Big panfish eat little crankbaits. Bluegills and crappie just love 'em -- and other fish species won't turn them down either.

Panfish that hit crankbaits tend to be the larger ones, making them worth catching! Photo courtesy of Tim Lilley.

The lures work on ponds and lakes of all sizes, and streams and rivers. In more than two decades of tying on an ultralight crankbait, I've never been skunked while fishing one.

From here, the second best reason to fish them is that there's nothing particularly specialized about fishing them. The best reason, of course, is that they consistently catch panfish. I can only think of one technique that requires some attention to a certain detail, and we'll talk about that later.

GEAR
Nothing beats a light spinning outfit with a 6- to 7-foot rod. Longer rods enable you to make longer casts, and that can be especially important when you're fishing low, clear lakes and streams. Look for rods that are designed to handle baits from 1/8- to 1/4-ounce, and line weights from 4- to 10-pound test.

My little crankbait reels generally carry 4- or 6-pound line, and I re-tie my lures often to avoid losing fish and lures to line damaged by rocks and brush that breaks at the worst time -- when I'm trying to land a slab-sided crappie or bluegill.

Most often, I opt for 6-pound line because I can set my drag tight enough when using it to be able to quickly play and land big panfish. The outfits with 4-pound line come out in places with low, clear water.

BAITS
Little crankbaits in my big-panfish tackle box all weigh 1/4-ounce or less. They include minnow imitations, crawdad imitations and topwater baits. The latter can work really well on farm ponds and other small lakes, especially those with weedy cover or cattails along the shoreline.

Many anglers consider poppers to be mostly bass baits, but that's not true in smaller sizes -- especially on those weed-lined lakes. When I get to a pond or small lake and spy a corner that's choked with weeds, I'm going to fish that spot with a popper.

If someone limited me to just one little crankbait for big panfish, however, it would be a crawdad imitation. Over the years, these tiny plugs have racked up impressive numbers of big panfish for me, with some nice bass and catfish thrown in.

Yes, catfish will hit little crankbaits, and they seem to always do so ferociously. Pan-sized channel cats are the most frequent takers, but I've had some big ones smack my little lures on occasion. One catfish in particular stands out -- even though I never set the hook on it.

That fish came out of nowhere and followed a little crawdad crankbait for 10 to 15 yards as I reeled it back to the boat. It was a scene out of a shark-attack documentary; all I saw was a large dorsal fin slicing through the surface just behind my bait. That was both exciting and frustrating because the fish never hit the plug. Maybe the boat spooked it; something did. It was almost dark so, even though the water was clear, I never got a good look at the fish. The dorsal fin was unmistakably one of a catfish.

I mention this because big panfish aren't the only big fish on your favorite waters that will show interest in ultralight crankbaits. These baits are so much fun because, even though panfish will be your primary catches, you never know what else might decide to smack your lure.