Don’t get to fancy with your tackle. The big rigs tend to spook the fish because panfish is very particular in their mouth and have good eyesight. Your offering need to be pinpoint accurate.
Most fishermen just don’t think about it until its the only thing on their mind, this usually happens when they’re having a bad day. Having the proper lure can make all the differance. Try to choose lures that immitate natural prey for both crappie and sunfish.
Top Panfish Lures That Earn Their Spot
General Panfish Tackle Tips
Soft Plastic Baits for Panfish
A solid panfish box start with tiny soft plastic. You’re looking at baits that immitate worm or minnows, but you need them to be dainty. In green pumpkin or chartreuse, a two inch Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Worm are a good option.
It matches the local forage color and the smell make it effective in stained water. The key is making sure your hook work. Two or four hook size will do just fine.
Anything larger isn’t needed. Since the fish can be small, a big hook mean missing connection. If it’s positioned correctly, the fish inhales the offering without any sensation.
Jig Heads for Deep Water
Deep water bluegill and suspended crappie likes a small head jig. They can stays down there longer with a one sixteenth ounce or even a one thirty second ounce jig head. It drop slowly and drifts naturaly.
It drops slowly and drifts naturally. That little jig head with a Zoom MicroJerk Bait really look like a baitfish running away from them. Don’t have to pump the rod, just let it go down, hit the bottom and raise it just a bit.
The fish comes to you. Patience pays off. Add spinners into the mix and you have flash which also elicits reaction strike.
Spinners for Reaction Strikes
It also sends a vibration down into the water and call to those fish from far away. That’s critical when fish is spread out or visibility are poor. A classic Mepps Aglia is a hard spinner that put out a wide wobble.
Tie it onto a six to eight pound test line using a size zero or one lure. Too big of a line will scare them off and too small a line will snap under the strain. You’ll have to experiment a bit but I’ve had great success with this combination.
Lindy Rig and Floats
Catch rate is still best with a Crawler, but presentation trump bait. A Lindy Rig hold the bait right in front of the fish’s face. Just slide the bobber up or down and instantly you has the bait at that level.
So you can target exactly how deep they’re holding. Since panfish tend to group up at certain depths, float are key to getting your bait down to them. They allow you to go from bottom to top with just a quick move of the bobber while keeping your bait in the strike zone.
Floats is important. A small, sensitive float let you feel any little nibble, and transparency is key in clear water. Panfish don’t always pull hard and their bite can be very subtle.
Suck and hold. Sensitivity are your best friend. Light and water clarity determine color selection.
Bait Color Selection
Bright colors like pink or chartreuse stands out in low light or muddy water. In clear water, natural colors that blend in like green or brown works well. Go subtle in glassy water and go bright when the water is stained.
But in the end it comes down to simplicity. What works well on a few does not require a hundred. You only need a few simple lure.
It is a small jig. A little soft plastic. It is a spinner.
It could of also be a crawler rig. Lighten up the line and lighten up the box. The fish are there.
They’re hungry. Just put the meal in front of them correctly, and the rest will take care of itself. It’s all about making the connection.
It is not about the size of the lure but how precisely you make the cast and how delicate you can makes the retrieve. Get those two thing right and the panfish will be filling your cooler.
