What is your favorite panfish species? You can put several. If you dont mind, please share some tips on how to catch them. ive never caught a yellow perch but really want to. My favorites are:  
1.White and Yellow Bass- they are a load of fun!
2.Bluegill
3.Freshwater Drum-I consider ot a panfish although it isnt. I typically catch them while fishing for panfish. They are so underappreciated!!

Crappie spring to fall is mine. My favorite hole they are in high volume and I have caught them on about every lure imaginable, live & artificial. I will deadstick one with a minnow or nightcrawler and throw a second line with panfish sized Rapala original, YUM Wooly Beavertail or Wooly Bug, or beetle spin with grub.

My faves would have to be bluegill, crappie and yellow perch. memphisfish, if you want to catch a bunch of perch, try fishing parallel to a shoreline with lots of cover using either a crankbait or an inline spinner, these are my favorite lures for perch. If this doesn't produce, try putting some Powerbait trout dough on the treble hook, if they don't bite then, you don't need a new lure, you need a new spot!

Thanks Skewl. Ill be sure to try that. Im not so sure that the perch live where I fish. Do you know if they are in Pickwick Lake(its on the tri state border of MS, AL, and TN)? Hows the stri[er fishing in your area?

Sorry! Thanks armstrong.j

The one time I ever caught Perch was by accident. I was in a paddle boat with my friend and we just threw out crankbaits and started peddling and we were catching a lot of bass. Once in a while we caught some perch too.

O yea and it wasnt even like we were by the shore or anything we were just cutting right through the middle of a lake. It was fun.

My favorites are perch, bluegill, and crappie. All 3 of these fish are delicious but the bluegill is the tastiest in my book. They can all be caught on wigglers, red or leaf worms and bee moths. For the crappie and perch its hard to beat live minnows, but also small jigs and spinners produce good results at times. Early on they can be found near the shoreline or around channels where the ice melts first. Around here the crappie are the first to spawn, late march through april depending on the weather. The Perch spawn is usually right on the heels of the crappie spawn and the bluegills usually are spawning around early to mid june.

we use crappie rigs to catch perch up here. start with 2 hooks and if legal add a 3rd hook to the bottom (sinker) clip or the top clip depending if they're hitting more on the upper or lower hook. a mess of yellow perch makes a great fish fry

I love catching crappie on a fly rod! They put a nice bend in my 4wt when I use a pink wooly bugger.

I enjoy fishing for any sunfish with a fly rod, then about dusk baiting my flathead rig with the sunnies I caught during the day.

My memory tells me that crappie are the second-most sought after fish in the US after black bass. Crappie have a unique combination of reasonable size, tasty flesh an a reasonable fight. That said, yellow perch also make a mighty fine meal. Perch also have the advantage of usually being near enough to shore to catch them from shore or a pier which is not always possible with crappie. Tom

Down where I am, Crappie and Bluegil are the locally available panfish.l

My favorites are Black Bullhead, Black Crappie, and Bluegill. 

They're all abundant in the places where I typically fish and are really fun to catch.

When 'm not Bass fishing I'm chasing Black Crappie or Hybred Bluegill. Crappie and Bluegill are excellent eating. I love fishing for Crappie in early spring with fly rod and homemade rabbit hair streamers then I switch to black spiders for bluegill for the best fight for their size.

Just Mike
Lifer since 2006

I love catching bedding bluegill. At this one reservoir I could easily catch a limit.

my favorite panfish has always been crappie. went fishing for crappie with my dad when i was younger, and i still fish for crappie today. even though i've fished for other species in the past, crappie is now about all i fish for.

THANKS for all the tips!!

I'm not sure either.

Shellcracker and Crappie for me. We catch shellcracker off 15-20' sloping ledges using redworms. On ultralight tackle, they put up a great fight.

