The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Last week I was out on a local lake here in central Minnesota. I had no trouble locating the panfish I was after, but they would not bite. I was in about 4ft of water and they were in groups of about 50 right up next to the surface. They would repeatedly come up to the surface as if to attack an insect at the surface, but whenever I would cast by them they would scatter. Do you have ideas on why they were that skid dish and what lures would be the most effective?

The phenomenon you describe is a very common one during the spring transition when we get an unusually rapid warming. They can be almost as spooky as bonefish. I've seen it countless times before but usually well before the regular season opener. I encountered exactly the same thing last weekend.
My guess is you were fishing with spinning gear and using a bobber. Both the shadow and the splash will send them scurrying.
There are a couple of options.
If you are using a bobber cast well beyond the fish, then slowly reel it to the fish. Also, don't use any additional weight at all.

The best option is to use a flyrod, light leader and flies not larger than size 8. I usually tie on two flies, one a black gnat and the other an elk hair caddis or small panfish popper.
My sunfish not only spooky because of the normal deal, but also had a beat up post spawn musky skulking in the shadows which was not actively pursuing them, but it was clear they were aware it was there.
After a bit, I put down my fly rod and picked up a light bait caster which happened to have a small subsurface wideglide on it and caught the musky on my second cast. 47", blind in one eye and looked like it had gone through a wood chipper. Those ski's are real sado-masichists when it comes to spawning.
best,
L