September/October PA Panfish

[UncleShorty]

In late Sep through late Oct I'll be in PA. What flys/jigs should I use and how should I fish them for bluegills & crappies. What colors would you recommend?

Any tips or tricks you could share? I haven't had much luck @ Glendale, just a lot of dinks.

I have no boat available, where might I try, Wilmore Dam, Raystown, Yellow Creek Lake?

Thanks in advance.

 

[poopdeck]

Anything for blue gills. For crappie I use, for lack of a better name, small clouser type flies with lead eyes, ice chenile, and marabou tails. Sometimes I wrap a hackle around the collar but must times I don't. I don't have names for the flies I simply tie them up to look like a crappie jig.

 

[springer1]

A small popper is a hoot for 'gills! Something like this image .... no "legs" needed .

http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6809401/il_570xN.320033803.jpg

 

[afishinado]

poopdeck wrote:
Anything for blue gills. For crappie I use, for lack of a better name, small clouser type flies with lead eyes, ice chenile, and marabou tails. Sometimes I wrap a hackle around the collar but must times I don't. I don't have names for the flies I simply tie them up to look like a crappie jig.

^ Good post.

Bluegills will hit anything. I often throw messed up trout flies to catch them. Small poppers are great fun to catch them on top.

Crappie are minnow eaters and small minnow-type flies usually work best.

 

[JG63]

Chartreuse estaz, bead chain eyes, marabou tail busts Crappies very well. Fish it on a sink tip. From the bank, you have to get behind and below the gauntlet of dinks. Big 'uns are almost always deeper and further out.

 

[Fishidiot]

UncleShorty wrote:
In late Sep through late Oct I'll be in PA. What flys/jigs should I use and how should I fish them for bluegills & crappies.

Not a lot of folks targeting panfish that time of year as they tend to be deep. I fish a lot for panfish, but mostly focus on springtime in lakes when bigger fish are shallow; usually by late June, they have gone deep and only tiny dink bluegills are still close to shore.

Anyway, with that said, if it were me I'd try fishing a sinking or sink tip line with a couple nymphs off main lake points or bars. Blow down trees near deep water and highway bridge pilings and rip-rap will hold large gills and crappies in late summer/autumn. Although hard for an FFer to fish from shore, the deep side of main lake weed beds should also hold larger panfish as well.
Fly patterns don't matter much, but I'd recommend fishing deep that time of year.

 

[Bosshog]

My girlfriend has caught two of the biggest crappie I've ever seen on simple conehead black wooly buggers. Being minnow eaters as stated above it seems to fit the bill.

 

[gfoledc]

Uncle Shorty pm sent

 

[UncleShorty]

gfoledc,

Received & Replied

 

[AFISHN]

My go to fly for pan fish is a small white wooly bugger with a small split shot up against the eye of the hook.