Softbait Options Today

FINE-TUNING PATTERNS

Maggots -- A logical progression: Start with the most prolific, universal form of all insect larvae worldwide: the maggot. Berkley, FoodSource, Custom Jigs & Spins, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, and I.S.G. are just some of the companies making a plastic or softbait version of a maggot. A small, cylindrical, off-white or butter-yellow piece of plastic imitates the larvae of mosquitoes, caddisflies, shoreflies, dance flies, watersnipe flies, soldier flies, marsh flies, crane flies, and literally thousands of other flying insects that "hatch" (really, metamorphose) from aquatic eggs and larvae. Most, if not all, of these critters spend their underwater years in silty areas around the softest substrates, so start searching areas like lily-pad fields and weedbeds with maggots or some version thereof.

Worms -- Following the "maggot form" is the basic worm. Basic, perhaps, but not garden variety. Aquatic worms live in a variety of substrates from silt to sand and gravel and appear in most shades of the rainbow. Some are pink or red, so a red 3-inch Berkley Power Micro Crawler isn't just another pretty colored plastic designed to catch the fisherman's eye. It's a natural color down there. Natural can also mean lime, pale blue, metallic green, and a rainbow of nail-polish shades you've never heard of. The real deal is stranger than fiction, and real colors exceed our wildest Technicolor dreams in the world of aquatic invertebrates. Many species of aquatic worm are mere millimeters in length -- thus, the wild success of very small artificial varieties from Custom Jigs & Spins, I.S.G., Lindy, and other companies.

Those two patterns skip lightly through the many possibilities for fishing the softest substrates. Predictably, imitations of mayfly, dragonfly, and damselfly nymphs perform well on sandflats. Examples include the Berkley 1-inch Micro Power Nymph and Case's Little Hellgrammites. And who says a fly has to be fished on a flyrod? Local fly shops have imitations of nymphs and larvae that match the naturals in your area.

On Rockpiles and other hard-bottomed structure, a tiny craw imitation is a good starting point. Spike-It, Berkley, Bass Pro Shops, and many other companies market plastic craws in the 1/2- to 2-inch range. Without other indications to go by, simple logic can direct us to the most likely inhabitants of the substrates we're fishing. Over time, other clues fall into place -- things found in the livewell, insects that land on the boat, or critters you see with an underwater camera -- that allow you to better match the colors, sizes, and shapes of the primary inhabitants of the lifescape below.

The logical syllogism to extract from all this would run something like this: A) All aquatic invertebrates have specific habitat requirements, and most require specific substrates to thrive; B) invertebrates in areas of homogeneous substrates are limited not in number but in type; C) invertebrates in areas where a variety of substrates comes together might not be limited in either number or type. If A, B, and C are true, the areas that harbor the greatest variety of substrate types harbor the greatest variety of invertebrates. The point has been made in this magazine many times: Areas where diverse types of weeds and substrates all come together tend to provide the fastest fishing for panfish.

Livebait -- It pays to be ready for sudden changes in the bite. I seldom go fishing for anything without at least one livebait option but rarely have more than two. When panfishing, I go with at least three varieties. Red worms, waxworms, maggots, crickets, grasshoppers, crappie minnows, panfish leeches, live nymphs -- I'll take them all, and more, if possible. Worms, maggots, leeches, and waxworms are particularly well suited to imitating aquatic invertebrates that can be found in any waterway on the planet. And if I can't get the live version, my trusty panfish box has a reasonable facsimile of almost anything that swims, scoots, or crawls along the bottom, no matter where I am.

While panfish may never be as picky as trout, a lot of evidence and experience suggests that slow bites can be prompted to speed up considerably: Just imitate critters that panfish are finding in abundance and feeding on to the near exclusion of all else. You should be ready to imitate any naturally occurring invertebrates that are abundant in the environments you fish. Consistent panfish action is a direct result of being in touch with their environment. But take care. The more you know about it, the more you'll want to protect it.