Crappie Fishing and Panfishing Tips

Fishing for panfish has brought many good times and memories on the water as a child. Ever since my grandfather took me fishing as a child I have learned many easy techniques on how to catch panfish. We would catch big bluegills, crappie and Perch, plus some nice bass. We would go to a small lake that didn’t allow gas motors. My grandfather would put me in the back of the boat and he would be in the center in order to do the rowing.  Then we would proceed to row around this small lake the old fashioned way to locate big panfish.

He would use 2 cane poles, one under each leg as he rowed and I would use my spincast rod and reel set. We would slowly troll over weed beds, rocky shoals, drop-offs and around piers and stumps and any other structure we could find. This simple way of trolling would always locate crappie, perch and big bluegill along with an occasional largemouth bass.

What I learned from this type of fishing was patience and to keep the boat moving until we would start to catch some nice panfish. After we located some fish my grandfather would consider tossing the anchor out in order to fish this hotspot for awhile. Sometimes we would get lucky and locate a school of crappie and just catch fish after fish. Some were real nice sized fish.

Some of the panfishing tips I learned I still use today. I was taught to use different bait combinations while we were trolling in order to find out what they are biting on. One cane pole might have a nightcrawler or worm on a hook with a bobber or float. The other cane pole may have a minnow rig at a different depth. I would be fishing with a jig, like a pinkie or something and bouncing it up and down as we were trolling. My grandfather would tell me when to raise the jig up a little or as we were trolling over deeper water to let the line out some. Sometimes I would bounce the jig off the bottom of the lake to see if they are deeper, or I would bring the jig up some to see if they are suspended at a certain depth.

These simple panfishing tips helped us catch more crappie, bluegill, perch and bass than you can imagine. We would fill the bait basket that was hanging over the side of the boat by noon almost every time. Not to say that we didn’t have our bad days, but they were far and few between.

Utilize these simple crappie tips for any other panfish and go fishing and enjoy yourself with your children or just a couple of friends. You don’t always need a fancy boat or fancy equipment to have a good relaxing day on the lake or pond near you. We were in a row boat with no electric or gas motor, just a little luck and strength to row the boat.

Learn more about how to catch your limit of crappie every time you go fishing. Check this out.