Pennsylvania Panfish Fishing

All about fishing for perch and sunfish in PA lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Pennsylvania you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, rock bass, white bass, white perch and yellow perch.

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

Panfish & Perch Lakes

Panfish are everywhere. Everywhere! Major PA lakes with healthy populations of sunfish include Allegheny Reservoir, Beechwood Lake, Blue Marsh Lake, Colver Lake, Conneaut Lake, Cross Creek Lake, Glendale Lake, Gouldsboro Lake, Green Lick Reservoir, Hammond Lake, High Point Reservoir, Kahle Lake, Keystone Lake, Lackawanna Lake, Lake Arthur, Lake Erie, Lake Redman, Lake Wallenpaupack, Marsh Creek Lake, Mauch Chunk Lake, Octoraro Lake, Promised Land Lake, Pymatuning Lake, Raystown Lake, Rose Valley Lake, Shawnee Lake, Shenango River Lake, Shohola Marsh Reservoir, Stephen Foster Lake, Sugar Lake, Tamarack Lake, Yellow Creek Lake and Youghiogheny River Lake. In addition you can fish panfish in many ponds, rivers and smaller lakes throughout the state.

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 was caught out of Keystone Lake.

Elk Creek gave up the state record rock bass.

The state record white bass was pulled from Conneaut Lake.

The Delaware River produced the state record white perch

The state record yellow perch came from Presque Isle Bay.

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.

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.