learning to fish 4 panfish --- spinners, spoons, trout magnets, near the bank... help, mr wizard!!!

[fishhugger]

hey yall,

newbie here. i'm on a 10 acre lake in sf bay area, created by a dam. trying to learn how to use spoons and spinners to search for panfish, particularly blue gill. for table fare. so i'm using a shakespeare microlight series spin rod, 4# hi vis line, 4# flouro leader... 0 mepps, rooster tails, 1/12 oz kastmasters, panther martins. and trout magnets. 

my current strategy: i prefer to go around dusk, and hit the structure or downers right by shore. there's lots of nice holes - some a couple feet deep, others deeper. nice downed trees, submerged ones, docks, etc.. i hit all this stuff. there's gotta be fish there, right?

i'll also 'jig' some spoons or the magnets in the vegetation (cat tails?) that is underwater,but right next to the bank. i'll just drop my kastmaster down, within reach of my rod, and just try leaving it on the bottom, lifting it occasionally, being very quiet, then move on.  the mepps i cast out, try to run it along the shore, but i'll try to fan out deeper also. 

this might not be the best way to catch panfish, but is it a good way?  the water right next to shore seems so fish-friendly.....

[casts_by_fly]

bluegill and panfish are food to most other fish.  They will ordinarily be near some type of cover that they can hide in.  Downed trees, weeds, big rocks, and really shallow water are normally where you find them, especially bluegill.  If you want your best odds of finding and catching them, a bobber and worm is your easiest bet.  A small redworm on a #10 hook, a couple split shot, and a bobber cast around trees and weed edges will catch bluegill.  In fact, i was doing it last night with our friend's 8-year old daughter who we just bought a fishing rod.  I think she caught 30-40 various sunfish plus two small bass.  Once you find them and start catching some, then you can focus on the bigger ones for the table.  They will often be deeper but nearby.  If you're fishing a downed tree, go towards the deeper water end rather than nearer the shore.

 

I wouldn't bother with spinner or spoons for panfish.  Yes they will eat them, but you're going to struggle with weeds and wood.  A small jig under a bobber will work and once you find fish with worms and learn where they live you can target them with jigs.

[fishhugger]

thanks, @casts_by_fly. okay,  redworms and bobber are much more a sure thing... sounds like i can use this to find where panfish hang... yeah, submerged wood, i do look for deep holes.   

what kind of jigs are you referring to? trout magnets?

i'm sort of cool trying to avoid snags in weeds and wood - while working around them. i do lmb fishing also, so am sort of used to working around snags. 

any other thoughts on the small spoon spinner route? 

[casts_by_fly]

19 minutes ago, fishhugger said:

thanks, @casts_by_fly. okay,  redworms and bobber are much more a sure thing... sounds like i can use this to find where panfish hang... yeah, submerged wood, i do look for deep holes.   

what kind of jigs are you referring to? trout magnets?

i'm sort of cool trying to avoid snags in weeds and wood - while working around them. i do lmb fishing also, so am sort of used to working around snags. 

any other thoughts on the small spoon spinner route? 

id leave the spinners and spoons at home. 
 

little hair jigs, Maribou, magnets, little grubs. Gotta be small enough to fit in their mouths. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

If I had a nickel for every bluegill that has been caught by a rooster tail  my boat would be a lot nicer.  

[Fallser]

I mainly chase them with a fly rod.  Before that I chased them with ultra light tackle.  Pretty much what casts-by-fly mentioned. Small hair jigs, marabou jigs, jigs with small twister tails. Jig size, 1/16 or 1/20 oz jigs should work. You can always tip them with maggot, meal worm or piece of worm to enhance your chances of catching some.  One suggestion which I've done is fish them below a small slip bobber. You can adjust the depth as needed and should be able to cast a bit further.  Cast, retrieve a foot or so, rinse and repeat.  Don't abandon small spinners, Mepps or Rooster tails.  I've caught them using them.

  I've never brought into the idea of using really small jigs or flies if you want to catch big bluegills or panfish can get in their mouths.

  My panfish flies are tied on size 6 hooks.

[TnRiver46]

Fly rod or live worms is the best way for me to get them if I’m needing to eat fish or get several bluegill for bait. They get hooked really well on flies , aggressive little buggers. Main channel river banks under the tree limbs is almost always loaded 

[Jigfishn10]

I used to take the rear treble off of a popper and tie on a 12" - 18" leader. Use a small jig or a fly. Pop. Let the rings disappear and pop again.

 

I'd catch bluegill or bass with that rig.

 

Ya know, I haven't done that in a long time. May have to redeploy that rig.  

