panfishing help

[Jake P]

I have never really fished for crappie or perch but i would love to start doing so. I am curious on what would be best to get me started. I have heard bait selection is easy cause they eat most anything. I saw the browning superlight reel and was curious if it is a good reel for panfish? Also i need a rod, should i get UL or L? Any input on what works for you would be much appreciated, thaknks guys

[Hornytoad 10]

When i fish for crappie, i prefer an ultra lite just because the fish fight harder. as for the browning reel, they are great for beginners. bait selection is fairly easy, for crappie small minnows are hard to beat, but small 1/16oz jigs are also good. here in southern Kentucky, we don't have perch so i cant really help you out on that.

[D4u2s0t]

perch are stupid fish, and they school, so where there's one there's lots.  If you're just getting started and looking for #'s, hard to beat the shoreline, and around docks and swim rafts.  if you throw out a nightcrawler on a small hook or jig, and there's perch there, you're almost guaranteed to get one very quickly.  When my fiance comes fishing with me, I almost always set her up for panfish because you can catch them every cast.  The downside is less fishing time for me, because every 2 seconds i'm taking a fish off, putting a worm on, untangling a knot, etc lol.

If you want to get the bigger panfish, can't go wrong with a crankbait.  I don't like the little ones, I use the same crankbaits I would use for bass.  xraps, dt10's, etc.  Use the appropriate depth for the lake your fishing.

After you get the hang of it, you'll probably want to start increasing the size of your fish, which will mean hitting the deeper structure along with the hard to reach places... that's where the bigger ones will be.  the big ones will not be under the dock with all the smaller ones.  My biggest crappie this year have all come from trolling an xrap in 15+ feet of water.  Biggest perch have all come pretty shallow, in a few feet of water,  but in hard to cast to places. 

Use ultra light gear, it's much more fun.  Catching small fish is very, very lame on a medium pole.  But when that nice perch bends your pole in half, that's alot of fun!  Couple that with light line, and you now have a fight on your hands!

[Jake P]

What reel(s) do yall use? I have seen a few i have my eye on but im not sure. The cardinal and browning superlight and basspro micro lite have caught my eye so far...

[D4u2s0t]

Believe it or not I use my fiance's pole that we got for 20 or 30 dollars, instant anti reverse and I believe a shakespeare rod (not ugly stick) I love that pole, and cry a lil inside when we fish together and I can't use it lol.