NATURAL/LIVE BAIT
Wow: This is a tough one -- not because so few live baits will work well, but because so many will catch panfish of all varieties. Remember that we're talking about offerings that will be attractive to the three varieties of panfish this story intends to cover.

For me, there's a bit of a quandary when it comes to the absolute best choice. It's either worms or minnows, depending on what you most want to catch. Personal experience suggests that eating-sized catfish respond well to worms and minnows. The sunfishes generally respond better to worms, while crappie absolutely prefer minnows.

So what are you most interested in catching? The answer will help you determine whether worms or minnows should be your first choice.

My own preference is for small minnows, those 2 inches or so, because they'll do the best job of taking all three panfish. And the sunfish that hit them, regardless of species, are going to be the largest specimens around, my own experience suggests.

If minnows that small are not readily available to you -- or if it would be easier for you to keep worms in better shape because of hot temperatures or other considerations -- don't be overly concerned about opting for the latter.

You can fish them on the bottom for cats or under a bobber for sunfish and crappie. For the latter, one of the most effective tactics is one I learned as "perch-jerkin'." That is, you fish a worm under a bobber using quick, short snaps of your rod tip to jerk the bait along under water and give it a little extra action.

Sunfish generally don't need the extra movement, but it can make a big difference when you're fishing worms like this for crappie. You also can use the technique with minnows, but usually they're lively enough that crappie, sunfish and catfish will respond to their natural struggling/swimming action.

PANFISHING HOTSPOTS
From here, nothing beats woody structure for panfish. On one outing I remember, for example, a live worm fished into a shallow-water brushpile -- pretty much like a bass angler would fish a Texas-rigged plastic worm around the same spot -- produced a huge green sunfish, a 1-pound crappie and a 2-pound channel cat on successive casts!

Wood works for panfish: There's nothing else you can say about it. No matter where you prefer to fish, your best bet for catching panfish this month is going to lie in locating and fishing woody structure.

Another hotspot is at the back end of points, in the "elbow" created by the point joining the shoreline. This is an especially good spot if that elbow features some weeds or a brushpile.

Any kind of artificial fish attractor will hold all three of the panfish covered in this story. And if the water you fish boasts a number of boat docks, focus your efforts there.

All of these places will attract and hold cats, crappie and sunfish; often, they'll even be together -- or in close proximity to one another.

That makes for a kind of panfishing action that's tough to top!