Panfish tactics

[Scott Mac]

What are your favorite tactics for finding and catching panfish?

Our best tactic is drilling alot of holes and using our fishfinder to locate fish. Then move from spot to spot to catch the active fish. Then we find the spot that we get the most followers and hunker down and down size to get them to bite.

Lets hear your tactics and we can all have diffrerant ideas to tryout

[SlabJunkie]

this is probably what everyone does but in case there is a newbie looking.. on a lake i am familiar with during spring and summer i go to spots that i know have weeds, rock piles, humps etc. and then drills a number of holes and use my vex to find them. then try different tactics, jigs/plastics to get the active/larger fish.

on a new lake i try and look at the dnr maps, before i go out, for a point, drop off, man made structure, or something else that may hold fish. i will also just start where i think there is weeds, or structure judging from the terrain. then i drill a few holes and start working a few different types of jigs with live bait. usually start with a pin min and spike, and twitch it lightly or give it some short bumps of the rod tip and step it up from there to find the presentation they want. pulling the bait up very slowly, or letting it fall slow always works well

[ratherbefishing]

Drill a zigzag of about 10 holes between 10-15 paces apart and make a pass over a point or a channel where the depth will vary. A lake map is needed when you don't know the spot.
Having a vexilar is a must because I can identify a depth that is holding fish quickly. Then I look for suspending fish, they seem to be more apt to bite. If the fish that are up off the bottom are dinks I try to go below them.

When I get a fish to move up toward the bait, I continue to do whatever it was that got it moving, but I raise the rod tip (or reel in line if I'm in the shelter.) It's important that you allow yourself enough vertical motion to set the hook. This gives the fish the upper hand and it will stalk the lure up into the water column.

If the fish follows up and then turns away I'll give it another shot but change up my presentation a little. If this fails and I feel like it's a good fish, I'll downsize to something else or present a small minnow on a deadstick (the fish has to stick around for a minute).
 
Worst case scenario: You get your arm completely stretched out as the fish follows the bait up 2'-3' and you over extend yourself beyond making a decent hookset. The fish finally bites and you can do anything about it... It still happens to me from time to time and I beat myself up over it every single time.

Make a lot of changes when you're trying to find the fish.

[davidhoheisel]

I am not an expert pan fisherman but i did learn alot when i fished the midwest open a few years ago.

I was amazed at the amount of gills and crappies that are caught on plastics.

The best one i found was a nuggie. It has a round ball with a thin tail. When hooking it you make sure the tail is bending upward. This gives the tail much more action.

You want to place it on a jig that is horizontal. Make sure you move the line on your jig to make sure it is horizontal. Also downsizing to 1 and 2 pound has helped me.

[davek]

David From what ive heard on this forum, i thought your technique was taking over the active holes LOL hope you have ice for xmas look forward to fishing with you guys Dave

[Scott Mac]

     Sounds like people are on to you Dave   

[ratherbefishing]

Tie your horizontal jigs with Palomar knots... this helps to keep them pegged.