Panfishing

[Matth05]

Nice fish! I haven't tried targeting largemouths this summer/fall; apparently there was some sort of toxic waste dump that polluted the only stretch of river near me that has smallies a while ago, and most days it was too hot to wander about the margins of ponds for bass anyways.

You make panfish fishing look fun; I should give it another go one of these days.

Have you tried a BFS combo yet? They're super fun- moreso than a standard spinning ultralight setup IMO. I got a cheap Ace Hawk rod off of AliExpress, and the cheapest KastKing BFS baitcaster available; set me back ~$140, which isn't terrible, I think.
Essentially just an ultralight baitcaster combo; supposedly it was originally a modern-ish Japanese invention for targeting trout in streams.
Bit of a learning curve- I'm too used to casting recklessly with a Daiwa Zillion SV TW, and kept backlashing; but it was extremely fun when I did manage to catch something- hooking into a big bluegill or crappie can give you a run for your money, lol.

Definitely get out there for some panfish. These past two years have been some of the most fun, fishing wise. I think I was doing so much bass fishing in years prior that I forgot how enjoyable it is to just grab an ultralight and catch whatever will bite.

Haven’t tried any BFS gear but will eventually. I nearly bought a BFS rod and reel last year but never pulled the trigger on it. Had my eyes on the BFS Curado, and was looking at a couple different options for a rod. The whole ultralight baitcaster thing seems like it’d be very fun.

 

[james99]

2 more decent shell crackers. Im just getting into these, a pond that I've been fishing a lot is stocked with them. Hooked a grass carp too, I'm not sure it knew I was trying to reel it in. I found out there are hybrid bass in the same pond, might have something new to go after.

 

[Matth05]

2 more decent shell crackers. Im just getting into these, a pond that I've been fishing a lot is stocked with them. Hooked a grass carp too, I'm not sure it knew I was trying to reel it in. I found out there are hybrid bass in the same pond, might have something new to go after.

View attachment 1548713

View attachment 1548714

Shellcrackers are awesome. Almost look like our pumpkinseeds, if they were on steroids lmao.

And hybrid bass. That sounds interesting. Are we talking black bass hybrids or hybrid stripers? Couple places around here that’ll stock hybrid stripers. Crazy fish from everything I see about them.

 

[james99]

Shellcrackers are awesome. Almost look like our pumpkinseeds, if they were on steroids lmao.

And hybrid bass. That sounds interesting. Are we talking black bass hybrids or hybrid stripers? Couple places around here that’ll stock hybrid stripers. Crazy fish from everything I see about them.

The shellcrackers are definitely fun to hook. Everyone of them made a run to go under the dock and it took a lot to stop them.

As for the bass, I'm not sure. The sign by the lake just said hybrid bass. My first thought was striper/white hybrids. Hopefully time will tell.

 

[Matth05]

The shellcrackers are definitely fun to hook. Everyone of them made a run to go under the dock and it took a lot to stop them.

As for the bass, I'm not sure. The sign by the lake just said hybrid bass. My first thought was striper/white hybrids. Hopefully time will tell.

My guess would be striper/white hybrids like you said. But I guess you never know. I’ve heard of people catching “meanmouth” bass before, never heard of them being stocked. There’s also a man made strain of largemouth called “tiger” bass. Basically a Florida bass crossed with a northern strain largie IIRC. I think those are somewhat commonly stocked too. Definitely worth a shot to try and figure it out, I’ll be looking forward to that post lol.

 

[james99]

My guess would be striper/white hybrids like you said.

It is indeed wipers, I found it on the DNR website. I thought I had one yesterday or at least the strongest large mouth ever on a 5" glide bait, but it ended up being a big catfish.