what kind of lures are needed for panfish?

[mrpike1973]

hi i have started to fish for sunfish and crappies i have fished mostly for pike 2 young boys on a pier were fishing a countdown rap they said it was a number one they just spanked the crappies is this all i need or bobbers and hooks for sunnies and crappies any help would be great are jigs better than a bare hook?

[Drewski]

There is an absolute myriad of baits out there to catch crappies, but there are a few key baits that I believe every crappie fisherman should have in his arsenal.

A good bait that would work for you would be the northland thumper jigs in either 1/32oz or 1/16oz size. They are great and would work similar to the rapala. They are a great search bait.

Another bait that wouldn't hurt to keep on hand are the berkley 2" power minnows. I don't know how many crappies I have caught on them, but I can tell you they are hands down my favorite crappie bait. If they crappies are in a somewhat negative mood, don't be afraid to fish them under a float. I never even buy crappie minnows anymore.

There are so many other baits I could name, but with time you will experiment and find baits that you will grow to love. The power minnows and thumper jigs are a great one-two punch. Use the thumpers to find the crappies, and once they are found use the power minnows to beat em up.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[harvey lee]

I use numerous kinds of smaller lures from 1/64 to spinner rigs pulling crawlers. One new jig that has worked well both with and without a float is the JB Lures hair jig.

Check them out here.

http://www.outdoorprostore.com/jb-lures.html

[metrofisher7]

Also beeetle spins and road runners

[half-dutch]

For crappies, very little beats a 32nd oz collared jig head with an inch and a half tube - 4 # test - cast, float and fly or just vertically jigged around dock posts and along walls. For sunfish 64th oz jig head or ice fly with a GULP waxie under a tiny float - 2# test.

After that there are a ton of options, be sure to match the hook size to the size of the fish's mouth, especially for bluegills or they can nibble all around the hook and never take it in their mouths.

[IWork2Fish]

I would suggest having about $50 worth of stuff as a mix and let the fish tell you. I have some rapalas, jigs, slurpies, mimic minnows, beetle bugs, bobber bugs. When they are spawning on some lakes in April they hit almost anything. Other times you search for them and they are a little hard to catch. On Knife during spawn they wanted a bare hook on a boober.

The hard part for me has been finding a limit where they are all large. Its not hard to find limits of smaller ones. My largest so far was on a minnow with bobber bug. That crappie took off after the minnow about 1 foot deep like it was being chased by a northern.

[ozzie]

small tube jigs are a must.....also powerbait nymphs

[harvey lee]

Today my limit of crappies and sunfish came on a JB Lures Ventilator crawler harness with a big juicy crawler.

I use this set up as a search lure for those larger panfish. many times I will only catch nicer gills with this larger profile bait.

Today the gills were from 8.5-9.5 inches.

[fishuhalik]

My list of lures for sunnies and crappies in the summer is pretty extensive. Let's see, I have some bobbers, some hooks, some split shots.....yeah, that about covers it.

[rushing]

1/64oz black jighead with a 1in black twister tail