How to catch Panfish in travel time

PANFISH

PANFISHIt’s a sunny afternoon in May, and half-a dozen anglers are fishing the same large pond. Two of them spend the whole afternoon fishing, but catch only two small bluegills. One catches a few crappies, one catches a mess of bluegills, and the remaining two spinning reel in small bass and crappies every few minutes. What are these two doing differently than the others?

Live Bait and Bobbers

Three of the fishermen are using live bait and bobbers, but only one of them is getting great results. The first two are baiting their hooks with night crawlers, tossing them into relatively shallow water, and waiting for the fish to find the bait. Once in a while, this works. The third fisherman is using live minnows. The swimming minnows attract fish with their movement, drawing in more feeding crappies than the night crawlers can. This fisherman has come prepared with the right bait for the species that is most abundant at that time, and his planning pays off.

Bluegills and Surface Flies

The fisherman who is catching plenty of big bluegills is using fly tackle and a small surface fly. Deerhair flies, poppers, and even large trout flies work well for this approach. Bluegills will hit surface flies like crazy when real insects begin to appear on the scene. Casting any of these flies under overhanging vegetation, where fish are waiting for tasty bugs to drop onto the water, results in big bluegills hitting like mini torpedoes.

Spincasting with Lures

The remaining two anglers are using spincasting tackle to throw spinner/jig combinations. One is fishing with a 1/16 oz. gold spinner with a dull orange plastic grub on a red hook. The other is trying a 1/8 oz. spinner of the same type, but silver with a chartreuse grub and a bronze hook.

The first angler, with the smaller lure, begins catching small bass and crappies on the second cast, and keeps on catching them all afternoon. The second angler, fishing the same water with the same technique, catches nothing. He switches to a gold spinner, but still has no luck. He changes to a 1/16 oz. lure, in silver, but still does not catch fish, while his companion continues to reel them in. Finally, he removes the chartreuse grub and replaces it with an orange one. At last, he starts to catch fish, but still not at the rate that his buddy does. What is making the difference?

Variables Affect Fishing Success

There are five variables in this scenario. Any one of them, or combination of them, could be making the difference.

The first variable is lure size. Moving up or down one size can make the difference between a fish fry and a hot dog dinner.The second variable is the color of the spinner. When the angler switched from gold to silver, he was testing the theory that the gold spinner was the attracting factor.The third variable is the color of the grub. Although shades of yellow are traditionally considered to be best for catching spring crappies, in this case the fish were clearly more intrigued by orange.The fourth variable is hook color. Many anglers swear by red, reasoning that the flash of red resembles blood and triggers a fish to close in on what they think is injured prey.The fifth variable is presentation. Fish are exquisitely sensitive to vibrations in the water. It is possible that the first angler simply retrieved the lure at a slightly different speed, producing a more attractive rate of vibration that than produced by the second angler’s retrieve.

Six anglers at the same pond on the same day achieved very different results. If initial efforts don’t produce, fishermen need to be equipped with bait, lures, and tackle in enough variety to enable them to go to Plan B, or even Plan C. They can change lure or hook size. Moving the bobber up or down to fish different depths might be effective. Swapping one color plastic worm or grub for another could do the trick. In the fascinating world of fishing, the variables are constantly in a state of flux. Water temperature and clarity, light, barometric pressure, food sources, aquatic reproductive cycles, and many more factors will be different for every fishery, on every day. This is part of the fun and challenge that keeps fishermen enthralled with their sport.

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