Northwest Fishing Reports

I can't seem to set the hook while fishing for panfish very often. Could someone explain very clearly how hard/which direction I should be tugging. I got a lot of bites today but I was not able to bring anything but bass to shore today and I could see the small panfish attacking my lure. I also noticed they would strike my gold spinner .. I was half tempted to use it as bait lol.

My guess is that your reference to "small panfish" is, in itself, the answer. They will attack nearly anything with gusto yet lack mouths big enough to take your lure. The direction in which you set the hook really should not matter. When I'm fishing for crappie I'll run into bluegills and sunfish that antagonize both me and my jigs. They just grab the tail and run like hell until I pull it away from them. Rarely do they actually get hooked. Crappie, on the other hand, even small ones at 4-6", will inhale those same jigs due to much larger mouths. If you are actually looking to catch those monkeys you'll need to go a lot smaller with your bait/lures.

raffensg64 has it exactly right. Bluegills and Pumpkin Seeds are really pretty fish but I kind of hate them because they do nothing but steal my hard dug bait. I don't think I have ever caught one of either over 4 inches in lakes here. Bluegills do have a little bit bigger mouth than pumpkin seeds. They will get hooked on small 1/32 or 1/64 oz jigs without too much trouble, or all to often, depending on your point of view.
They get to eating size in some waters I hear. I'm sure you'll figure out how to hook them soon. Let us know if they are any bigger in the Snake.

most often the problem is that the lure is to big or to much bait especially using worms, and the bobber may be to big if one is being used. you'll need to downsize everything if you want to catch those panfish. you may find that you'll catch bigger ones staying small. if you are just using a bait hook i wouldn use size 10-12 for them. bi-mart should have 1/64th jigs. these would be the perfect size. <')//<

when the bass or trout fishing is slow, my friend and i resort to using a small bobber and worm. we use the small (size 10-12) gomakatsu egg hooks with a small piece of worm. when you run into the smaller mouthed fish, you dont necessarily have to wait for the bobber to go under (partly because they might not be big enough, and also because it partly prevents them swallowing the hook). i just wait for the bobber to swim, not just bounce. as it swims i try to set the hook the opposite way its going by just slowly raising the pole, not jerking. works quite well

I didn't see size 10 but I went and bought size 8 hooks I was using size 6 before so I hope this will work. I also sharpened them with my stone just incase. Thank you for the suggestions guys.

These fish hate me I swear.. I could see the bluegill school the water was so clear.. and they were nibbling away at tiny bugs on the water.. but not one of them wanted to bite my hook. They'll look at it but they wouldn't even peck at the worm on it like they'd normally do. I had fun out there.. but I'm getting discouraged catching these things. Everyone talks about how easy it is to fish for sunfish.

I find the 3 tug rule works pretty well for pan fish. If the darn fish tugs three times, I pull up. I've caught a lot of fish on this method. As for presentation, I use worms on the bottom. Works best for me.

I went out again with no success... I go out and I found some bass no problem like always but when I went to go find some sunfish I couldn't get a single bite again. They must hear me coming or something I hope to try again this week because I really enjoy fishing for these when they are biting.

try using maggots

My wife freaks out about the worms in my fridge.. maggots? She'd divorce me hah. Where would I go about buying those I'm sure "wild" ones have a lot of bacteria on them.

Proverb wrote:My wife freaks out about the worms in my fridge.. maggots? She'd divorce me hah. Where would I go about buying those I'm sure "wild" ones have a lot of bacteria on them.

My local "Joes" aka "GI Joes" has them.

Small hooks. About a size 10. Rig a small piece of worm that only cover the shank and not the bend. Keep it straight on the hook. No weight and if possible no bobber for a free drop that looks natural.

A couple of years ago when my son showed interest in fishing, I wanted him to have sucess so he would not be discouraged so I bought him a cheapo adult 5' ultra light and put 4lbs test on it.

I rigged what bass fisherman call a drop shot, with a small split shot on the bottom of the line. Roughly a foot above the weight I tied on a foot long leader with a small nymph from my fly box and tipped the size 12 hook with a potzski egg. The fly and hook were small enough that pumpkin seeds could get it in there mouth, the egg put out a scent and he had great sucess.

I have touted the Trout Magnet many times on different places on this site, but the most success I have had is with crappie and blue gill. You can find them at Wal-Mart and some one told me also Bi-Mart, but I have not been there. They are a 1/64th oz shad jig and a small split tail grub the way they are designed is to sink more naturaly, horizontally and not just head first. The thing they do not sell at Wal-Mart is the E-Z Floats which are the perfect size for the Trout Magnet. I rig the float about 12 to 18 inches above the jig and toss it out and let it sink and then every few seconds I reel one complete revolution on the reel to intice. I let them hit it two or three times and then set the hook with just a wrist motion and let them swim for a few seconds before I rel them in.
We have opposite problems...I go out for bass and catch crappie and bluegill. I rigged a dropshot for the first time last Saturday at Lacamas and tried to drop it in the hole where I caught my biggest bass ever last year and not being sure about what to use for bait I Texas-rigged a worm and when I thought I might have a bite I set and reeled and brought in a crappie about as big as my hand...I will try again, in a different spot.