Fly Tying Friday - Create Perfect Poppers For Panfish!

March 27, 2020 Panfish On The Fly

Waspi Perfect Popper Kits allow you to easily make great looking poppers!

This morning I tied up a mess of tiny poppers for panfish in anticipation of warmer weather to come. These little poppers are perfect early season offerings when the fish start looking up. I create popper bodies out of a variety of materials, including foam, cork, balsa wood, and hard plastic. All of the materials mentioned are great options for making panfish bugs, but for the tiny poppers, I like hard-bodied foam.

Fly Tying Friday - The Roman Candle

February 28, 2020 Panfish On The Fly

This week’s fly pattern was submitted by Robb Nicewonger. It is a fantastic streamer that can be modified to target a number of different warm-water species. The photographs in this post will certainly back that up! Robb tells the story better in his own words, so he will take it from here…

Fly Tying Friday - The Shimmy Cricket

February 14, 2020 Panfish On The Fly

The Shimmy Cricket will dive when retrieved and pop back up to the surface with a shimmy!

The fly pattern for this week’s fly fishing post was submitted by Martin Burch a member of the Panfish On The Fly Facebook Group. The fly is called the Shimmy Cricket. The Shimmy Cricket is a topwater foam bug that is easy to tie and has great action on the water. When tied correctly, the fly will dive under the surface when stripped, with a tight wiggling action.

The Rabbit Strip Zonker

February 9, 2020 Panfish On The Fly

The Chartreuse Rabbit Strip Zonker - A favorite warm water streamer of mine.

One of my favorite trout streamers is a simple rabbit strip zonker. This versatile streamer has also found a home in my warm water fly boxes. In late winter/early spring, when crappies first start to get active in my area, this is a go-to pattern for me. I also have caught quite a few bass and pickerel on these flies, not to mention the occasional slab bluegill.

Double Duty Nymphs for Panfish and Bass

January 6, 2020 Panfish On The Fly

Although you can catch big bluegills on the surface. You will often catch more (and bigger) fish with a nymph!

As much as I like the take of a chunky bluegill as it slurps a fly off the surface, I know that if I want to catch more and, likely larger, fish, I need to fish beneath the surface. There is no question that nymphs and wet flies account for more fish and, in my experience, larger panfish. Although my favorite way to fish below the surface is with wet flies, I am often found with a nymph of one sort of another tied to the end of my line.