Sunfish and Panfish Flies

Fishing Warm water Forum
1

Hello,

I just got my fly fishing gear about a week ago from Cabela’s and have been practicing casting in my yard. One of the fly fishing experts at Cabela’s said I should start out by trying to catch sunfish and panfish. I forgot to ask him what flies I should use… :frowning: Im a total newbie when it comes to flies so any help would be appreciated :smiley:

Thanks a lot :stuck_out_tongue:

Andrew

2

Andrew,

Go to the Panfish section of this board. There is an archive of Rick Z’s articles that will give you a vast amount of information to get started. Good luck, and have fun!

Wrangler

3

Hey Wrangler,

Thanks for the response. I can’t seem to find the “Panfish” section… Im kinda new to this site. lol :wink: Is it on the main page or is it on the forums? Ive tried searching but have had no luck. Sorry

Andrew

4

AndrewB, Go to the home page and look at the bottom of the page in the fine print. There are listings of the different sections of the site in very small print.

5

From the FAOL Home page, go to FEATURES in the left menu and scroll down the FEATURES menu to find Panfish and Warm Water sections. Or like rodgerole said :).

Direct links to the archives below:

[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/panfish/archive.html:2621a]Archive of Panfish[/url:2621a]

[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/warmwater/archive.html:2621a]Archive of Warm Water[/url:2621a]

6

Andrew, if you are buying your flies you may find some of Rick’s patterns hard to find. Try getting some hares ear nymphs, small wooly buggers(size 12) and a few colors of rubber leg foam spiders. Try soft hackles too. Read the panfish articles for ideas on how and where to fish them.

7

Andrew, try this one. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/panfish/
it should take you to the main web site. If you have a Wally-world see if they have any flies or poppers, floating kind of things. Doesn’t matter a lot, they all work.

8

Andrew,

If you are lucky enough to have a local fly shop nearby or at least not tooooooo far away, now would be a great time to stop in and introduce yourself. They will be more than happy to help you select a dozen or so flies that are local favorites. Many shops also offer advice about local fishing holes and hot spots. Really good shops may give you a quick lesson in casting which greatly shortens the learning curve and improves performance and distance. You may also find some fishing buddies who would be willing to take you out a time or two.

Welcome to a great sport and the best fly fishing site on the internet. 8T :smiley:

9

Andrew,

One quick thought on my last post! Don’t take you Cabela’s rod in with you to the fly shop. You will get a much warmer greeting without it. 8T :oops:

10

I makes it all worth while sometimes when we get a new guy asking all kinds of questions, sincere as all get out, and we have several ‘old-timers’ give them info. Sharing all they have; that may be nice for the new guy but, it allows the folks sharing to have a pay-off too from doing it.
All the time you hear about the “elitist dry-fly &%#$@$#'s” of fly fishing. Could be, but I guess we ain’t good enough for them. They never come here. We just get the ‘good guys.’ :smiley:

11

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your responses! And yes, I did find the Panfish section :lol: I think I have a couple of local fly shops around and will probably head over their later today. Thanks again for being so helpful :smiley: “good guys” 8)

12

Here are some links to some bluegill swaps we’ve held right here on FAOL. Take a look at the range of flies here. Those gills will take a pretty wide variety of flies as you’ll see here.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ghileman@ … /my_photos

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ghileman@ … /my_photos

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ghileman@ … /my_photos

13

Andreww,

Welcome to the sport of fly fishing. From the sounds of things you will also be getting involved in fly tying before too long. In the meantime, if you want to send me your snail mail address, I’ll gladly send you some flies that work well for me.

Jim Smith
Conyers, Georgia

14

Hey Jim,

Thanks for offering to send me some flies… I really appreciate it :smiley: I will PM you shortly with my address.
BTW thanks ol blue for the nice pictures :wink: Gotta get me some of those

Andrew

15

Oh one more newbie question, do most sunfish and panfish flies work for trout also? Just wondering because Im gonna be fishing for trout in the next couple of weeks in the Black Hills :smiley: Really excited…
Sorry for asking these dumb questions, Im just really pumped for my first big fly fishing outing! :slight_smile:

Thanks again guys

Andrew 8)

16

AndrewB,

Don’t apologize for being just like the rest of us! :smiley:

I would highly recommend you look at the Beginners section.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/101/
Scroll down and look for the “Recommendations for the beginning flyfisher” in the list. After you get through there you’ll see a list of different flies that you can use for many types of fish.

And, yes, trout will take some of the flies that panfish will take. But, panfish will take almost all the flies a trout will take, and many more.

Welcome to the crowd! :smiley:

.

17

Hey MOturkE,

Thanks for responding! Ok ok, next time I wont apologize :lol: Anyways I looked at the recommendations for the beginning flyfisher and saw I have a few of those that I got with my beginners kit :stuck_out_tongue: I think I just need to go buy a few more in each catagory like different colors and such and then Ill be set.

Thanks again and glad to be in the Crowd! 8)

Andrew

18

If you ever get to tying your own flies (at least half of the fun of fly-fishing), I’d recommend Richard Komars Black Widow for a ‘Can’t Fail’ bluegill fly. It’s easy to tie and durable.

Next, I’d recommend a fly I came up with (although someone else probably ties them, too). It’ s real easy with just thread and 2 materials…marabou and dubbing. That’s all! Sort of nympthy-looking. I don’t have a name for it, but I’ll send you instructions and a couple of them to try if you want. So far, they’ve caught everything that swims, including carp and catfish.

Semper Fi!

19

Hey Gig,

Thanks for the reply. I am VERY interested in tying my own flies. I will probably go out and buy a beginner’s kit or something so I can start learning the basics. When I get my kit I will PM you for instructions.

Thanks gig for offering instructions :smiley:

Andrew

20

Andrew,

I can’t tell you that most panfish flies work for trout, but I can tell you that white gurgle pops do. It has been my experience that trout flies often work very well to catch panfish. Panfish and trout both eat insects. I have found that flies that look like insects look like food to trout or bluegill.

I understand the excitement for your upcoming trip. I am experiencing the same excitement for my upcoming trip to Colorado.

A near vertical learning curve is the most exciting thing in life!

Wrangler.