Followup post of May 6, "New to forum....."

Hello again, As I mentioned in my earlier post I fixed my grandsons up with a couple of nice little $29 Quantum rod/spinning reel combo's from GM and all was good on that front :p. So now that I have picked up the bluegill/spec fishing bug I thourght I should have a go at getting myself a real ultra light rig instead of uasing one of my 40 year old bass rods and Pfluger spinning reel big enough to land Free Willy :mad:. I decided It's "M y TIME so I got what I wanted with the rational that if I planned on doing some bluegill/spec fishing I'd do it with the tackle of my choice:D. After some serious looking, talking and reading I decided on a 6'6" St Croix grafite ultra light rod and a Shimano STRADIC C14 1000F ultra light spinning reel (6 oz)loded with 4# test line.:) Aside from some #8 hooks, 1" bobers and some split shot I'm lost and need your help, advice, suggestions, etc. lol I'll be doing my fishing off the end of my dock or out of a little 14' Lowe john boat with a 8hp outboard. I'm on a small chain of lakes in central FL that is loaded with bass and I imagin bluebill and specs as bell and now that the grandsons are excited about going fishing with me as soon as school is out in a few weeks. I need some education from some pro's.
Any help on how best to fish for panfish would be very, very much appreciated. Baits, artificials, techniques, drifting, etc.
Thanks millions, fellows,
Jim








was running

There's loads of info in this forum. Go back and read old threads and you'll learn lots.

As for me, my most productive method by far is live maggots under a float. Small jigs and flies are my top artificials.

Mostly I will use slip float or a drop shot for deep water crappie or shellcracker. Many times I tie on two different baits to fish different depths of the water column and to give the fish a choice of colors or lures. I am using a Waggler slip float for presentations 2-8 foot deep.

Best Baits in my opinion....

Crappie - fish structure, weeds, bridge pililngs and wood
1/16 Marabou jig
1/16 tube jig
1/32 kip tail
1/32 tube jig
#4 hook and minnow
#6 teardrop and waxworm

Shellcracker - fish about 2 foot off bottom
#6 hook and wiggler worm
#5 hook and wax worm

Bluegill - for bigger fish you may want to try a deeper presentation
1/64 kip tail
1/80 kip tail
#8 hook and maggot
#8 hook and wax worm
teardrop and waxworm

I only thing I'd add is get an extra spool and carry it with 6 lb line. You never know when you're gonna get into some heavy timber and the 6 will give you a little more protection from logs than the 4.

Plus if you have to switch you can always bloodknot a length of 4 to the 6 to have it more invisable.

Fatman