[fishhugger]

this lake has some nice submerged trees, holes, reeds, within 5 to 10 feet of the bank. if you drop in a fly or worm or trout magnet or hair jig --- if you work a few sides of a stump or tree, how long do you work each drop? a drop as in, you might drop your bait in about 5 spots around a stump.

do you leave the bait in, and then out within a minute? are you expecting to work a large area of bank fairly quickly, or is this a pretty slow grind

i try to be as quiet as possible and when i'm fishing this close to shore, i try to have my bait enter the water as quietly as possible.

thanks - happy fishing

[fishhugger]

have to admit - i really don't have the patience to fish using real bait for panfish..... i just don't want to be messing with redworms or something, chasing after panfish.  i tried the bait, switched over to a panther martin 1/32oz. i cast that around, my mood got better, as it was a nice evening, and hooked one, he got off.  one other bite near that spot... 

other than that - no luck. 

i just hate bait soaking and bobbers, etc... 

[MassBass]

19 hours ago, fishhugger said:

have to admit - i really don't have the patience to fish using real bait for panfish..... i just don't want to be messing with redworms or something, chasing after panfish.  i tried the bait, switched over to a panther martin 1/32oz. i cast that around, my mood got better, as it was a nice evening, and hooked one, he got off.  one other bite near that spot... 

other than that - no luck. 

i just hate bait soaking and bobbers, etc... 

If you want to use artificials with spinning gear try a float and fly. You don't need any bait on the fly. I don't think panfish are nearly as selective as trout, but basic natural patterns like mosquito or ant are good. If the water is clear enough the bluegill will come to inspect and bite a wet fly near their structure.

[Eric 26]

My favorite and most productive way of catching many and the largest panfish is a roadrunner. More specifically a 1/16th ounce bare roadrunner pro head and using a Berkeley Gulp Alive minnow in either 1” if short striking or 3” which is my favorite as it targets the larger gills in my area. The bonus  of using the 3” is when they tear it up which they will I cut it down just past the tear and rethread it back onto the hook. I’ve also had good luck on the Creme mini ratl traps available at Wal Mart. The bass were caught on road runner heads with tube jigs to make up the body instead of gulp alive.

[fishhugger]

oh wow, wouldn't have thought of a mini rattle guy.... 

[Will Ketchum]

You could try a 1/32 oz. jig with a 1 in. twister tail and a slip bobber. You could work it slowly once you set the right depth without getting hung up. Then there is the panfish assasin which works for me on a 1/16 th jig. In the end, you would be best off experimenting with everything till you find what works.

[Spankey]

My two grandsons are alway ready to bass fish with me. But During that tough bite, dog day’s and extended heat waves as like we are currently in they love fishing for panfish. 
 

Crickets on Aberdeen hooks under a float. Weight with light splitshots. 
 

They get pretty competitive about it. 

[Spankey]

The Aberdeen style hook make night and day difference in hook removal. Longer shank gives and makes easy contact for needle nose pliers. 
 

The Aberdeen style works perfect for crickets, worms, butter worms, meal worms and small minnows. 

[Bankbeater]

A plain small jig head with a very small grub, or a 1/16 rooster tail for artificial baits.  A small piece of nightcrawler on a small jig head will work also, but you may catch more than panfish with that bait.

[bigbassin']

Fishing creeks or small rivers, the mepps can’t be beat. But as mentioned above, they don’t seem to be nearly as effective in lakes/ponds. 
 

I’d target wood near grass or drop offs.

 

On a conventional rod, a Mr. Crappie 2” paddle tail on a 1/8 oz head is the first thing I’m throwing. I like white with chartreuse, but honestly if you’re on them I doubt color matters at all. They are very aggressive.

 

As mentioned by others, if you can fly fish bream may be the one fish where a fly will consistently outfish traditional artificials. A size 8 popper with a nymph dropper or a size 8 wollybugger would be my go to for store bought flies.

 

The best thing I’ve ever thrown is just a size 8 clouser with the top tied using white marabou, lots of flash on the midsection, chartreuse bucktail belly. You’ll know pretty quick if there’s any panfish (or bass) in the area.

[fishhugger]

does it make sense to use a spinner as way to locate the bluegill schools? on the one hand, you cover a lot of water, fairly quickly. on the negative, if the spinner isn't very effective in itself, it seems like that is not a good way to find a group of gills.... 

but i guess i've been trying - search with spinner, then use slower but more effective bait - the jigs with plastics, once you've located a school

i haven't located my school yet, but get the odd fish. 

[Basser2021]

On 8/6/2022 at 10:33 PM, Eric 26 said:

My favorite and most productive way of catching many and the largest panfish is a roadrunner. More specifically a 1/16th ounce bare roadrunner pro head and using a Berkeley Gulp Alive minnow in either 1” if short striking or 3” which is my favorite as it targets the larger gills in my area. The bonus  of using the 3” is when they tear it up which they will I cut it down just past the tear and rethread it back onto the hook. I’ve also had good luck on the Creme mini ratl traps available at Wal Mart. The bass were caught on road runner heads with tube jigs to make up the body instead of gulp alive.

The creme lipless is my go to as well.