Panfish Rod Suggestion
- Thread starter Wetswinger
- Start date
From the outset I was interested in where this thread was going. I didn't see it trending towards short rods which it did and here is why. I caught my first crappie and bluegill in the summer of 1946. The equipment I used was a 12' cane pole bought at a local hardware store for about 25 cents. To that was attached a braided line that I would estimate to have been around 10# test and to the line a long shank O'Shaughnessy hook with no leader. I dug red worms in the pig pen and the fish ate them hungrily. It was my first ever fishing experience and one I repeated several more times that summer. So the feel of a panfish on a long rod is still appealing to me.
To that end the rod in my quiver that I would reach for for spiny rays would be a 10' 3wt. If you have a Euro nymph rod in the 10'-11' range that would work well. Big bluegills are powerful and I prefer the longer rod to deal with them, especially in cover. Years ago I got into some huge bluegill in Minnesota in a lake that didn't have boat access but a float tube worked just fine. I doubt that the lake was fished much because the walleye guys couldn't get in so the spiny rays grew to outlandish size with little pressure. The 'gills were in the 1 pound plus size and nearly impossible to land in the dense weed beds. After getting my butt whipped several times on a 4wt I retreated to the camper and pulled out a 9 1/2' GLoomis steelhead rod and then I caught fish!
No mention of spiny rays should go without some mention of what outstanding table fare they are. Dipped in beer batter and fried in Crisco they are just superb. Crisco makes excellent pie crust and does just as well on crappie, I would avoid the usual oils for frying. In order of preference I would rate crappie fillets right at the top and perch just slightly behind. Bluegill has a bit stronger taste than the other two. Perch are the easiest to fillet.
Last spring Krusty and I fished a mixed species lake that was alleged to have big trout. The lake is only open to kids under 15 and seniors over 70 so it doesn't get a huge amount of pressure. Although we both caught 20" rainbows on this lake the big surprise was the number of large perch I caught over a foot long. These should be excellent table fare, the lake is deep and fish can easily winter over so this spring I will be returning to target perch instead of trout. If it works out there will be a big fish fry with buttermilk cornbread and some good ales.
To that end the rod in my quiver that I would reach for for spiny rays would be a 10' 3wt. If you have a Euro nymph rod in the 10'-11' range that would work well. Big bluegills are powerful and I prefer the longer rod to deal with them, especially in cover. Years ago I got into some huge bluegill in Minnesota in a lake that didn't have boat access but a float tube worked just fine. I doubt that the lake was fished much because the walleye guys couldn't get in so the spiny rays grew to outlandish size with little pressure. The 'gills were in the 1 pound plus size and nearly impossible to land in the dense weed beds. After getting my butt whipped several times on a 4wt I retreated to the camper and pulled out a 9 1/2' GLoomis steelhead rod and then I caught fish!
No mention of spiny rays should go without some mention of what outstanding table fare they are. Dipped in beer batter and fried in Crisco they are just superb. Crisco makes excellent pie crust and does just as well on crappie, I would avoid the usual oils for frying. In order of preference I would rate crappie fillets right at the top and perch just slightly behind. Bluegill has a bit stronger taste than the other two. Perch are the easiest to fillet.
Last spring Krusty and I fished a mixed species lake that was alleged to have big trout. The lake is only open to kids under 15 and seniors over 70 so it doesn't get a huge amount of pressure. Although we both caught 20" rainbows on this lake the big surprise was the number of large perch I caught over a foot long. These should be excellent table fare, the lake is deep and fish can easily winter over so this spring I will be returning to target perch instead of trout. If it works out there will be a big fish fry with buttermilk cornbread and some good ales.
Replicant
Steelhead
I LOVE this rod. So much fun.