I really enjoy catching crappie, I usually will target a certain species in my area, and try to catch just that. This year I'm going for Crappie in general (gonna try for some shad for the first time too). I'm a big fan of rubber baits, so I'm using jigs of different types (1/32-1/16 oz.heads) rigged with a slide bobber and stopper (since they are usually pretty shallow during the spring) and I like using twist on weights (doesn't pinch the line, and no knots needed) I use just enough weight to make the bobber work, counting the jig weight. cast to shallows with some sort of structure and vegetation present. Cast close to structures and cover, jig softly and slowly.

I also take live minnows to rely on if the rubbers aren't working, i use what ever local bait-shop minnows with a basic drop shot and slide bobber rig and i hook minnows right below the dorsal fin(don't hit the lateral line). If you use minnows make sure you get them from a shop close to where you are fishing, make sure they look good and healthy. I've botten minnow from some gas stations and had all of them die before i even start fishing. So i try and buy them from an actual bait shop, if I can.

I love going after crappie, perch are second and bluegill a close third.

Also cshackelford, if you don't have a bait shop close to your fishery of choice, put some ice in with your minnows, it'll keep them alive longer. Just try to keep the ice and minnow's water separate, the chemicals in the ice can kill the minnows. I use to do this all the time, we'd get minnows and ice, drive over an hour to the lake and the minnows would still be fine

crappie,bull bluegills on popping bugs,wite bass on streamers

then, if you are in the Mountains of Montana, the panfish might be Brook Trout. Sure had fun on some of the tributaries of the Big Hole, unfortunately so very long ago.

My favorite is jumbo perch through the ice, spend many hours on the ice every year. My personal best is 2lbs 4oz just over 14 1/2 inches, looking for that one over 15. They can put up a great fight on an ice fishing pole.

In the Chicago area Yellow Perch are considered the desireable species with sunfish(including bluegill) a close second. Crappie also come in high on the list. More effort is probably expended on sunfish but perch will always be the local target. Tom

I love to catch Perch when I am somewhere where I can catch them. But all of the local ponds around me there are only sunfish and bluegill.

I love Crappie i nomaly get then right before dark on a worm or minnow. You try to find the spot in the weeds that they clear and you get a sand bar and just jig there.

Bluegills and green sunfish, which I catch on a 5/6 weight fly rod and then use the catch for catfish bait.

I would have to say crappie is my favorite. Although it is hard to beat a bunch of 'gills in the frying pan.

Undoubtedly crappie. We fish in the timber with slip bobbers and live minnows but dure'in the spawn when they can be scattered in the weeds I use a wooden bobber, for distance, and a 2 to 3 inch mister twister thrown and retrieved slowly to find them (leave about 3ft. of line below the bobber). We also dead stick a line with split shot and minnow over the side of the boat just off the bottom and catch crappie, catfish anf jumbo perch. The perch have been over 17inches and that's a dandy perch anywhere. Good luck to all fish'in the whole year.

My favorite panfish to eat is yellow perch, by far. My favorite to catch is sunfish (bluegills, pumpkinseeds, etc.) because they give a good fight for the size... and they're pretty good eating, too. As far as what to catch perch on, small minnows and anything that imitates small minnows work. As far as color for artificial lures,good old fashioned black back/silver sides/white belly or black back/gold sides/white belly still do a good job. Perch-colored baits work good, too (perch, like walleyes and other members of the perch family, are highly cannibalistic). Small Rebel minnows or original Rapalas and ice-fishing Rapalas (long, thin profiles) are the best hard baits for perch. For soft artificials, twister tails or Cubby nail tails on jigs (my preferred way to fish) fished either right on the bottom or under a Thill float work great, too. For live bait, I've caught some good-sized perch on 'crawlers and leeches, but the big boys seem to prefer the thin, long minnows and... if it's legal in your neck of the woods... juvenile perch make good baits (check with your local DNR about whether or not you can use small perch in your area). And if you catch any sizeable ones, give us some Polaroid Proof. Go get 'em, man!

