Guide To Popular Panfish Fishing Options In Alabama

All about fishing for sunfish in AL lakes and ponds.

Throughout the state of Alabama you can find waters with populations of sunfish, including bluegill, green sunfish, longear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, redear sunfish, rock bass, warmouth, white bass, yellow bass and yellow perch. Panfish Lakes. Panfish provide an excellent way to introduce youth to the fun of fishing.

In addition to most ponds and rivers, major lakes including Aliceville Lake, Bankhead Lake, Bartlett’s Ferry Reservoir, Bear Creek Reservoir, Big Creek Lake, Cedar Creek Reservoir, Gainesville Lake, Jones Bluff Reservoir, Jordan Lake, Lake Eufaula, Lake Guntersville, Lake Harding, Lake Martin, Lake Mitchell, Lake Oliver, Lake Tuscaloosa, Lake Wedowee, Lay Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Millers Ferry Reservoir, Neely Henry Lake, Pickensville Lake, Pickwick Lake, R E Bob Woodruff Lake, R L Harris Reservoir, Smith Lake, Walter F. George Lake, Weiss Lake, West Point Lake, Wheeler Lake, William Bill Dannelly Reservoir, Wilson Lake and Yates Lake have large populations of panfish including bluegills and a variety of other sunfish.

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.

Alabama State Record Sunfish

The state record bluegill was caught from Ketona Lakes.

The state record green sunfish came from McLamore Pond.

The state record longear sunfish came from the Yellow River.

The state record redbreast sunfish is from the Choctawhatchee River.

The state record redear sunfish came out of Chattahoochee State Park Lake.

The state record rockbass was caught in the Paint Rock River.

The state record warmouth came out of a farm pond.

The state record white bass came from the Warrior River.

The state record yellow bass was served up by Guntersville Reservoir.

The state record yellow perch was caught from Yates Reservoir.

The term "sunfish" comprises many species, each called by a variety of names. 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 Alabama, 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.