Guide To Panfish & Perch Fishing Options In Washington

All about fishing for panfish in WA lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Washington you can find waters with populations of a variety of sunfish, including bluegill, green sunfish, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, warmouth and yellow perch. In winter sunfish are fun to catch while ice fishing at some lakes in the state.

Panfish & Perch Lakes

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, Lake Bryan, Lake Mayfield, Lake Sammamish, Lake Umatilla, Lake Wallula, Lake Washington, Lake Whatcom, Moses Lake, Palmer Lake, Potholes Reservoir, Riffe Lake, Rock Lake, Roosevelt Lake, Silver Lake and Vancouver Lake.

Perch Fishing Lakes In Washington

Alder Lake, Banks Lake, Lake Sammamish, Lake Tapps, Lake Umatilla, Lake Washington, Lake Whatcom, Moses Lake, Osoyoos Lake, Ozette Lake, Palmer Lake, Potholes Reservoir, Rock Lake, Roosevelt Lake, Rufus Woods Lake, Silver Lake and Vancouver Lake. Snelsons Slough produced the Washington state record yellow perch.

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 taken out of Tampico Park Pond.

The state record green sunfish was caught from Bailey Lake.

Lake Terrell produced the state record pumpkinseed sunfish.

The state record rock bass was caught from Steilacoom Lake.

The state record warmouth was caught from Silver Lake.

The state record yellow perch was caught from Snelson's Slough.

Bluegill Fishing Basics Video

The term "panfish" comprises many species, each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common. The core principles shown in this video will work for most sunfish, perch and other 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, insects, crustaceans and worms. Their competitive nature amongst themselves, for food, makes them relatively easy to catch.

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.