, you’ll want something like a sled to transport it. I have an auger rack and a rack for my one man Clam Fish Trap on my sled, and I can pack a ton of gear with me. My sled is even rigged up with a Nebulus Flotation System, so if I happen to bust through or hit open water, I can simply pull a rip cord and have a life raft in seconds.

The Vexilar FLX-30 is a great tool for finding fish, with a battery life that will get you through a full day of scouting. Photo by Matthew J. Breuer.

If you happen to be venturing on foot, be sure to bring snowshoes, and be sure to have a buddy along. Many of these smaller Northwoods lakes are full of springs, and ice thickness can vary greatly from spot to spot.

While on foot, I try to always have ice picks around my neck or at my sides, and I wear a life jacket if it’s my first time venturing onto a new body of water. Trying to minimize weight is essential, and you can cut a lot of fat by bringing an electric auger. Something like the K-Drill from Vexilar or the Clam Conversion Kit with a bit. Powering either of them with a lithium-powered drill will cut your weight down a lot.

Tackle and Tactics

The tackle you’ll need is simple, and the tactics you’re going to employ are also simple. You’ll want to use tungsten, as you’re possibly going to be fishing fairly deep at times, and may run into schooling fish. Tungsten is much heavier than standard lead jigs, and drops much faster. Clam Pro Tackle has a great line of tungsten jigs. Tip them with a Maki plastic or some good old-fashioned wax worms or eurolarvae, and you’re in business. Even if your target is crappies, there’s absolutely no reason to tote minnows around.

The best tactic to employ was mentioned earlier. Move often, cover water. If you’re not marking fish on your Vexilar after a few minutes in a hole or an area, it’s time to move on. Tungsten will allow you to fish very fast. Dropping down and bouncing your jig in search of fish, and moving along and getting back down quickly if you’re in a dead zone.

The Golden Rule

If you do happen to strike gold on one of your next adventures, be sure to keep the bite quiet, and limit your catch. These small lakes or isolated spots can easily be fished out. Little gems are becoming few and far between. Be sure to only keep enough for a meal, and toss back the larger fish to allow future generations to enjoy the resources we’ve had available to us.

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