Panfishing Tips

Panfish encompass a variety of fish species, including bluegill, crappie, flier and sunfish, although the term refers to any species of fish that doesn’t grow larger than the size of a frying pan at adulthood. The usage of the term panfishing varies by geographical region but typically refers to angling for freshwater fish in lakes and ponds.

  1. Rod

    • Anglers should use an ultralight rod to hook panfish, because they can more easily steal bait due to their small size. A lightweight rod helps you jerk the line up quickly to hook these types of fish. Use a lightweight line, because your quarry can see heavier weight lines. Use a heavier weight fluorocarbon line that fish cannot easily see.

    Bait

    • Anglers can use live bait or lures to catch fish. While professional anglers can use lures effectively to simulate live bait, amateurs should use live bait. Choose your bait based upon the species of fish you want to catch. If you're fishing for bluegill, for instance, use crickets, worms and maggots as bait, or lures such as crappie jigs, spinner baits and small grub baits that simulate the appearance of live insects and worms. If you don’t know the type of fish in a body of water, stick to generic bait such as earthworms and redworms.

    Rig

    • Minimize the visibility of your fishing rigs to catch more panfish. Small bobbers get more bites than large ones. When fishing for bottom-feeding panfish, such as perch and bullhead, use a split rig. Split rigs sink to the bottom of a body of water and contain larger casters that weigh down the line. Since panfish can steal bait off of large hooks, use a number 6 hook.

    Casting

    • Anglers should fish during the early morning or evening to maximize catches. Move to another location every few minutes if you get no bites. With a bobber rig, you can leave the line in the same location and wait. With lures, you must cast and pull in the line repeatedly to simulate the appearance of live bait. When trying to catch bottom-feeding panfish, let the bait sink to the bottom of the body of water and then slowly reel in the fishing line.

    Capture

    • Panfish more easily evade capture than larger fish, because these fish have smaller mouths and have difficulty swallowing a hook.Jerk the line upward when you feel a nibble to hook the fishes’ mouth. Once you hook the fish, slowly reel in the line to let the fish wear itself out. Pulling on the line hard can cause the hook to rip through the mouth of a fish, resulting in a lost catch.