Thread: What’s the best way to figure out if panfish are living?

To answer your question in the title, use worms. If you drop worms in the water and don't get any bites, there are no fish there. For your second question I would look for deeper water and use larger lures. By larger lures I don't beam bass lures, just up a size or two. Instead of using 1/32 Oz lures, tie on a 1/16 or 1/8 and use a 2 inch soft plastic instead of a 1 inch.

Originally Posted by ArthurLK11

To answer your question in the title, use worms. If you drop worms in the water and don't get any bites, there are no fish there. For your second question I would look for deeper water and use larger lures. By larger lures I don't beam bass lures, just up a size or two. Instead of using 1/32 Oz lures, tie on a 1/16 or 1/8 and use a 2 inch soft plastic instead of a 1 inch.

Iv been doing the worms thing and that works very well. I haven’t been able to get anything (bluegill/pumpkinseed) hooked on anything smaller then 1/64


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If all you're catching are small fish, then other locations should hold larger fish. Lure size usually doesn't determine fish size especially when it comes to panfish though very small panfish usually require a smaller hook and lure size. Yesterday I caught a fish size range of between 4" - 6" including a 1.5 lb bass using small lures rigged on 1/32 and 1/24 oz ball head jigs with #6 hook size.

in some creeks and river systems larger specimens are very hard to find for a multitude of reasons . in some cases its about water volume and or the lack of . it is a well known fact fish in a small aquarium wont grow as large as fish in a large aquarium .
there may also be about a bunch of other factors involved , but to be sure on the real shallow small creeks you find many if any large panfish .
it could be many things that cause them to run small , but the good news is most fish dont have a per say finite maximum growth potential and if they live long enough they might attain larger size .
keep in mind fighting current most of your life will also keep you slim and trim

Thank you! Most of the smaller fish that I see I am able to catch but every once in a while I see a massive bluegill, but he is very easily spooked. Thank you for the info!


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So it’s more just walking the stream looking for the bigger ones?


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Originally Posted by castingcole

So it’s more just walking the stream looking for the bigger ones?

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If you're happy with what you're catching and the bite is on, stay and fish. If I'm only catching small fish, I typically move on after a few to search for bigger ones.