Praising panfish

Fishing for big predators is fun and very exciting. Let’s face it, seeing a huge muskie follow a bucktail or a 30-inch steelhead tail-walk across a river is a pretty thrilling experience. But for your average angler, and for almost all kids, panfish are the main dish on the menu. They are generally accessible, keen to bite, and make for delicious eating. Plus, panfish are amongst the most beautiful of freshwater fish. Here are some of my favourites and a few thoughts on fishing them. Perch The yellow perch is arguably the most popular panfish in Ontario and is the first fish for many, many anglers. I remember catching perch as a kid, and being fascinated by their colouration and eagerness to bite. I used to catch them off the docks on Thunder Bay’s waterfront and would watch them circle and peck at the hook and worm until they finally sucked it in. In those days I didn’t eat perch; I just caught them and pitched them back in. It was only later in life that I discovered they are among the most delicious of all fish, as sweet and delicate a meat as you will find. A minnow, small hook, and sinker is about all you need to catch them, and a drop-shot rig works wonders. Perch are aggressive biters, and will also hit small tube jigs, spinner rigs with worms, and even downsized crankbaits. In lakes and rivers with perch, I’ve found docks, piers, and rock walls usually have some of these fish hanging around. For many of us, perch fishing never gets old. Crappie I caught my first crappie in Tennessee when I was 17 years old, fishing Old Hickory Lake with my cousin, Mark McKee, and my dad. We were on a March Break trip to visit my aunt and uncle’s farm, and my cousin took a day off from chores to go fishing with us. The technique for catching those crappie was simple: we used an eight-foot cane pole with a length of monofilament line, a hook, small split shot, and a minnow. The minnow was dipped into the countless brush piles that dotted this huge, murky reservoir. When a crappie took hold, the tip of the pole dipped and the fish was then air lifted into the boat. I remember thinking crappie were among the coolest-looking fish I’d ever seen, with that odd, upturned