Would lures or artificial bait help me catch Panfish?

[DFWO]

I decided to treat myself to a nice panfish combo this week, and I'd like to put together a small tackle box to go with.  I've been using live worms or corn for the most part, so I have different sizes of Aberdeen hooks, split shot and bobbers.  I catch different types of Sunfish and Bluegill, and once in a great while a small Bass.

 

I'm pretty new to fishing, and I don't know if I'd catch more fish with some different lures or artificial baits.  Or if they're for different conditions, etc.  I've chatted with the guys at Cabelas and BPS a little, and they've recommended a few general options.  Inline spinners, rooster tails, jigs, etc.  But no real specifics.

 

Does it make sense to try some lures?  And I'd appreciate a few suggestions as far as brands, sizes, colors, etc.

 

FWIW, I'm in North Texas and fishing 1-3 acre suburban ponds.  I'd say the water is fairly murky for the most part.

[Jar11591]

If you’re looking for numbers of panfish, a small piece of nightcrawler or waxworm is hard to beat. Using artificials probably won’t increase the amount of fish you catch over live bait, but they can certainly be effective. I like to use Rapala UL Pops, small roostertails, or tiny curly tail grubs on a 1/32oz jig head. 
 

If you want to have a lot of fun catching panfish, try this on some light monofilament line: 

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=30&searchtext=Rapala+UL+Pop

[roadwarrior]

If you decide to target bass, here you go:

 

[Eric 26]

I’m going to sound like a broken record on this topic. My suggestions are and will continue to be a 1/16 oz roadrunner plain head with either a crappie tube as a body or my favorite Berkeley Gulp Alive minnows in either 1” or 3”, as I’ve said before the 3” target the larger gills in my area and when they get ripped up which they will I’m able to cut them down to reuse for a few more fish. I’ve also had success on the Creme brand mini rattle traps available at Wal Mart in a variety pack of I believe 5 in the package. Lastly the 1” gulp alive minnows on a 1/32 oz ball head jig under a float will definitely catch them.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

1" gulp minnows on a tiny jighead works great.

[Siebert Outdoors]

Some of my favorites for panfish.  Excluding worms or crickets

Rooster Tail

Beetle Spin

Road Runner

Crickhopper

 

[Aaron_H]

What I've got in my panfish box:

 

1/16 oz Mr Crappie slab slasher jigheads

1/16 oz Roadrunner underspins

Mr. Crappie Shadpole CT

Big Bites Baits 2" grub
Bill Lewis Tiny Trap

Strike King Bitsy Minnow

1/16oz and 1/8oz Beetle Spin

Creme 1.5" swimbaits

[Deleted account]

3 hours ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

1" gulp minnows on a tiny jighead works great.

Yeah, I know a guy around here that fishes for crappies and sunfish with them, and he catches big bass and pickerel as a bycatch quite often.

[Basser2021]

12 hours ago, DFWO said:

I decided to treat myself to a nice panfish combo this week, and I'd like to put together a small tackle box to go with.  I've been using live worms or corn for the most part, so I have different sizes of Aberdeen hooks, split shot and bobbers.  I catch different types of Sunfish and Bluegill, and once in a great while a small Bass.

 

I'm pretty new to fishing, and I don't know if I'd catch more fish with some different lures or artificial baits.  Or if they're for different conditions, etc.  I've chatted with the guys at Cabelas and BPS a little, and they've recommended a few general options.  Inline spinners, rooster tails, jigs, etc.  But no real specifics.

 

Does it make sense to try some lures?  And I'd appreciate a few suggestions as far as brands, sizes, colors, etc.

 

FWIW, I'm in North Texas and fishing 1-3 acre suburban ponds.  I'd say the water is fairly murky for the most part.

For bluegill I would go live bait. For crappie I would go live minnow or bobby garland.

[DFWO]

I stopped at BPS at lunch yesterday and tried to remember some of the suggestions here.  I picked up some 1/16 Marabou jigs, 1/16 plain jig heads and some 2.5" Gulp Minnows (I realize once I looked at my phone later that you guys mentioned the Alive minnows in the jar).

