Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In New Hampshire

All about fishing for sunfish in NH lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of New Hampshire you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, white perch and yellow perch. Ice fishing for perch is very popular, and a great way to introduce kids to fishing.

Panfish & Perch Lakes

While panfish can be found in most every type of water, major lakes typically contain larger populations of one or more species of sunfish. Major New Hampshire lakes with healthy populations of panfish include Bow Lake, Comerford Lake, Great East Lake, Lake Sunapee, Lake Wentworth, Lake Winnipesaukee, Mascoma Lake, Massabesic Lake, Moore Reservoir, Newfound Lake, Ossipee Lake, Paugus Bay, Silver Lake, Squam Lake, Umbagog Lake and Winnisquam 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.

New Hampshire State Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from Goodwins Pond.

The state record pumpkinseed sunfish came out of Lake Winnipesaukee.

The state record rockbass was caught in Island Pond.

The state record white perch was caught out of Lake Winnipesaukee.

The state record yellow perch was caught from Head's Pond.

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.

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 New Hampshire, 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.

Sunfish information in other states.