Originally Posted by
Spoonminnow
All panfish eat the same things, including lures. I've caught perch from 3" to 14" using the same 3" soft plastic I pour as well as white perch, sunfish, bass, pickerel, gold shiners and, of course, crappie by the boatload. If I had to chose three lures to catch all the above, it would be the two (shone) and flash jig made of irridescent mylar hair.
My rule of thumb for line and lure size:
1/16, 1/32 or 1/64 oz jigheads
8lb test braid or 6 lb test Trilene or Suffix mono
soft plastic length between 2" - 3" (3.5" for large fish)
Location: weeds are my favorite cover to start with when fish aren't schooled; pads always seem to hold panfish and therefore the bottom is soft. But perch and other panfish many times are near rock walls surrounded by soft bottoms and schooled together in the same areas.
Depth is where you find them seasonally and depending on weeds and weed pockets. I've ice fished and caught over 50 in 3' with heavy weeds beneath; I've caught the same amount in 7' when I've discovered a school relating to nothing. Right now, the fish are stacked in the dying pads of my lake and you can't miss vertical jigging or flipping.
Ultralight rods are the way to go for the best sensitivity and so as not to tear the hook out after it's set, especially using braid. The rod I recently found to be fantastic for flipping or dipping pad pockets is a 15' crappie rod sold by Gander Mountain for 29 bucks. The reel is not used to reel in fish - you set the hook and pendulum the caught fish towards you, holding the line taut.
For horizontal casting in open water, I love my 6.5' UL rod and light spinning reel. With braid, the 1/32 oz jig and plastic cast almost 30'.
Panfishing is not rocket science and KIS is the rule as well as experiencing the water as much as possible and keeping notes (at first).
I love catching big panfish on light tackle far more than bass or pickerel. Good luck.