Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In North Dakota

All about fishing for sunfish in ND lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of North Dakota you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, white bass and yellow perch. Ice fishing for bluegill and perch is very popular at many lakes and ponds during winter.

Panfish & Perch Lakes

Try to find fishing waters without one or more species of panfish. It might be difficult. They populate all the major lakes including Arrowwood Lake, Bowman-Haley Lake, Buffalo Lodge Lake, Devils Lake, Dry Lake, Heart Butte Reservoir, Jamestown Reservoir, Lake Ashtabula, Lake Darling, Lake Metigoshe, Powers Lake and Stump Lake. They are in rivers, streams, parks, small lakes and private ponds.

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.

North Dakota State Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from Strawberry Lake.

The state record white bass came from Devils Lake.

The state record yellow perch was caught from Devils Lake.

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 North Dakota, 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.