Panfish from a belly boat.
Panfish is the honest belly boat category. Farm ponds are quiet, the fish are willing, and a good bluegill on a 3 weight is more fun than the internet lets on. We fished 29 sessions over two summers on Wyoming stock ponds, one Montana ranch pond, and a shallow bay of Yellowstone tailwater during hopper season.
Fished for 29 sessions on Wyoming stock ponds, Montana ranch pond, Yellowstone bayThree flies and lures worth carrying
- Size 12 chartreuse popper on a 3 weight. Bluegill fly of record on any farm pond in July. Cast to the shade line, twitch once, let it sit.
- 1/32 ounce chartreuse marabou jig under a slip float. The one crappie rig. Fish it two feet down over 8 to 12 feet of water along dock lines.
- Size 10 olive Wooly Bugger. The panfish default when nothing else works, on a 4 weight sinking-tip. Perch eat this on Yellowstone tailwater flats through summer.
Best water and season
- Bluegill: farm ponds and shallow bays, June through August, water 70 to 80 degrees. Look for beds in two to four feet.
- Crappie: reservoir dock lines and standing timber, April and May, water 55 to 65 degrees. Suspending fish in the middle of the water column.
- Yellow perch: shallow weed flats on tailwater bays and stillwater arms, cool summer mornings, water 60 to 68 degrees.
Belly-boat-specific tactics
- Slow the drift. Panfish spook off wake. Kick once, glide, kick once, glide. Half your normal pace.
- Anchor on the beds. A stake-out pole in three feet of water lets you sit on a bluegill bed and cast to concentric rings until the fish reset.
- Fish the shade edge, not the middle. Bluegill live within a rod-length of shade. Cast to the edge; the middle is empty.