Favorite Presentation For Catching Panfish?

What is your favorite way to catch your favorite panfish and why?

Slip bobber

Fixed bobber

Casting from boat

Casting from shore

Drop shotting

Jigging

Drifting

Trolling

Other

Over the years Ive heard it said many times that fishing for bluegills with surface poppers is awfully tough to beat. This is primarily a summertime tactic and this is a really popular technique on Lake Onalaska which connects with pool 7. Myself Ive always enjoyed fishing for crappies in the sticks with really light hair jigs and minnows. Its fun to watch the line start swimming and to haul in some slab crappies with that presentation.

Give me some hard water….A short inline stick with a spring bobber…..maybe a purple moon glow or a pink rocker tiped with a spike or two…..ever so slowly raising and lowering it from just below the ice to the bottom….sometimes its just a very slight movement of the coiled spring and sometimes its WHAM !!! bout take the pole from your hand…….I’ve been places where people will be looking at me wondering just how in the FTR did he get over there….all the while I’m pulling 8″ gills out of a 6″hole !!!!!

But I’ll never wish the summer and fall away too fast…..

ec

For bluegills I like to use the bobber, usually the slip bobber with hook and a small piece of worm. For crappies I also like the slip bobber but usually go with casting or even trolling jigs with hair or plastic. You would be surprised at what and how big of fish you can catch with a jig and ”Mr. Twister” brand of plastic tails and they have some new products on the market now with scent and different styles of bait that look like fish catchers for sure. For white bass you can’t beat the famous Mepps line of forward spinners and they now have a ton of new great fish catching colors too. When it comes to watching bobbers go down I think it brings out the little kid in all of us. When I look at all the new kinds and colors of plastics and forward inline spinners I feel like a little kid in a candy store with the thought ”ALL MINE”!! Sometimes it’s fun to be a little kid again with all these new fishing toys on the market for us to enjoy and also use to teach our kids and grandkids to fish with. Big fish, little fish, they are all fun and I’m hooked.

Favorite? Whatever is putting fish in the well, of course.

In the spring, I like casting jig/twister/minnow shallow for crappies. For about two weeks, you can catch a fish on every cast. In the summer, open-water trolling with jig & twister can’t be beat for crappies. Once the fish move out from shore, they’re spread out enough that slip-bobbers just don’t cover enough water, even when drifting.

For ‘gills, I gotta go with ice fishing. For some reason, I just can’t find the biggun’s in the summer.

I like using ice fishing jigs for fishing panfish on the wingdams during the summer . When the flow is down the panfish like moving out to the wingdams and a good number of quality panfish show up. I use a couple of little split shot and ice jig to pull them in. Some people have asked what about bigger fish? Will you still catch them? I have pulled 15-20 lb. carp in with these little hooks. With a little staightening of the hook your back in business. I like using waxies if you can find them, or just short piece of worm.

Long poling {11 ft.} with my home made hair jigs. I love to watch my solar line just twitch ever so slightly. The last three weeks I’ve taken up fly fishing for them. I sure have a lot to learn. {John}

When I go after pan fish I always down size tackle to fit the fish ! Sunnies I go with Berkley XL 1lb test on a rear drag Shimano UL on a Berkley Bionix Air Super UL rod, and when the are on nest I like to use a fly rod. Ether way, When you tie into a Bull Sunnie protecting his nest you have a battle on your hands. You Have to let your gear do it’s job, just the same as when a 48″ muskie strikes, you hope you have it togeather !!! I generally pitch a small Hoggie’s Walley Willow, Mepps Road Runner or sometimes I just throw out a slip bobber And let the wind do the work. All in all over the years, I always think line class record, I have been close, I treat every fish as if it might be the one. I rarely use anything over 2lb test when I fish panfish !

I SPORT FISH !! I’M IN IT FOR THE FIGHT !

Richard (Smitty)

Keep a tight line !!!

I ahve to agree that when they’re holding in a particular spot, any ol’ bobber is really the fun way to go. Like Bill said, it brings out the kid in me! I know, that’s not a far reach but I do have to travel some! LOL! Once they’re spread out some in the summer though, I like to cover as much area as possible and troll tube jigs tipped with just a tiny chunk of crawler. Seems to work very well………….almost too well in some cases! While boating gills this way, we’ve also managed crappies, white bass, perch, LM and SM bass, walleye, and pike too! Because of the diverse results, I tend to use at least 4lb. line……….I HATE losing fish!