I have a friend that likes to bring his grandson out to fish and I would like to tell him the better baits to use for pan fish. Some place I came accros the baits but I can not find them.

Besides earthworms/nightcrawlers?

WRT prepared baits, I have had the most success with Berkley's earthworm imitations and Powerbait honeyworms. And if the fish were regularly fed, I'd try those new Stubby Steve pellets.

Wal-Mart usually has crickets and worms. I like crickets.

Wiggins should have a sporting goods store. Even Tylertown(1500)
has one that sells red worms, night crawlers, and crickets.

To take a phrase from our good friend Bill Cody, "It all depends."

In general, I find that "fishing worms" and parts of night crawlers are pretty effective nearly everywhere I fish. They also like fresh grubs and live crickets. However, in our pond, one of the most effective bluegill baits is a small piece gummy white bread formed around a #4 bait hook.

In my pond, earthworm, grass shrimp, and fish pellets on thin wire No 8 hook are all reliable. We catch more "bonus fish" (LMB and BC) on the shrimp. We do occasionally catch a bonus fish on worm and pellet while fishing for BG.

Hey Bob, how is your supply of shrimps holding out?

My favorite bait for BG in ponds and most lakes would be the wax worm. 2 or 3 per size 8 bait holder hook. If there are grass shrimp native, then they are also high on the list. I love fishing grass shrimp for sunfish in FL...

Not so good.

In October-late March, I was averaging ~6 large shrimp per swipe of my dip net. At present, I am averaging ~1 per swipe, and only about 20% of these are of a decent size. The rest are small to very small, and probably hatched last summer.

I think the shrimp are in a natural bust cycle this time of year. The mature females have just released the hatchlings, and I suspect many of them die of old age shortly afterward. If I remember correctly, I will start catching more large ones in June or July. We can still catch enough to use for bait, it just takes a lot more time.

I guess they're my favorite bait. They're clean, stay on the hook pretty good, and catch all kinds of fish.

Maybe the fish found out how to identify them? that would be a good thing, huh? Except for less bait.

Just stocked two of my pond with grass shrimp... I hope they take hold like they did in yours bobad!

CJ, were you able to locate a source for p. kadiakensis locally? If so, I think they will reproduce just fine.

I should be in for a real shrimp explosion this year, as I've never seen so many carrying eggs.

P. kadiakensis isn't native to the eastern drainages so no luck with a local source. I got mine from Nebraska. Had them sent via FedEx overnight... Seemed to come through just fine, stocked some in two different ponds. With them being Nebraska bred and raised, I think they will be adapted to the cold. Just not sure if the water chemistry will be right for them to thrive? None of the shrimp I got had eggs or larvae yet. I am hoping its just too early in the year this far north....

The young man --ten years old had a blast at fishing. He used worms and caught 28 nice sized bream. His grand father takes him fishing. He had his line break about 4 times, he did not have a steel leader. He came out sometime earlier and he did not do good so he was happy.His line was probably broken by catfish. I do have some large large mouth bass.

Bravo!

Great news Deaner. Did you get some pics ?

Awesome! The line breaking 4 times from a fish seems out of place for a youngster. If it was broke because of being hung up on structure that is a different story. You may want to encourage them to replace the fishing line. Monofilament fishing line gets brittle after a while. Most any local fishing store can spool on new line for you and help pick appropriate line to use. It should only cost a few dollars. I am sure it has been used bream, but steal leaders are usually used when fishing for predator fish with teeth that can cut the line. Youngsters catching fish builds great memories, even the big one that got away.

Berkley makes a bait called a atomic teaser, I caught about 25 one pound bluegill yesterday on them.

Does the 2 inches include the long tail? Looks interesting, but the colors and names seem to be trying to catch the fisher and not the fish. OK, I deleted a sentence, on looking a 2nd time, I see a few interesting colors. What color did you catch the nice BG on?
anyway, \thanks

For the price of 'em they had better work! Interesting looking... I like the Berkley Power Nymph.

I caught them on the grasshopper natural color. I would just let it sink to the bottom and hop it along the bottom. The strange thing was that all the fish I caught were in 6-8 feet of water. Kinda deep considering they were on bed last week.

Were they females that had backed off the beds?

nope all males

I'll put up my vote for wax worms on a jig head. I caught some of the best BG I've ever caught on them last weekend.

ny pictures of the young man and his fish, wish I had as he was so proud. All enjoyed a good cat fish dinner with the trimmings. Had 24 people in for dinner and relaxation. Really good time.

CJ:

I've had really good luck with the power nymph in shad color, 1/64 oz jighead, trout style, 2# line. 4# will work, but 2# outfishes it. No bobber or any other weight. Cast it out, slowly hop it back, vary the sink after it hits the water to find out the depth the fish are at. Killer when they are on the beds. Start close and work your way out. Unpainted, pink or red jig head works for me, green seems to turn them off.

nobody mentioned maggots...

the berkley maggots work good, tip a tiny jig just like you would w/ a piece of worm. they hold up longer than a worm, dont have to re-bait as often.