Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In Indiana

All about fishing for panfish in IN lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Indiana you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, flier sunfish, green sunfish, redear sunfish, rock bass, warmouth, white bass, yellow bass and yellow perch. Ice fishing for many of these species is available at some of these lakes.

Panfish & Perch Lakes

Pick a lake, any lake. Virtually all have one or more species of panfish. The more consistent schools tend to come from major lakes including Barbee Lake, Bass Lake, Big Long Lake, Big Turkey Lake, Bluegrass FWA, Brookville Lake, Cagles Mill Lake, Cecil M Harden Lake, Dewart Lake, Dogwood Lake, Eagle Creek Reservoir, Geist Lake, Griffy Lake, Hamilton Lake, Hardy Lake, Hovey Lake, Irish Lake, J C Murphey Lake, J Edward Roush Lake, James Lake, Jimmerson Lake, Kuhn Lake, Lake Freeman, Lake Lemon, Lake Manitou, Lake Maxinkuckee, Lake Michigan, Lake Papakeechie, Lake Shafer, Lake Wawasee, Mississinewa Reservoir, Monroe Lake, Morse Reservoir, Nyona Lake, Patoka Lake, Pine Lake, Prairie Creek Reservoir, Salamonie Lake, Summit Lake, Sylvan Lake, Syracuse Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Turtle Creek Reservoir, Waubee Lake, Webster Lake, West Boggs Lake, Winona Lake, Witmer Lake and Worster Lake.

Top Producing Panfish Lures & Bait

Check out the top producing lures and bait for bluegill, redear sunfish, rock bass and warmouth, as well as other smaller sunfish. Click here for the best lures for white bass, yellow bass, white perch and yellow perch.

Click the images and links above for species details.

A private pond yielded the state record both bluegill.

The state record flier came from a stream in Jackson County.

The state record green sunfish came from a gravel pit.

The state record redear sunfish came from a pond.

The state record rock bass was taken from Sugar Creek.

The state record warmouth was caught out of North Dugger Pit.

Lake Freeman served up the state record white bass.

Morse Reservoir was home to the state record yellow bass.

The state record yellow perch was taken out of a gravel pit in Vigo County.

The term "panfish" comprises many species, each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common.

One or more species of sunfish populate virtually all warm water streams, ponds and lakes throughout Indiana, and around the world for that matter. They can survive in waters that provide their natural food source of minnows, insects, crustaceans and worms. Their competitive nature amongst themselves, for food, makes them relatively easy to catch.

Click here for a Indiana Fishing License.

Bluegill Fishing Basics Video

The core principles shown in this video will work for most sunfish, perch and other panfish.

Panfish are prolific spawners and repopulate the waters as fast as they are harvested. A common problem with panfish fishing is that the waters are under-fished causing panfish to overpopulate. As a result they tend to stay small in size due to lack of food source.

Sunfish information in other states.