Big Fun, Little Fish

Spring happens to be a prime time for a lot of different types of fishing. Fishing for little fish on light fishing tackle can be as productive as it is big fun for "kids" of all ages this time of year!

The term "panfish" generally defines any gamefish that never really outgrows the size of a frying pan. Don't be fooled by their size though, these small fish can be quite tasty when cooked up in a variety of fish recipes. The term " dynamite comes in small packages", fits these tasty little morsels to a tee!

Pan Fish on Wikipedia

What and Where

Bluegill, Red Ear Sunfish, Crappie, and Yellow Perch are just a few of the many species of panfish that are available in many small and large freshwater bodies of water around the world. Some of the best panfish fishing may be closer than you think, look for them in canals and ponds around your neighborhood. These places can hold a lot of fair sized panfish just begging for you to catch them.

Tackle and technique

Nothing particularly fancy is necessary to catch panfish. A cane pole is a popular "weapon" for these little rascals, armed with a good length of 6 to 10# test monofilament line, a number 12 to a 6 size hook, depending on the size fish you are dealing with and a live worm, you can catch your limit in no time. This is a popular method in smaller bodies of water due to the ease of use over weedy shorelines.

If you do feel like getting fancy, you can drop a line from a good light action fishing rod with a live Missouri Minnow down into deeper water attached to a Cannon downrigger for some excellent Speckled Perch action.

Trolling with a small lure such as a beetle spin is another great way to land panfish. Troll at different speeds in different areas of the water you are fishing, add a split shot about a foot up from the lure to get it deeper. Panfish of all types have a hard time resisting certain colors and sizes of beetle spins, try to take a good selection of them and try different ones to find what fish likes which one best.

Another great method is to use an ultralight fishing rod outfit with a small hook. A one-pound panfish can give a good fight on this light fishing tackle. These ultralight action fishing poles can pitch a number of lightweight lures that panfish will devour in a heartbeat.

Bait

The list of things that can be used to fill a bucket with panfish goes on and on, try catching a few grasshoppers or crickets when things get dull. Crickets are usually found under objects lying on the ground and grasshoppers are abundant in most places and can be found by simply wading through high weeds or grass. Once you have a cricket or grasshopper, put it on as small of a hook as possible and freeline him as to keep him naturally floating on the surface of the water. This is an entertaining method because you can often times see the fish come to the surface and eat the bait.

No end to bait possibilities, even that day old bread sitting on your counter can be rolled into small dough balls to make good panfish bait. This is only a handful of the many fun and productive ways to catch panfish. Go out and find what fills your stringer the fastest and let someone else know what works the best, after all, there are plenty of these pan sized fish to go around. So grab some friends and as always, remember to get out and go fishin when you can, cause its gooooooood fer ya!

For more great fishing tips, tricks and stories visit our fishing forum at My Tackle Space. A free blog and forum for fishermen of all walks of life. Join now and have your very own fishing page!

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