Sunfish Fishing in Washington for Bluegills, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Rock Bass, Warmouth, Yellow Perch and Other WA Panfish.

One or more species of sunfish populate virtually all warm water streams, ponds and lakes throughout Washington and around the world for that matter. They can survive in waters that provide their natural food source of minnows, crustaceans, insects and worms. Their competitive nature amongst themselves for food, makes them relatively easy to catch.

Sunfish Lakes In Washington

Panfish are somewhere in the middle of the food chain in most fishing waters. Most predator fish delight in a nice sunfish for dinner. And, in the warmer waters they are pretty much everywhere. You can find them in ponds, parks, small lakes and rivers. The Columbia River has a nice population of panfish. They also populate many of the major lakes including Alder Lake, Banks Lake, East Rapids Lake, Franklin D Roosevelt Lake, Lake Bryan, Lake Chelan, Lake Ozette, Lake Sacajawea, Lake Sammamish, Lake Umatilla (John Day), Lake Wallula (McNary), Lake Washington, Lake Whatcom, Mayfield Lake, Osoyoos Lake, Palmer Lake, Potholes Reservoir, Riffe Lake, Spirit Lake, Vancouver Lake and Wanapum Lake.

The Washington state record bluegill subfish was taken out of Tampico Park Pond and the state record green sunfish was caught from Bailey Lake. Hicks Lake produced the WA state record pumpkinseed sunfish and Snelsons Slough produced the Washington state record yellow perch.

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 list of panfish is comprised of many fishes each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common.

Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus

Other local jargon names for the bluegill include common yellow perch, sunfish, red-breasted bream, red-spotted sunfish, long-eared sunfish, white bass as well as a host of variations and cross breeds. These fish tend to run in schools and congregate near their food supply. Panfish can be found in depths of 35 feet or more but are more commonly found in one to ten feet depths depending on time of day and weather conditions.

Check for Washington bluegill fishing articles in the articles section.

Crappie are also considered panfish. For details on crappie visit our crappie fishing section.

Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
World Record: 2.1 lbs.
A favorite for private and farm ponds, the green sunfish is native to lakes and ponds and prefers heavily vegitated areas. Their diet consists of small invertebrates, insects and larve. Use light line, size 12 hooks and worms, crickets or cut bait. They tend to run in schools so competition for food can make them easy prey for anglers. Prefers water temperatures from 70 to 80 degrees. Also known as a rock bass or goggle-eye.

Pumpkinseed Sunfish
Lepomis gibbosus
World Record: 1.4 lbs
Shaped like a pumpkin seed and often has body coloring similar to a pumpkin color, their favorite habitat is weed-covered lake bottoms in clear water. They prefer water temperatures from 75 to 82 degrees. Also known as punky or common sunfish. Fish for them on light tackle with small hooks using worms, insects, prepared bait and cut bait.

Rock Bass
Ambloplites rupestris
World Record: 3.0 lbs.
Native to the eastern half of the USA, the rock bass is good eating and fun to catch on light tackle or a fly rod. You can find rock bass in streams and rivers where they prefer clear water eith rocky bottom and vegetation. They feed primarily on smaller fish, insects, and crustaceans. Worms, grubs and cut bait work well. The rock bass, aka goggle-eye, green sunfish and sometimes branch perch, prefers water temperatures from 64 to 72 degrees.

Warmouth
Lepomis gulosus
World Record: 2.4 lbs
The warmouth sunfish has a larger mouth than most sunfish and can eat larger prey. It is rather golden in color overall, darker greenish on the top side and kighter on the underside, with mottled spotting similar to a crappie. Adult warmouths feed on insects, mollusks, minnows and small fish. They prefer snady bottoms of quiet areas in creeks, streams and rivers and look for heavy vegitation for cover. The warmouth prefers water temperatures from 78 to 86 degrees. It is also known as goggle-eye, stumpknocker, mudgapper and warmouth bass. Fin to catch on ultralight tackle and quite a fight when you hook a fat little two-pounder.

Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
USA Record: 3.75 lbs
Possibly the best tasting of all the panfish, yellow perch are a favorite for fish frys. They are generally yellow, to gold, to brown in color and most often lighter shades of these colors. Dark vertical bands decorate their sides. They average about a third of a pound and 6 inches long, many larger ones are often caught as well. They are often mis-named as perch, rock perch and many others. Their primary diet consists of minnows and other small fish, onsects and worms. Yellow perch prefer water temperatures from 66 to 70 degrees but remain active in temperatures outside this range. They are fun to catch on ultralight tackle and can be caught year round. They are a favorite of many ice fishing enthusiasts. Use worms, minnows, small jigs. spinners or cut bait.

For general information on local fishing visit the Washington Fishing home page.

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WA Sunfish Fishing - All About Fishing for Bluegill & Other Panfish in Washington.

4 lbs - 12 oz

2 lbs - 5 oz

60 - 85 Degrees

Prefers slightly stained to murky water with little or no current. Survives in most warm bodies of water.