A Panfish primer!
If trout are the damsels of the spring-fed steams, panfish can only be described as the BULLIES of the school yard!
When I think back on past fly fishing adventures, it is with the same "glow" I think of both my lake fishing for panfish, AND my coldwater pursuit of trout. Don’t get me wrong, if I were to put a ratio to my time spent fishing for trout vs. panfish, it would be in the range of 100:1! That does little to dull the image in my mind of a bluegill HAMMERING a popper within seconds of it hitting the water! And yes, that is the point!
While catching panfish isn’t always a challenge, catching a big one is! (just like trout) Unlike trout, the fight a jumbo pumpkinseed will give you will leave you questioning your choice of a 4 wt. for the day’s fishing. These fish are truly opportunistic predators of the first order. They often school, meaning that where there is one, there are often many. The larger they get, the more solitary they seem to be. They begin to take on the behaviour of a bass. By that I mean that you’ll find the larger ones holding as singles, tight to structure in an ambush like pose. To find the brutes, look for spots they can almost "back" into. The big guys like to know their backs are "covered."
My favorite way to fish for them is to look for structure, adjacent to a clear, sandy bottom. The edges of weed lines, rocks, small islands can be awesome too. Cover water, move around. Sometimes I like to trade the possibility of a couple of monsters, for the fun of 50 or more smaller ones on a crazy looking, rubber-legged popper. My favorite panfish to catch is the yellow perch. They are not the scrappers the bluegill/pumpkinseed are, but they are agressive little meat eaters, preferring minnows over nymphs 
. If you are fishing a small nymph, popper or streamer and you catch a perch, switch to a minnow pattern ASAP! The big, or "Jumbo" perch have a real soft spot for minnows. Small clousers, zonkers in white (with prominent eyes) are good medicine for these guys. A good bunus when chasing panfish is the chance at some pretty decent bass. It is a good opportunity to see how /if bass will take poppers, what size/color is best etc.
My favorite way (while not always possible when the wind is blowing too hard) is to find an area with a consistent depth of4-8 feet, and drift casting to weed lines and structure. If I hit a spot where there are alot of fish, or large ones, i’ll drop anchor and fish it carefully. When I reach a point where the drift isn’t possible anymore (or does not appear to yield anymore fish) i’ll motor back to the starting point and move 15-20 feet over, drifting again. This has proven VERY effective in catching loads of fish. While I don’t like to eat the vast majority of fresh water fish, panfish usually exist in such high numbers that even the most die-hard C&R fly fisher can likely keep some with a VERY clear conscience.
My top picks for panfish (mostly because I just like these lakes, panfish are almost EVERYWHERE) are Chemong Lake near Lindsay, and Lake Simcoe. The latter being the best spot to find some pretty chunky perch. If the HipWader community would like to see some of my panfish bugs feaured on O’Reilly’s tying bench, let me know. Cheers, Rob
