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Why do I and many others throughout this great country fish
for panfish? Why would we seek out a smaller species of fish
as compared to the other alternatives? What causes us to lean
back on a cold winters day and dream of bream. Well I certainly
can't speak for others but I believe we do all of this for the
same reasons.
One of the biggest reasons is the availability of these fish.
It does not require a lifetime savings to get to a far away
exotic week of fishing. For most people a short drive is all
that is necessary. In a lot of cases just a mere short walk
is all that's required. In just about every farm pond, park
lake, stream, creek, river and lake you will find a healthy
population of panfish. Of course the term "panfish" covers
a lot of various fish. This includes all the perch (bream)
family which would be yellow perch, bluegill, warmouth, rock
bass (red eyed perch), shell crackers, just to name a few and
then there is the crappies both black and white. In some
references this also includes the white bass (Sand Bass).
For the bream, sizes range anywhere from mere ounces to a record
of 4 pounds and 13 ounces for a Shell Cracker caught by Joey
Floyd Marianna in Florida. To see this outstanding fish follow
the link to
www.finefishing.com/1freshfish/aaspecies/records/recshellcracker.htm
. One page back also includes the story of the man who held the
record for 40 years with a Blue Gill that weighed in at 4 pounds
and 12 ounces. These fish really give a panfisher something to
dream about!
Another reason is their constant willingness to take a top or
subsurface fly. When most other fish have stopped, these feisty
fish are still going at it. Perch are sight feeders and will
usually stop when it's totally dark, picking up again after
daybreak. They are also smart enough, after taking a fly for
a few times, to quit and totally ignore the fly as a non-food
source. An excellent example of this took place this last
summer when I tried an experiment on the San Gabriel River.
I found a hole of water with a large rock in the middle. I
would cast to one side of the rock repeatedly with a yellow
spider, catching bream after bream until they started to ignore
the fly. At this point I changed to a yellow hopper. Once
again I was hammered time and again until they grew bored of
it also. This time I left the hopper on the line and switched
to the other side of the rock. Again I was hammered but only
a couple of times. I'm pretty sure it was the same group of
bream. This gives us two choices, select another pattern and
continue taking the same fish or move on to another location.
I always opt for the latter as it gives that particular hole
a rest and I get to explore another stretch of river.
Another of my favorite reasons for panfishing is to teach the
next generation of flyfishers. If you want to teach a child
to fish, these are the fish to introduce them to. Of all the
people I have talked with, it's these little fish they hold dear
to their memories as a child. I have fond childhood memories
of those lazy summer days filled with the endless joy of
catching those scrappy little fish. My father would spend
a week of vacation down on the Pecos River at the Chandler
Ranch. This was a private ranch which allowed people access
to the river including overnight camping. This was my first
experience of river fishing. I remember the cliff swallows
and their haunting cries as they flitted about their nesting
sites. The ever present sound of running water. The gurgling,
murmuring and laughter of water as it found it's course over
and through the rocks. The seemingly endless days of exploring
the river banks and best of all, catching all those scrappy perch.
Of all my memories of fishing, these I hold the dearest.
If you are a fisherman, or have ever fished, it's a sure bet
that sometime during your life, the little panfish was a part
of it. ~ Johnny Irvin,AKA Hillfisher
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