 

I stopped at my favorite spot yesterday evening and started with just corn on a small hook under a bobber.  I caught a couple of Sunfish and a Bluegill, so I guess that was the control part of the experiment.  lol

 

Then I switched up to the jig head and minnow, and it just felt too big (I'll stop today and get some 1" Alive minnows).  But after about 15 minutes, I snagged a small LMB.

 

 

But no panfish, so I went back to the corn, and caught a Bluegill that was about 3" long.  I turned him into a pretty nice bass.

 

 

I've been fishing at this pond 2-3 times a week, all summer, and I've caught a total of 2 LMB.  Frankly, I was ready to give up on fishing for bass at this pond.  So, it was a really nice evening of fishing.

 

As far as the panfish, I'll pick up some of the Roadrunner jig heads with the spinner, and the 1" Alive minnows.  I'll go over some of the other posts as well and make a shopping list.

[Eric 26]

2 hours ago, DFWO said:

I stopped at BPS at lunch yesterday and tried to remember some of the suggestions here.  I picked up some 1/16 Marabou jigs, 1/16 plain jig heads and some 2.5" Gulp Minnows (I realize once I looked at my phone later that you guys mentioned the Alive minnows in the jar).

 

I stopped at my favorite spot yesterday evening and started with just corn on a small hook under a bobber.  I caught a couple of Sunfish and a Bluegill, so I guess that was the control part of the experiment.  lol

 

Then I switched up to the jig head and minnow, and it just felt too big (I'll stop today and get some 1" Alive minnows).  But after about 15 minutes, I snagged a small LMB.

 

 

But no panfish, so I went back to the corn, and caught a Bluegill that was about 3" long.  I turned him into a pretty nice bass.

 

 

I've been fishing at this pond 2-3 times a week, all summer, and I've caught a total of 2 LMB.  Frankly, I was ready to give up on fishing for bass at this pond.  So, it was a really nice evening of fishing.

 

As far as the panfish, I'll pick up some of the Roadrunner jig heads with the spinner, and the 1" Alive minnows.  I'll go over some of the other posts as well and make a shopping list.

Keep them pictures coming in the Latest Catch Pics threads?  As far as picking up roadrunner heads and gulp alive minnows make sure you’re getting the version that has a barbed head otherwise you will experience the gulp sliding down the  hook. Also pick up both 1/32 and 1/16th oz heads. If you’re having a tough go of it my go to setup is a 5’-6” ultralight, 2 pound monofilament with a 1/32-1/64oz jig head with a 1” gulp alive minnow under an ice fishing float. It definitely catches them but you will need a pair of hemostats to remove some hooks or be willing to cut the line if necessary.

[DFWO]

I've ordered a light spinning setup, just waiting on it to be delivered.  For now I'm using a 7' MF spinning rod with 10lb mono for everything.

[Eric 26]

3 hours ago, DFWO said:

I've ordered a light spinning setup, just waiting on it to be delivered.  For now I'm using a 7' MF spinning rod with 10lb mono for everything.

I think you’re going to enjoy panfish a heck of a lot more on the light setup as well as get a few more bites if you’re willing to drop down to a minimum of 4- 6 pound test in my opinion. Let us know what you’ve got coming in the latest tackle purchase (bait monkey) thread. 

[bulldog1935]

We began UL tackle for kidfish in creeks, slip bobbers and grasshoppers from the back yard in a plastic coke bottle.  My younger daughter was not quite 3 when she caught her first fish. 

Began with Zebco UL-1 and Eagle Claw FeatherLight.  Of course added fly rod when the girls were big enough to get in the creek. 

 

We added sunset dock fishing for nursery seatrout as a ritual for every coast kayak trip with the girls, and honed this to 40 fish in the hour after sunset. .

We added reach to the edge of the lights with long Japanese XUL rockfish rods. 

When I tried sight-fishing big fish over summer canal lights, discovered this light tackle would land them just fine.  It's made us into winter-into-spring assassins for big fish, the times they're sipping tiny bait.  With the light tackle, we're not limited to casting heavy tandem rigs made from 2" swim jigs. .