Opinions for panfish setup

[Derek1]

My grandson insists he just wants to fish for sunfish so if I can’t beat him I might as well join him when we go together. So I’m gonna grab a mediocre set up for it so I can have more fun with it. I think I e decided on the president in the 20 size, and there is a field and stream rod that is ok enough.  My ? Is they have a 5’ ultra light/fast and a 5’-6” light fast. Not sure wich one to get. I’m leaning towards the 5’-6”. This setup is about $75 that’s all I want to spend on this but don’t want anything less then that either. 

[MN Fisher]

I would go a little more and get a Diawa Spinmatic-D. Comes in lengths from 4' to 8' in 6" increments, runs about $40 on Amazon. I have a 6'6" paired with my President 25 and it's an awesome UL rig.

[Derek1]

Thanks I’ll check it out. I’m just a little nervous not being able to check the rods out. 

 Sing able to hold them in store. 

[AlTheFisherman313]

I am by no means an avid pan fisherman, I have a pan fishing pole to catch pike bait.

 

its a 5 6 ugly stick with an old penn I’d wanna say it’s way smaller than a 2000. Possibly a 1000. Id have to look at the reel to give you the size, but i would say most pan fish are so easy to catch you would be ok with a Walmart ugly stick combo.

 

i use small jigs with little grubs or night crawlers. Make sure your not aggressive on hooksets, you can rip the lips off a crappie. 

 

I would not over over think this set up too much. Most the pan fisherman I see in my area use 50.00 pre set up combos.

 

i personally run 4 pound test on mine, which a pan fish would have to be a lunker to break. 2 pound would be fine also.

 

Also, the way I got hooked on fishing for big boys, my uncle took me on a tuna charter when I went to visit him at 13 out in San Diego, I caught 3 albacore and was obsessed with big fish ever since haha. 

[Derek1]

Yeah, I’m not trying to get crazy. I just can’t make up my mind on ultra light or light. The place I bring him there all just staring back up at you anyway. 

[MN Fisher]

UL rig with 4# line is more than sufficient for panfish. I've even caught some 2#-3# bass on my old UL - Pflueger 640 on a 5' Ugly Stick.

[Derek1]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

I would go a little more and get a Diawa Spinmatic-D. Comes in lengths from 4' to 8' in 6" increments, runs about $40 on Amazon. I have a 6'6" paired with my President 25 and it's an awesome UL rig.

It’s actually a couple dollars cheaper then the f&s rod I was looking at. 

[d-camarena]

Go with the light, the ul might be a little to light if you are around any type of grass

[new2BC4bass]

I have a 6' ML Berkley Lightning that is over 40 years old.  Rated 1/16-3/8 oz.  List price is $40, but you should be able to find one for less.  Dick's has the 6' ML Moderate 2-piece for $30.  Fishusa has a wide selection of Lightnings for $35.

 

You could also check house brands at a few Online stores such as Academy and Cabela's, but I don't know anything about those rods.

 

I'd tell you to check ffo, but they haven't had much of anything for a couple years now.

[Heartland]

Base your decision on the weight of the baits that you plan to cast.

 

[NYWayfarer]

I fish light and medium light rods with a size 100 reel and 4-6# line for Panfish. It's not uncommon in these parts to hook up with 15+ inch Chain Pickerel while targeting Bluegill and Pumpkinseed.

[haggard]

For maximum panfish fun I'd recommend a 5'6 UL/F (I used it with a 500 size reel and 6 lb mono). Easily handles sunfish/bluegill/crappie. 6 lb might be overkill but I have a harder time tying knots with 4 lb.

 

Now I use a 6'6 L/F with 1000 size reel but only because it needs to handle an occasional bass.

 

[redmeansdistortion]

I prefer a long whippy rod for panfish.  Mine is an Okuma SST Kokanee 8' UL 1/32-3/8 and it works wonderfully.  I run an older Cardinal STX with 4lb mono and it can really launch the light stuff.  The moderate action also makes for a nice fight when you hook into a big gill or crappie.

[Derek1]

Thanks for all the info guys, good stuff. Can regular sized sunfish eat those 2” baits those are the smallest I’ve noticed in the stores 

[greentrout]

 

zebco 33 ... panfish and bass ... 

 

good fishing ...

[redmeansdistortion]

52 minutes ago, Derek1 said:

Thanks for all the info guys, good stuff. Can regular sized sunfish eat those 2” baits those are the smallest I’ve noticed in the stores 

Sometimes panfish will hit just about anything.  I've caught some big gills on #8 Husky Jerks while fishing for bass.  My favorite baits for panfish are Beetle Spins and Trout Magnets.

[markedman]

I have the president 20 for panfish. Works great. Using a Browning Airstream 6'6" UL purchased at BassPro.

 

My other UL is a 6'6" Okuma Celilo purchased at Dicks. My son usually uses it. For me the extra length allows longer casts if need be, but it's not too long if there are a lot of trees around.

 

Either rod can be had in the $30-40 range.

[NYWayfarer]

 

6’6” Medium Light Rod, size 100 spinning reel, 4-6# line makes a really great Panfish setup.

[slonezp]

I have a 5' Shimano ultra lite combo that I caught on a jig while bass fishing. I have caught more panfish on that combo than any other combo I have. Spooled up with 6 pound Mr Crappie mono in years past, I currently have 6lb Power Pro braid on it, Rocket bobber, eagle claw long shank #2 hook and a small spit shot. I have a better hook up ratio for crappies with the braid than I did with mono. Pic was earlier this week.

 

[Derek1]

That’s a good haul

[slonezp]

22 hours ago, Derek1 said:

That’s a good haul

I have a special panfish lake that has clear water, and an abundance of forage. It does not receive a lot of fishing pressure. Case in point, I caught the above on Memorial Day. There were 6 boats on the lake, not 600. There are bluegills exceeding 10". Crappies max out at 12" I probably harvest 200 panfish +/- annauly and have for the last 20 years. This was an exceptional haul, I think I've only beat it once. I could have stayed, but I'm the guy that fillets the fish. As it was, It took 3 hours to fillet 40+ fish 

[JustJames]

I use Shimano sensilite UL 1/32-1/4oz, 6’6 ($50) on Sahara 750 ($50) for crappies and bluegill. This rod fish like light more than UL. I can cast 1/32oz jighead further on my casting rod compare to this.

I’d go with UL, it is a lot more fun catching them on UL and sometime you might need 1/64 or 1/32oz jig head tip with wax-worm or plastic.

BTW I normally use this setup for weighted bobbers which help me get more distance.

here my setup and the fish of course ?

[Bankbeater]

I've got an Abu SX10 on a 5'6" light Berkeley Cherrywood rod. It's my daughter's rod, but since she stopped fishing I use it.