list of bugs for panfish.

[sniksoh 0]

was wondering if someone could make a list of bugs that panfish eat in ponds. i know thw basik dragonfly and damsel fly nyphs but would like to tie up a panfish box with a bunch of nymphs and buggy patterns. i dont know to much about bugs so please just make me a list of every possible bug i could tie up.

 

thank you.

sniksoh

[CoachBob 0]

What you have to remember is that panfish are not particular about insect species and are not hatch oriented. Redear are primarily snail eaters but unless you are a redear specialists, you are not going to catch many of them under any circumstances. Crappie are primarily fish eaters so something like a small rabbit leach works, but they will also eat an available insect, which brings us to bluegill, who eat any bug that swims.

Your best bet is generic flies. Try soft hackles to start -- they are easy and work very well, then look at the Boudreaux pattern on this site, then some march brown style nymphs.

[Hillbillyredear 0]

Redear, although they get their nickname "Shellcrackers" from their favorite diet of snails and/or fresh water shellfish, are really not as difficult to catch as you may think.

If you compair their eating habits to that of the bluegill they really arent that much differant except the Redear has a little bit larger mouth for eating larger bites.

 

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

Small mouth size limits the size of food particles ingested and almost dictates a diet of insects and similar small organisms. While insects remain the staple food item for adults, crayfish, snails, small fish, and fish eggs are also consumed.

 

Redear (Lepomis microlophus)

Redears are opportunistic bottom feeders, foraging mainly during daylight hours on a variety of invertebrates. Important food items include snails and clams which are crushed by grinding teeth in the throat; larval insects, fish eggs, small fish, and crustaceans.

 

Most of the Lepomis (Sunfish) Family pretty much have close to the same diet but yes they can sometimes be finicky to all but a certain presentation.

 

Info was obtained at http://www.identicards.com/allaboutfreshwa...ish/sunfish.htm

 

 

 

I have found that they will bite on woolly worms in various color combos and if feeding on the top will hit small sized midge patterns.

They will also hit Czech Nymphs and pretty much any scud pattern in various color combos

One of my all time favorite fish to catch and eat, hence the User name Hillbillyredear :bugeyes:

On one particular trip i was able to land atleast 50 redear I kept 10 to take home and eat and the rest were released to fight another day.

[sniksoh 0]

thanks guys

[CoachBob 0]

Okay, you've really got my interest.

Excluding the spawn, what fly do you use for redear?

How deep do you usually fish them and how do you managed to get down to them?

We have a beautiful lake nearby with redear that no one except locals can catch, and they're not letting out secrets.

 

[Hillbillyredear 0]

as far as live bait (getting off flies just for a second dont panic) I know here in Indiana I have the best luck with redears on plain old ordinary Redworms Spring Summer and Fall, I like to call them red wigglers. This is when fishing with Ultralite spinning rod. With that being said... (back to flies)

Sanjuan worms are a very red looking worm type fly but what if you were to tie them in a more natural looking color? I would think making them to look more like a natural Red Earth worm would get their attention. Natural colors.......that is a biggy for me......I have some flies I tied awhile back that are Crawflies. They arent totally my own pattern I took someone elses pattern and tweeked it some. Here are a few pics. I cant remember the recipe right off the top of my head but if interested I will try to remember and post it.

These can be tied in various sizes and colors and I know the Largemoth bass will hit them, Smallies hit them and smaller sized ones Redears cant pass them up. I have several that are all chewed up from so many Redears and Gills biting on them. They are easy to get down to the fish if they are feeding bottom as they have the lead barbell eyes. You might have to use a longer leader or perhaps a sinking fly line, either way should work as I have caught them in anywhere from 5 to 12 feet of water. Depends on the season. I do know when the gills are on the beds you can usually find the Redears close by about 10 feet out from the beds. These Crawflies can also be thrown on an Ultralite Spinning rod so they are not totally restricted to just flyfishing.

Keep in mind this is Southern indiana I am speaking of I am not sure of their behavior in your State but some of these tips may help to atleast give you an extra edge.

 

Flying Ants

Most panfish love ants, if the fish are surface feeding I would reccomend the Black flying ant the smaller the better, I have been tying most of my #16 they are very simple to tie just a dry fly hook thread, dubbing to make the rear body section, hackle in the middle for legs, white duck quill section for the wing (or any other floating white material) More dubbing for the thorax section. really simple to tie and to fish. I f fishing current throw it up stream from you and let the natural current carry it down. Most of the time you will find Redears in still waters though.

 

Drowning ants

For bottom feeding panfish/Redears, I have found the Drowning ant pattern that was introduced to me by a fellow tyer and fly angler. These bugs are made simply with 3 or 4 (depending on hook length) glass beads threaded on a hook and hackled in the center. The glass beads will sink slow you can also substitute the front bead with a weighted bead for faster sinking. I always cushion between the beads with thread so they dont smack together so much and break the glass beads. A little drop of super glue between beads helps also. I have had the best luck with redears or any other panfish with yellow or Orange, I dont know why they seem to like these colors more than others but i get more bites on them than any other.

Play around with the colors for these ants in your area you may find a color that attracts them the best for you also.

 

Midges

Again back to surface feeders, redears do primarily feed on the bottom but, for some unknown reason they do tend to sometimes feed on the top. I believe it is either because they are searching for what is available on that given day or are just simply curious when they see something land on the water surface.

