Pee Dee region (South Carolina) panfish fishing

[Damon]

I have really been reading up on rod & reels, lines & tackle, and techniques for the purpose of buying the best set up for fishing for panfish in my area.  The low land, swampy holes of good ole South Carolina.  Here, all water is at best murky and almost every good spot for panfish is covered with pads, algae, down limbs, weeds, cattails, etc.  The water bottoms are usually gunky too.  My problem is no one every writes articles on this sort of setting.  No one ever makes videos of fishing these areas.  Clearer waters, gravel bottoms, and if there’s cover, it’s light and easily fished around as compared to here.  (1)  I want a set up for throwing a lightweight in-line spinner.  Rod, reel, line, size of spinner, color.  (2) I want to try some kind of artificial with a sliding bobber.  Maybe something like a jig head with a curly tail.  (3) would just like to get some opinions on anything else to use other than a live crickets or worms.  Keeping in mind the war zone of cover I described above in the holes I fish.  Also, sometimes it’s not the cover in the water but the crap I got to fish over to get to the water.

[TnRiver46]

Panfish have never struck me as something requiring special equipment. Some of them best pan fishermen I’ve seen use cane poles 

[bulldog1935]

13 hours ago, Damon said:

...(1)  I want a set up for throwing a lightweight in-line spinner.  Rod, reel, line, size of spinner, color.  (2) I want to try some kind of artificial with a sliding bobber.  Maybe something like a jig head with a curly tail.  (3) would just like to get some opinions on anything else to use other than a live crickets or worms.  ...

Fly fishermen have been doing this for ages with variations on woolly worm and pistol pete. 

Dropper rigs are old hat (16th century) - tie a tippet clinch knot to the big hook bend and tag a smaller wet fly to fish deeper. 

Crappie fishermen, too, with jigs and long poles. 

Spin fishermen have been using "water bubble" weighted bobbers to fish tiny trout flies since the 50s. Fishing moving lures under a cigar cork is old hat in skinny Gulf coast estuaries. 

 

Though it gets a new name every time it resurfaces, threadline fishing has been with us since the beginning.  Anything you can turn over on a fly rod, you can also rig to throw on XUL. 

Some of us on BR are assembling baitcasters that will throw this light stuff, maybe fish in tight spaces - but even that isn't new

I've been tinkering with UL lures from Japan, and found tiny examples to fish every niche - some of them deadly on the fall. 

Sounds like your home water is waiting for you publish the glory of fishing there. 

[mrpao]

I agree with TnRiver46. There is really no special gear needed for panfish in that area.

I have fished in those SC swampy areas before and my normal ultralight to light gear does fine. Small beetle spins, weedless crappie jigs, small floating minnows and topwaters will all do fine. Also small weedless rigged berkley trout worms work well for the red breast and war mouths in those waters. 

I normally use at least 6 lbs test just because of all the cover. 

[bulldog1935]

Luddite is not the answer to everything. 

I think it's fair to assume he wants to add tackle and is looking for ideas that will benefit his fishing - even the fun.