Is there anything better than a ridiculously large panfish? We did not think so. Almost all anglers love seeing a true giant because they are so few and far between. One of our favorite fishing YouTubers, Ty PigPatrol, made a point to target some of the largest bluegills and sunfish we have ever seen—including this monster panfish he hooked fishing with his dad on a small, Midwestern farm pond.
As Ty explains in the video, a huge cold front had pushed the big panfish out of their beds to seek deeper, warmer water. These conditions are perfect because the front leaves the fish are extremely hungry. And it does not take long for them to get on a mess of bluegills and crappie: Ty immediately casts and catches a small panfish with a great body shape.
Ty and his dad cast a few more, letting their lines sink all the way to the bottom—and came up with a reward. At around the 8 minute mark, Ty hooks a "monster" fish who gets stuck and tries to hide under their boat. It takes him another 60 seconds to reel it in before the hybrid bluegill, what Ty calls a gillcracker, gets netted.
The real highlight of the day: It is not often one sees a panfish that could quite literally fill the whole pan!
This is the type of action we dream about every time we go out fishing. In case you have never heard of a gillcracker before, we did a little research, and it appears it is a hybrid of a regular bluegill and a redear sunfish (aka: a shellcracker), which Ty points out you can identify by its strange ear tab and off-color chartreuse
Whatever it is, that is one of the most impressive panfish we have ever seen caught on video. You know the panfish is big when one can barely get their hand around the body. The coloration of this fish was gorgeous too.
This looks like a perfect day of fishing to us. There is not much better than boating a fish on nearly every single cast. Part of the fun is also not knowing what they may be reeling in next. We also love the simplicity of this day of fishing. Simple jigheads with worms on them. No gimmicks, no fancy, expensive lures. Just old school fishing at its finest.
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