Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In Oklahoma

All about fishing for panfish in MO lakes and ponds.

Throughout the MO you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, flier sunfish, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, redear sunfish, rock bass, warmouth, white bass and yellow perch.

Panfish Lakes are everywhere. Literally everywhere. Find fishing waters and you'll find one or more species of panfish. Due to limited fishing pressure private ponds typically turn out the record size panfish. To fulfill your desire for a big fish fry you might want to look for tight cover on major lakes including Atkinson Lake, Bean Lake, Big Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, Clearwater Lake, Council Bluff Lake, Fellows Lake, Harry S. Truman Reservoir, Lake Jacomo, Lake of The Ozarks, Lake Springfield, Lake Taneycomo, Longview Lake, Mark Twain Lake, McDaniel Lake, Pomme de Terre Lake, Smithville Reservoir, Stockton Lake, Table Rock Lake and Wappapello 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.

Missouri Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from farm pond.

The state record green sunfish was pulled from Stockton Lake.

The state record hybrid sunfish came from a farm pond.

The state record redear sunfish came out of Whetstone Creek.

The state record rock bass was pulled from the Big Piney River.

The state record warmouth came from a farm pond.

The state record white bass came from a Table Rock Lake.

The state record yellow perch came from Bull Shoals Lake.

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.

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

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.