Want to crank up your panfishing success? You can; it’s not tough, and it’s a lot of fun. Just start crankin’ your panfish -- literally.

Little crankbaits are amazingly effective at taking many different species of panfish. And you don’t need any special technique: Just cast, crank, and set the hook!

When many anglers see or hear the term ‘panfish,’ they immediately think of bluegills, sunfish, perch, crappie and other smallish game species like rock bass. For the purposes of this story, however, let’s expand our definition to include smallish black-bass subspecies and pan-sized catfish. White bass in streams and lakes are good targets as well.

Over the years, I’ve caught close to 20 different species of fish by using crankbaits that weigh a quarter-ounce or less. That’s what this story is all about: Using tiny ultralight plugs to catch more fish than you ever thought possible with such baits and tackle.

Today, you’ll find more little crankbaits on the market than ever. Many different shapes and styles are available, giving you plenty of options when faced with practically any kind of conditions.

Before getting into them, however, let’s talk some about the rods and reels that will complement these little lures. Don’t immediately think of super-short, super-light-action rods and reels that will barely hold 100 yards of 4-pound-test line. In certain situations, those are your best choices, but those cases are less common than you might imagine. Arguably, only one possibility calls for going short and tiny; we’ll discuss that shortly.

Probably the best overall rig you can use includes a light-action spinning rod rated to handle 4- to 10- or 4- to 12-pound-test. It should be at least 6 feet long, but 6 1/2 or 7 feet might be even better. Longer rods help you make longer casts, thus covering more water with every presentation, and so are definitely the way to go. Your reel should be a small- to medium-capacity model that can hold 100 yards of 6-pound line.

At this point, some of you may be questioning this approach. This doesn’t sound like ultralight to me, you might be thinking. And you’d be right: Only the baits are ultralight. The goal here is catching fish, not just hooking them. The rig described here will improve your odds of boating fish significantly, because these baits don’t catch only small specimens.

I’ve personally taken 5-pound bass on an ultralight crankbait, and catfish just as large. And if you’ve ever hooked a big slab crappie or a 3-pound white bass, you know just how much they can test your gear. So put the odds in your favor by choosing gear a step or two above the traditional ultralight tackle.

As noted earlier, there’s one exception to this personal rule of tackle, and you’ll encounter it on small streams. You may be fishing a warm water lake for sunfish or crappie, or you may be knee-deep in a cold stream after wild or stocked fish. Either way, small streams present unique challenges in the form of overhanging branches and tight casting angles. In such places in these diminutive creeks, a 5-foot rod will help you get your tiny plug into the spots fish prefer.

Today’s fishing lines are more advanced than ever. Their diameters are quite small, and for that reason, you can get away with making 6-pound line your everyday choice. It improves your odds of landing fish you hook on tiny crankbaits, and its diameter is small enough to let baits dive and work the way they’re intended.