How should I fish for panfish in this particular lake

Question
QUESTION: There's a lake nearby my home in Minnesota that like to shore fish that I need advice with. It's about 70 acres and is a shallow (13'-15' max) oxbow lake that is no longer connected to the Mississippi. There are bass, crappies and bluegills, and pike. Since it got hot here, the bluegills moved from the shallows and I cant seem to find them. I've never caught a crappie here, but it's fairly easy to catch a 3.5lb  bass from shore.

Here is a link to the lake map for Lake Rebecca in Hastings, mn:
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/data/lakemaps/c2406011.pdf

There are 4 main areas to fish. The bay with the boat launch, the fishing pier, the bank across from the fishing pier on the other side of the lake and anywhere on the island.

Where should I look for panfish here and how deep should I go? This is my 1st year fishing in about 20 years and I want my 6 year old to actually have fun while fishing.

There are a lot of submerged weeds near the shore and there can be a layer of slop floating on top near the shore depending of wind and current. The water has very high until about a month ago and now seems to be a couple of feet low. In the spring time the water is very clear with excellent visibility, but now you can only see about 2' down and is a greenish-brown color.

I just started experimenting with slip bobbers, but I have not perfected it yet.

The bay with the boat launch can be difficult because of tall plants limiting access to the shore.

The bank across from the pier on the other bank is now accessible by foot. There are a bunch of trees overhang the water and a bunch of logs and trees down in the water. I always see people fishing there, but I never see them catching anything.

I would llke help narrowing down my possibilities as to where to fish as opposed to just throwing a hook out there. I really want to learn how to read these maps and what everything means on it.

Thank you,
Chris

ANSWER: Hi Chris,

Shore fishing is a tough proposition.  You are very limited and it varies by season.  Day to day, you have to play the cards you are dealt.  

The lake doesn't have much structure except for a couple holes.  The brush and logs will attract some fish.  The bigger crappies and gills have probably moved deeper.  The smaller juvenile fish will be hanging around the shallow shoreline weeds.  The key would be to find and be able to fish the deeper edges of the weedline.  Slip bobbers are an excellent way to get out and away from the shore slop.  As the weeds start to lay down in fall you may see the bigger panfish move shallower.  

I'll give you an example.  I was just in northern WI and the crappies and bluegills were all in 12-14' of water.  It will be tough for you to access that depth of water.

I'd suggest that you fish early and late in the day for much consistency.  Any fish that are effected by warm water or light will move deep an hour or so after sunrise.

I'd suggest wax worms for bluegills and crappie minnows for the crappies.  Stay away from pieces of night crawler... they attract little bluegills and nibblers.  

It sounds like you would need slop baits like weedless frogs for the bass, or a weightless Texas rigged plastic worm.

I hope that helps.  If you have more specific questions, I would be glad to help if I can.

Good luck,

Marc

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the answer. I actually went out last weekend and had a great day of fishing. I was on the bank across from the pier, under the trees. There were a ton of submerged logs in the water and we lost quite a few hooks, jigs, and bobbers to prove it. I found the crappies about 15' from shore in what I'm guessing to be 6'-8' of water. The shade from the trees ended right about there. They seemed to be holding at about 2' below the surface. The temperature has been unseasonably cool for the past month in the mid 70's.
The crappies and larger blue gills were only biting on Berkley Gulp 1" minnows and they were biting hard, we had a hard time keeping up. We ended up keeping 2 12" crappies and 1 8" gill and they tasted great.

I've only been able to catch bass with a spinnerbait, usally 2'-5' from shore, they never seem to hit on my topwaters.

Now for my follow-up question. What kind of areas should I look at for pike, walleye, and catfish? Would the pike be a just outside the areas that the crappies and gills are? There isn't an abundant amount of walleye here, since they've only gotten into the lake due to the Mississippi flooding, but the ones that are present are rumored to be quite impressive.

Thank you again,
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

The Pike are also going to be found along the weedlines and in the weeds.  You will also catch them on Spinnerbaits, in-line spinners (Mepps), and spoons like Johnson Silver Minnows,  You could target them with a 6-7" sucker minnow presented on a large slip float.

Walleyes are best targeted at dawn, dusk or by night fishing. Its getting late for leeches so look for 4" chubs or shiners fished close to the bottom on a slip float.

The cats are also best targeted at night.  Cut baits or a ball of night crawlers usually intrests the cats.  Look for them to be feeding on the bottom.

Good luck,

Marc