Guide To Panfish Fishing Options In Maryland

All about fishing for sunfish in MD lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Maryland you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, redear sunfish, rock bass, white perch and yellow perch. Panfish are everywhere. They are a major part of food source for larger, predator fish. They also make a pretty tasty fish fry. Larger individual fish tend to come from private ponds while the larger schools of common-size fish tend to be found in larger impoundments like Broadford Lake, Deep Creek Lake, Jennings Randolph Lake, Liberty Reservoir, Little Seneca Lake, Loch Raven Reservoir, Piney Run Lake, Prettyboy Reservoir, Rocky Gorge Reservoir, St. Mary's Lake, Triadelphia Reservoir and Youghiogheny River 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.

Maryland State Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from Deep Creek Lake.

The state record redear sunfish came out of Gilbert Run Lake.

The state record rockbass was caught in a farm pond.

The state record warmouth came out of Gilbert Run Lake.

The state record white perch was caught out of Loch Raven Lake.

The state record yellow perch was caught from a private pond.

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 Maryland, 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.

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.