I have found that pretty much any Midge pattern when tied small are effective. A good example is a parachute midge or an Sulfer pattern. Again very easy to tie and easy to fish. Most of mine are #16 but I have tied a few #20s and almost went blind tying them. :bugeyes:

 

Scuds

I havent actually tried any scud patterns yet for redears/Panfish but fully intend to this spring. As you already know redears primary diet are shell creatures. A couple of patterns that I will be trying and am totally confident that they will produce, are the Czech nymph and Sow Bug. I have tied several Czech Nymphs that look a lot like a grub and some that are darker colored and I believe both will produce for me.

The sow bugs I have tied a few differant colors of those also but the lighter colored one is the one that I am most confident will produce.

My Czech Nymphs were tied on a curved #10 Caddis hook to make them look more wormy/buggy looking.

Both are weighted with fine lead wire (Lead Substitute) wrapped on the hook under the dubbed body.

 

My Sow Bugs are tied on usually a #10 or #12 Caddis hook. They can be tied smaller if you prefer

Again these can be tied in various sizes and colors to fit your needs.

 

Another Pattern I will be trying this year that I have never tried and never heard of until day5 inroduced it to this site is the Curved Hex Nymph. really self explanitory and the pattern can be found in the pattern database on here.

I am absolutely confident that this pattern will produce for me. Mine are tied on a #10 curved caddis hook. Cant remember the number of the hook but it is a Mustad and is in the materials list on day5's database submision of the pattern.

Very fun pattern to tie and I am sure it is going to be just as fun to fish.

 

I hadnt intended to write a book here and take up so much space but when someone wants info I am always happy to share the things that have worked for me.

I am no expert on this subject by any means nor am I anywhere near and expert tyer or Pro angler. I just enjoy my hobbies and get out there and have fun with them. There are a lot of others on here who are way better tyers than I am but I tie to throw not to show but I do like showing them when I have new ties that I have done and like getting feedback on how I can make the pattern better.

I hope this helps....now get out there and have fun tying and tight lines!!!

[monkey93 0]

great in fo thanks for posting that i will have to tie a few you mentioned cause i am going into town tomorrow and hope to hit the sportsmans warehouse here in billings :yahoo:

[Hillbillyredear 0]

No Problem, I seen the scuds and Woollies you tied in the Tying Bench Forum and they looked good.

[lewy271 0]

Just in reference to redear sunfish, I rarely see them in the lakes and rivers that I fish. I don't know if you have to be a specialist I think some bodies of water are just better suited for different species. I see a lot of green sunfish, in know some people around here call then greeneared sunfish and black perch...They are sweet, fiesty, and I catch them on some of my smaller bass flies. I think I catch more of them because they can tolerate more turbidity. But as was said I don't think you need to match the hatch here. But I regularly catch Green sunfish, Rock Bass and yellow bass on buggers and poppers.

[Fred H. 0]

was wondering if someone could make a list of bugs that panfish eat in ponds. i know thw basik dragonfly and damsel fly nyphs but would like to tie up a panfish box with a bunch of nymphs and buggy patterns. i dont know to much about bugs so please just make me a list of every possible bug i could tie up.

 

thank you.

sniksoh

Crustcians .....Crawfish, grass shrimp and scuds

insects......water beetles ,dragon fly nymps, and any other larvae such as mosquitos etc

Terestrials.....crickets, hoppers ,ants ,damsel and dragonflies etc

Fish.....any fry or minnow speices

worms

 

I believe that bluegills opperate on the theory that if something moves it is alive . and if alive is therefore

etible. With this in mind make sure you have flies that you can use in any water clarity ie, light to dark ,shinny to drab , in sizes from 14 to 8 .

Fred

[nomad 0]

My number 1 bluegill fly is a Whitlock red fox squirrel nymph.

[Hillbillyredear 0]

Yes them Greenies can be a blast also and they will bite on pretty much any offering also.

 

Just in reference to redear sunfish, I rarely see them in the lakes and rivers that I fish. I don't know if you have to be a specialist I think some bodies of water are just better suited for different species. I see a lot of green sunfish, in know some people around here call then greeneared sunfish and black perch...They are sweet, fiesty, and I catch them on some of my smaller bass flies. I think I catch more of them because they can tolerate more turbidity. But as was said I don't think you need to match the hatch here. But I regularly catch Green sunfish, Rock Bass and yellow bass on buggers and poppers.

 

[Hillbillyredear 0]

I have to agree with Fred, watch your colors VS the water clarity.

 

was wondering if someone could make a list of bugs that panfish eat in ponds. i know thw basik dragonfly and damsel fly nyphs but would like to tie up a panfish box with a bunch of nymphs and buggy patterns. i dont know to much about bugs so please just make me a list of every possible bug i could tie up.

 

thank you.

sniksoh

Crustcians .....Crawfish, grass shrimp and scuds

insects......water beetles ,dragon fly nymps, and any other larvae such as mosquitos etc

Terestrials.....crickets, hoppers ,ants ,damsel and dragonflies etc

Fish.....any fry or minnow speices

worms

 

I believe that bluegills opperate on the theory that if something moves it is alive . and if alive is therefore

etible. With this in mind make sure you have flies that you can use in any water clarity ie, light to dark ,shinny to drab , in sizes from 14 to 8 .

Fred

 

[monkey93 0]

No Problem, I seen the scuds and Woollies you tied in the Tying Bench Forum and they looked good.

 

thanks ill have to tie up a few more scuds though, because those are the only one i got so far....any suggested colors