Pan Fishing – Part I
Pan fishing is a term applied to all fish not considered a “game fish.” Game fish include trout, salmon, bass, walleye, pickerel, etc. Pan fish in our area include bluegills, black crappie, bullheads, sunfish, yellow perch etc.
The best time of year to catch pan fish are during the time of their springtime yearly spawn. That is when the fish enter the shallows of the lake or pond to build nests and lay eggs. Some pan fish lay as many as 100,000 eggs; so there is no such thing as overfishing the resource. It fact, if pan fish are not regularly taken from a body of water, they will soon become stunted. I have encountered a few owners of ponds who do not want any fish kept. I honor that request of course; until I can make them understand the negative results of such actions.
Pan fishing is a term applied to all fish not considered a “game fish.” Game fish include trout, salmon, bass, walleye, pickerel, etc. Pan fish in our area include bluegills, black crappie, bullheads, sunfish, yellow perch etc.
The best time of year to catch pan fish are during the time of their springtime yearly spawn. That is when the fish enter the shallows of the lake or pond to build nests and lay eggs. Some pan fish lay as many as 100,000 eggs; so there is no such thing as overfishing the resource. It fact, if pan fish are not regularly taken from a body of water, they will soon become stunted. I have encountered a few owners of ponds who do not want any fish kept. I honor that request of course; until I can make them understand the negative results of such actions.
The first of the spawners are yellow perch. We used to wait until just after “ice out” to fish for them at various local lakes and the Susquehanna River. The second spawner is the black crappie. That spawning fun starts around May 1st. In early to mid June, depending entirely on water temperatures for all spawning fish, the bluegills come in very close to shore to spawn. I have caught many of these fish without any type of casting; just putting the jig and bobber into the water from shore.
My preference for a rod is a six foot fiberglass rod with a light weight spinning reel. I use four pound test line. The higher test lines make the fish very shy and reluctant to hit the lure. I use a foam bobber and a split tailed jig. The color I really like almost every day is the yellow jig on a white headed jig hook. Smaller sizes of both jigs and bobbers are the very best. Other jig colors can be effective to select at least two or three for your plastic tackle box.
The direction of any wind is the main factor in using jigs and a foam bobber. The best wind direction is a wind coming head long into you. The worst is any wind blowing behind you. No wind or a crosswind is OK. The key to a gentle 5 mph breeze is the wind causes the water in a pond or lake to form small waves which bounce the bobber and thus the jig up and down as you reel the lure back to you.
We will have part II next time with some tips on catching, cleaning, storing and eating these tasty fish. Get out and enjoy all of the things Almighty God give to us in nature.
My preference for a rod is a six foot fiberglass rod with a light weight spinning reel. I use four pound test line. The higher test lines make the fish very shy and reluctant to hit the lure. I use a foam bobber and a split tailed jig. The color I really like almost every day is the yellow jig on a white headed jig hook. Smaller sizes of both jigs and bobbers are the very best. Other jig colors can be effective to select at least two or three for your plastic tackle box.
The direction of any wind is the main factor in using jigs and a foam bobber. The best wind direction is a wind coming head long into you. The worst is any wind blowing behind you. No wind or a crosswind is OK. The key to a gentle 5 mph breeze is the wind causes the water in a pond or lake to form small waves which bounce the bobber and thus the jig up and down as you reel the lure back to you.
We will have part II next time with some tips on catching, cleaning, storing and eating these tasty fish. Get out and enjoy all of the things Almighty God give to us in nature.