Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In Massachusetts

All about fishing for sunfish in MA lakes and ponds.

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

Panfish, sunfish, bluegills and perch are available in most waters across the state. Private ponds with little fishing pressure often serve up the state record panfish. Ice fishing in winter can be great fun when targeting sunfish.

The larger populations can be found in major lakes including Assawompset Pond, Cheshire Reservoir, Congamond Lake, Hamilton Reservoir, Lake Chaubunagungamaug, Lake Cochituate, Lake Garfield, Lake Onota, Lake Rohunta, Lake Quinsigamond, Long Pond, Norton Reservoir, Otis Reservoir, Quabbin Reservoir, South Watuppa Pond, Wachusett Reservoir, Wallum Lake, Watuppa Ponds and Webster 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.

Massachusetts State Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from South Athol Pond.

The state record white perch was caught out of Wachusett Reservoir.

The state record yellow perch was caught from South Watuppa Pond.

The list of panfish is comprised of many fishes, 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 Massachusetts, 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.