Favorite to catch- definitely bluegill especialy with fly rod. Favorite to eat bluegill, crappie then yellow bass .

'Gills and specks!

Posted By mo65 on 11 Feb 2012 04:11 PM
'Gills and specks!

Define a 'speck'.

bluegill on an ultralight with nightcrawlers Great fun.

I like catching any of them. I fish for yellow perch more often then others.

Posted By fisherfanatic on 12 Feb 2012 01:19 PM

Posted By mo65 on 11 Feb 2012 04:11 PM
'Gills and specks!

Define a 'speck'.

Crappie.

Posted By wellsley on 15 Feb 2012 03:17 PM
I like catching any of them. I fish for yellow perch more often then others.

ya what wellsley says

Posted By bass or bass? on 15 Feb 2012 07:34 PM

Posted By fisherfanatic on 12 Feb 2012 01:19 PM

Posted By mo65 on 11 Feb 2012 04:11 PM
'Gills and specks!

Define a 'speck'.

Crappie.

fisherfanatic, at this time the term speck would be crappy as bass to bass has said. but here in michigan the term speck is used also on the brooktrout. maybe that is what throw ya a bit

If i am fishing around home it's bull bluegills they put up a good fight on ultralight rods and there great eating, In Canada it's jumbo perch fun to catch and also good eating

favorite to catch would be a slab crappie or a big thick bluegill. Favorite to eat would be a yellow perch and then the bluegill.

I love caughting black crappie i run a bettlespin. On a 6'6 ugly stick spl 1100 6 spinning rods

perch,rock bass and crappie in that order.lots of fun to catch on light tackle.

White Crappie and Rock Bass are my fav... Catch em on plastic curly tailed grubs

Bluegill, Redear, Pumpkinseed... Hands down for me.

Bluegill, Redear, Pumpkinseed... Hands down for me.

You mention hybrid bluegill. I live in PA and have been catching panfish that I have never seen before. Some people on my local forum said they are probably hybrids. They look similar to a small bass. They have bigger mouths. Thick, stout bodies but they have blue streaks or lines down the side similar to a bluegill. They look like a species on our PFBC website that are called green sunfish but aren't the correct color. They fight pretty hard. Like I said, they look like a small bass. I know they aren't rock bass. What do you think?

As for my favorite. I love catching any of the panfish species. I would rather catch a ton of small fish than sit there all day and only catch a few big fish. I have a really light action Berkley UL that makes bluegills and sunfish feel like bass. As for best eating, It may not be a panfish but I think Walleye is the best eating hands down.

Bluegill, crappie perch,. Like to eat the yellow perch the best. White bass are also a blast to catch, but not my favorite to eat. They are better in the winter when I can catch them through the ice. The cold water seems to firm them up and give them a milder taste.

Crappie, blue gill, and shell cracker, they are also the best eating fish. I like to use Berkley Power Baits they all seem to work very well minnows, red worms, nigthcrawler, and crickets best live bait. But I'm not locked in on any type lure if one does not work I will change lure, color, or retrieve. I have found if you change your retrieve first it will save you time completely changing lures. A example is early spring fishing a tree top in the lake I was using a medium speed retrieve no luck. I then speeded the retrieve up, once again no luck. Then slowed the retrieve way down, and got my first hit. After several more retrieves at this very slow I was still not getting much action. The next cast I raised the rod tip moving the cork 8 to 12 inches and let it fall. A 15 inch crappie took the lure on the drop. I kept repeating this retrieve and ended up with a very nice stringer of crappie. I had 22 crappie largest one 15 1/2 inches the smallest was 10 inches, most of the fish were between !5 and 12 inches. turned out to be a crappie day of fishing.

my favorite would have to be crappie and bluegill. can catch with worm or whatever

Yellow Perch, crappie, bluegill and the simple pumpkinseed are my favorite panfish to catch.

Crappie, bluegill and warmouth, here. Fun to catch, great to eat!