Trout flies for panfish?

[GG34 0]

I'm in the south and can't always get to trout waters. I enjoy tying trout flies. Anybody use them for panfish with any success?

[tidewaterfly 0]

There are many, many fly patterns that are popular for trout, that are just as effective for panfish. "Trout" flies are often tied to imitate a specific insect species, or a family of species, but panfish flies do not usually need to be so specific. Most panfish species are not that selective about the flies they'll eat.

 

I've known a few folks who regularly fish the same dry flies they use for trout, for chasing bluegills. Myself, I tie some nymph patterns for panfish that could be used for trout, but I also don't get the opportunity to fish for trout too often. I like the more usual type poppers & other topwater bugs for panfish, primarily because they float much better than dry flies & longer without the use of floatants.

 

I prefer simple flies for panfish. There are plenty of simple trout patterns too, but there are also many that require more specialized materials & extra time to tie, and I've yet to see any instance where that was needed to catch panfish.

 

However, if you're going to tie the trout flies anyway, go for it! The panfish won't mind!

[BassMouth87 0]

Wolly worms, hares ears, pheasant tail nymphs, elk hair caddis, and other trout patterns have treated me very well in regards to chasing gills. Just about any trout fly I toss into local ponds will catch bluegill and crappie most of the time depending on there mood.

[GG34 0]

How do you guys usually fish nymphs for Stillwater bream?

[Margaretann 0]

Everything I have used for trout, have been a huge hit with panfish.

[Roofish 0]

Panfish are like Redfish they will hit Bubblicious on a hook

[BassMouth87 0]

How do you guys usually fish nymphs for Stillwater bream?

 

I usually cast out and strip back along weed beds and any submerged structure. Vary the speed and length of your strips, use your rod tip to impart action to the nymph.

 

For dry flies I just cast out and allow it to sit, usually within 30 seconds something in the pond is taking a swipe at it when the bite is on.

[mikechell 0]

How do you guys usually fish nymphs for Stillwater bream?

A lot of the water I fish is mud bottom or heavy weeds/cover. I fish small flies, like nymphs, but usually with no weight. I like a slow sink and try to time it so I am ticking it just off the bottom/cover. If I let it set, it usually gets covered in weed or moss, so keeping it off the bottom is the key.

Most of the time, though, it never hits the bottom before getting a strike.

[flytire 0]

any trout fly will catch panfish.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I fish in similar places that mikechell mentioned, and primarily in tidal waters so there is sometimes current. There is also Spadderdock pads & lots of overhanging trees. I'll use both weighted & unweighted nymphs along the edges of cover & weed lines. The patterns are not important most of the time, as long as they look buggy & are tied with materials that have some movement to them. I like to use a lot of rabbit fur in my nymphs. Sometimes the strike occurs when the fly is sinking. I usually retrieve them with short 3 to 4 inch strips of line, with stops every couple of strips. If that doesn't work, I'll change the strip length & cadence until I find something that does work, but haven't seen too many times that panfish are very particular.

 

In the waters I fish most, there are Bluegills & other sunfish species, Crappies, White & Yellow Perch, as well as LM bass & Pickerel, and even Striped Bass, so on any given cast you just never know what might strike.

 

I generally stick with large size flies as far as panfish size goes, rarely going smaller than a size 8, and most often I'll use flies tied on size 4 hooks. I've found that when I go smaller, I get a lot of deep takes & that makes it more difficult to release fish, and with the larger hooks it keeps the smaller fish off my line because they can't get the hook in their mouths. I always debarb my hooks too!

 

Besides nymphs, I also like small baitfish patterns, and for topwater, besides poppers, I like some of the foam flies popular for trout, like simple foam beetles, Chernobyl's, BLT's & Triple Deckers and various adult Stoneflies commonly used on large western trout rivers. The foam flies are really good because they can be tied in much larger sizes than might be used for trout, & appeal to bass as well. I've tied some of them as large as 2/0 & about 4" in length for bass. The Chernobyl patterns are easy to tie, the BLT's, Triple Deckers & Stoneflies may be more involved, but I also like to tie them.

 

Average size panfish here are 6 to 10" in length, with the occasional bigger ones.

[Piker20 0]

Mike and tidewater, have you tried the washing line method to fish over that type of bottom? A highly buoyant booby on the point with 1 2 or 3 nymphs /buzzers on droppers up toward rod. Fished on a slow sinking line the booby holds the flies up and keeps your baits in the zone a bit longer.

[Istripbuggers 0]

Thats an interesting one piker, i could also see that useful for trout in shallower still water!

[Piker20 0]

Its a great method on stocked waters here in UK. You can buy sinking lines now designed for it where the body of the line sinks rather than tip first so the flies stay in that plane longer still.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Piker, here in MD, there is a limit of 2 hooks per line, so more than 2 flies is not legal. I have used 2 flies in the past, sometimes with one more buoyant than the other, but haven't done that in many, many years. The waters I'm fishing are also quite shallow, usually less than 5 ft deep, and more so less than 3 ft, so using more than one fly is not that practical. It would likely result in being snagged on debris more than actually fishing for me!

[Piker20 0]

Yep same as my salt water areas. Too much weed to risk a loose extra hook trailing around.