Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In Oklahoma

All about fishing for sunfish in OK lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Oklahoma you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, redear sunfish and white bass.

Panfish Lakes

You might be hard pressed to find fishing water in OK that does not have one or more species of panfish. All the major lakes including Broken Bow Reservoir, Canton Lake, Fort Cobb Reservoir, Fort Gibson Lake, Foss Lake, Grand Lake of the Cherokees, Great Salt Plains Lake, Hugo Lake, Hulah Lake, Kaw Lake, Keystone Lake, Lake Altus-Lugert, Lake Carl Blackwell, Lake Ellsworth, Lake Eufaula, Lake Hudson, Lake Murray, Lake Texoma, Lake Thunderbird, Lake Wister, McGee Creek Reservoir, Oologah Lake, Pine Creek Lake, Robert S Kerr Reservoir, Sardis Lake, Skiatook Reservoir, Sooner Lake, Tenkiller Lake, Tom Steed Reservoir, Waurika Lake and Webber Falls Reservoir have panfish.

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.

The state record bluegill came from a pond.

The state record green sunfish was caught out of a pond.

The state record hybrid sunfish was taken from a pond.

The state record redear sunfish was caught in a pond.

The state record white basscame from the Verdigris River.

The term "panfish" comprises many species, each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common. Most ponds, rivers, parks and small lakes also contain some panfish.

One or more species of sunfish populate virtually all warm water streams, ponds and lakes throughout Oklahoma, 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.