Panfish are a fly-angling opportunity not to be missed, especially if clear, cold streams are in short supply where you live.
Species like crappie or bluegill are more aggressive than your typical trout – and decidedly less wary. As any experienced angler can attest, trout can be particular about which fly pattern they’ll take, turning downright finicky at times.
By contrast, crappie are voracious predators, and bluegill are nothing short of fresh-water sharks when it comes to their choice of fly, devouring anything and everything they run across.
As a die-hard panfish angler myself, I love throwing flies on quiet ponds and still lakes, and over the years, I’ve developed a sure-fire arsenal of flies that deliver every time.
If you’re looking for the best panfish flies, keep reading!
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Bluegill and crappie may not be the darlings of the fly-angling world, but they’re every bit as exciting to catch as brown trout.
We’ve written a lot about both species in the context of conventional angling, and a few tips about bluegill and crappie behavior will go a long way toward refining your fly choice.
Bluegill
A quick look at some of our more popular bluegill articles will reveal that these opportunistic predators attack anything and everything in the water. From leeches to insects like dragonflies and freshwater shrimp to minnows, these blue-eared gluttons are anything but particular.
Overall, I’ve had the most success choosing insect imitators and fishing dry flies for bluegill, but I have had them hit nymphs and other wet flies, too.
Crappie
Crappie are among America’s most popular panfish, and these aggressive predators will hit nearly any fly you throw.
As we’ve discussed before, papermouths aren’t choosy, though mature adults tend to be dominantly piscivorous. For that reason, I tend to choose streamers when I know crappie are my target.
Poppers
I’m as addicted to poppers as teenagers are to social media.
Because they mimic the wings, legs, and general shape of flying insects, poppers draw panfish into explosive strikes, and small poppers like a #8 or #10 Bett’s are my favorite panfish fly, hands down.
And Solitude Fly Company has an extensive collection of poppers on hand, offering colors and patterns that will please even the most discerning fly fisherman.
Tiny poppers catch big fish.
Anything larger than a #8 can cause problems for the relatively small mouths of many bluegill, though crappie can hit big flies, expanding their mandibles to engulf even #2 hooks.
Typically when I’m lofting poppers to panfish, I’ll be targeting them in shallow water. For crappie, I like to hit the pilings under piers, tossing a popper as far under the planks as I can. I’ll let it sit while the ripples subside, then start popping it forward with short strips of line.
I also work stumps and other vertical cover for crappie, working anything standing more or less straight in the water.
For bluegill, I’ll work a popper up under overhanging vegetation. Long casts aren’t necessary, just a measure of stealth. I allow my kayak or canoe to glide up close, and drop a fly in a likely spot. Especially when bluegill are holding close to their spawning beds, they’ll simply destroy poppers in just two or three feet of water.
I like chartreuse, black, mustard yellow, and white the best, but as long as your popper has “wings” and “legs,” crappie and bluegill are going to be interested!
Dry flies: gnats, midges, and other small insects
Any number of small flying insect imitators will deliver the goods when panfish are the target, and dry flies are irresistible to hungry fish in shallow water.
And while some specific patterns have proven deadly, panfish just aren’t gifted with the discernment and keen eyesight of trout. They’ll hit pretty much any dry fly that lands on the water, just as they’ll swallow pretty much any bug that’s unfortunate enough to touch the surface and get stranded.
I like my dry flies to sport lots of hair, making Umpqua’s Griffith’s Gnat a deadly choice. Offered in #18, #20, and #22 in two packs, it’s a bluegill killer.
You just know that a fly that looks like this is going to be attractive to panfish.
I target water near the bank where bluegill have made a spawning bed. In amongst cover like stumps or branches, a well-positioned gnat pattern is amazing, and it won’t take long for a hungry fish to rocket to the surface to take your fly.
Feeder Creek’s Black Gnat is a great choice no matter what’s actually hatching. My experience with bluegill is that anything small with wings and a tail will ring the dinner bell, even if it’s not a perfect ringer for the real thing.
This gnat pattern is available in sizes ranging from #10 down to a tiny #18, making it ideal for bluegill.
And assortments like The Fly Fishing Place’s Basics Collection are a fantastic way to stock up on effective panfish patterns. Well-proportioned, these flies are tied on #10, #12, and #14 hooks.
I haven’t found that color matters as much as plenty of hair, feathers, and fluff, though a spot or two of translucent green or blue matches the iridescence of insects really well.
Nymphs on a Dropper
Attaching a dropper line suspending a nymph below a dry fly offers the best of both worlds. Not only do you offer a bug imitation rippling on the surface, but you add a dancing nymph below as well.
If you’ve never tied a dropper line, rest assured that it’s child’s play: