Fishing

Caught some small crappie this weekend and had to really work at it. I was fishing below a dam amoungst all the sturgen and casual fishermen, but I had sat down, deliberately, by a family that seemed to be pulling in crappie at will.

I riged up worm on a jig and a weight to get me out there, got some nibbles but missed what ever was biting, probably small bass, the people next to me were doing real well and I noticed the had r?w or r/y tube jigs, 2 per line with a weight at the bottom, no bait.

I didn't have what they had on exactically so afte an hr or so of no crappie, I rigged up as close as I could and bamm got a crappie and then another, but not nearly as regular as they were. Like about 20 to my 2. It was like if I didn't detect a bite as the jigs went through the water column I was out of luck. Is this normal?

Later on after those people left and their friend who came before they left (spot saving technique) I saw a young man catching 3 quickly using a bobber and worm. So I moved over there and rigged a jig on a bobber and stared hitting them almost every cast. I was down abot 2-3" below the bobber. Is this the better way?

I came home with plenty to clean and eat, but would rather have not had the 2-3 hr slow time. Share some thoughts, thanks
Michael
Twin Falls, Idaho

Keep looking to the East
He will be coming in the clouds.

It is important to use light line with the Crappie. Most of those light ticks that you felt on the line are the actual Crappie bites.

They tend to be light biters anyways. Next time you feel that light tick, quickly set the line. They are almost like the Bass.

With Bass, once you feel the tick, it is too late. That is the sign that they have already spit it out.

You can also tip your Crappie jigs with a piece of meal worm or even Wax Worms if you can find them in your area.


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Two words......crappie minnows! I dont know if you can get or use them in your area. I know Utah dosent allow live minnows but down here you get a minnow bucket gold hook and bobber with a few small split shots and once you find the right depth you sit back and reel them in Theres only a few types of fish I eat and crappie is neck to neck with trout in my book. Bluegill is right up there witht hem but nothings better than some fried crappie. Hope that helped you out any, real simple rig and very effective. You can even get crappie rigs that have 4 or 6 hooks off them and make a little school of minnows. If your on them you can catch 2 crappie at once with those rigs
Matt






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TubeN2 gave you some good advice. There's no reason why you can't tip your jig with a piece of natural bait. They'll hang on longer and give you a better chance of hooking the fish. Crappie are a tricky breed sometimes, but if you get into them, they fight and table fare are well worth it. I prefer a bright green or yellow jig for crappie, as it seems to alway work for some reason.

Also, i'm with matt on the live minnows. We've always use live minnows for as long as i've fished for crappie. Around structure, especially around bridges at night. We'd tie off the boat on a pilon and drop a floating night in the water. You could put a serious hurtin' on the crappie like that. Just use a basic bobber rig and hook the minnow just behind the dorsal fin, but not too deep. You don't want to pierce it's spin. A dead minnow will yield you negative results.

Bryan D.


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Thanks guys, we don't get to use lve monnows here in ID but thats OK if I can get them to hit the jig like on Sunday I'll be happy.

I am still wondering are they more likely to take something suspended rather that near the bottom?
Michael
Twin Falls, Idaho

Keep looking to the East
He will be coming in the clouds.

better to be just above 'em than below with Crappie..

One thing I have gained through chasing 'em durring ice fishing that has helped me in open water season is that its quite common for the larger fish to be beneath the school or in the lower part of it. Not always true mind you, but it seems to be a pattern when they are suspended and schooled up on most of the wates I fish.. could be a specific pattern here in my waters though..

If you're 'cork fishing' using round style bobbers I recommend you definately switch 'em out and use floats like Thill's Stealth series, wagglers or something similar that has less resistance that you can balance out with split shot.. its deadly.

---

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There is 101 ways to crappie fish. Like shooting jigs under docks. vertical jigging and live bait. I go crappie fishing every weekend. Here is what I do.

I ONLY FISH AT NIGHT

1. Get on my dock which has a real good dock light and set up 5 or 6 rods on holders. All I put on the line is a hook with a live minnow. I feed out the line so the minnow can swim around freely. Sometimes you get some very active minnows and they can swim around too much and tangle you up, so just put a real light weight on that line. I only use a weight on the real frisky ones. I just sit there and drink beer and wait for a rod to bend over. BUT, if you do this there is a 90% chance the fish will swallow the hook all the way to his gut, so be prepared to tie a lot of hooks. I never rip the hook out I just cut the line.

2. If you are not drinking....do the same on a boat, near a dock W/ a light on it, or any good structure. I like this the best because I have a Pontoon and I put a lot of lines in the water. It looks like a shrimp boat coming at ya.

I hook the minnow by......Go to the front of the dorsal fin, and go down 1/16 or 1/8 in and hook him in the meat. Dont go too far down or he will die very soon. This way he will swim better, but he still swims like he is hurt. So, the fish love the weakest link.

Make sure you use rod holders. A Cat, Bass or striper might want a little supper. I ve lost 2 rods already this summer.

Fishing this way you can use any line, rod or reel. Just as long as your rod can flex a little to let you know you got one.


Remember everyone has their own way of doing buisness.

Very good advice. Thanks Jim. I'm sure other members can learn from the information that you have posted here.


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Yea I think I saw one of those rods go in the drink when I was showing you a 8 inch bass I caught off your dock. I wonder what that fish was? Anyways I need to go out there and catch some crappie with you again, my freezers out of fish






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YES!! use light line bud.. but try this combo out a red lead headed jig and a small/medium minny.. i catch em like crazy with that setup.. :)










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Fishermans Bait n Tackle!! ever in northeast ohio stop by!! i'll give ya a discount haha :)
(only if your from BFT :P)
And yes thats me in my icon.. holdin a 10 inch crappie ahaha nothing spectacular.. :)

-Randy

Hey slammineyes, and welcome to the BFT message boards. It's nice to have another panfishing angler in the house. We look foward to more of your insights in the future. What state are you fishing out of partner?

Bryan D.


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Hey!!! i'm fishin' out of northeast ohio buddy.. :D im the crappie king.. well maybe not the king but i catch alot.. haha










BRING OHIO BACK



Fishermans Bait n Tackle!! ever in northeast ohio stop by!! i'll give ya a discount haha :)
(only if your from BFT :P)
And yes thats me in my icon.. holdin a 10 inch crappie ahaha nothing spectacular.. :)

-Randy

If you can't find any meal worms or wax worms use some crappie nibbles. They work pretty good too, and they definitely keep the fish on your lures a little longer. I've had some good success with them. Look in the Powerbait area when you're looking for them because they look exactly like power bait...and make sure they say crappie nibbles.



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I use crappie nibbles when I jig fish for crappie. They work really well, sometimes I put a minnow on the jig to give them a little something extra.

i hit crappies the best on a really small green twister tail on a green or black jig head. and light gear is a must. its nearly impossible to feel the hits on my bass gear let alone control the jig. (medium rod/12lb line)

on a side note, i had a crappie hit a #5 mepps the other day while fishing for northern. ive also had them hit spinnerbaits and poppers. crazy little guys will sometimes hit anything if you can find them a put a lure in their face.

The "papermouth" characteristic of the crappie has me ready to revert to barbed hooks. Inthe past couple of weeks I have lost more crappie than I have landed. It seems if they can get their head above water they are able to shake my barbless 1/32 oz. jig. Any suggestions from you fellows that fish crappie all the time. I'm up here in Southern Ontario, Canada.


I don't miss them all.

I caught these 2 - 1.5pndrs today, while trolling in 8-13ft open water on Rat-l-trap 1/2oz. I wasn't trolling for anything in particular, I earlier caught a 2.5lb bass on chartreuse worm, texas-rigged, my engine konked out on me so I just trolled on the way back in and learned something new. I never even knew we had black crappie down here in florida and definitely didn't think we had any in this lake I have been fishing since I was a kid.

trolling for crappies? man, I learn something new everyday.

We troll for crappie in winter when they go to the channels in deep water. We troll with a jig pole and 1/32 or 1/16 jigs. Nothing beats the feel of a big ole slab thumping a jig.

You can also tip the jig with Berkley crappie nibbles. They work great.

Hi There Im In South Carolina An I Live Next To A Creek You Can Walk Across It In Alota Places An Never Get Your Nees Wet It Flows Into The Savana River The Crappy Will Spawn Soon Never Know Fer Shure Witch Week They Will Peek Out But There Are Places Witch Are Id Gess 7 or 8 Ft Deep In It An At Most Its 25 To 30 Ft Wide Shure Wish You Could Be Here Wif Me Use To No One Ever Fished It You Would See The Same 2 Or 3 Guys Year From Year An 1 Or 2 Of Them Would Be Wif Me An That Jus Left That Outher Guy Year After Year Not Eaven My Brother Are Sis Would Dare Go Down To That Paluted Ole Horse Creek An There Dire Fishin Folks Worse Than I Yet That Was 30 Years Ago An Thangs Chang As Dose The Spown It Never Seemed To Matter Wat You Throwed At Um Ifin It Glissend Or Wiggeld Or Hopped Jus The Slites Little Twich Set Them Of But Yet The Biggest Key Was To Find Them You Could Stand Bye Me Bein The Gentaman You Are An Give Me Squraters Rights Castin Ten Fet Away An Never Get A Strike Witch Ive Seen Time An Time Again To Outhers Amasmet Iv Eaven Backed Away An Given Them My Rod An That Dosent Fix The Problem Fer Thim EatherFor My Rell Is Desind For 6 lb Line An Spolled With 4 Man How I Loved Those 7 Doller 304s Who Was It That Made Those Cant Remeber Fer Shure But Boy They Held 4 Lb Line Great Fer A Cheep 6 Lb Real Anyway The Retrivel Is Whats The Key An All That Extra Line Has More Than One Adfatige As Im Shure All Know I Use A 1\32 Crappy Jig Color Well That Will Be WITE green yellor black brown blue pink WITE WITE WITE Yes Wite An Remember That Retrival We Talked About Thats The Thing That Vares Mostly They Hit It As Quikly As Posabuly The Line Istn Tight ,Yet You See It Move Backwards You Dont Feal It You See The Line Go In Revirse Thats Her Inhalin The Fly Some Times You See Them Run Up To The Surface An Hit It An Its Not Fell 6 Inches You know There In There Hot Then An By The Way I Cut The Feathers Of My Fly Jus Behind The Hook An Kind Of Looks Like A Gupy Boy They Must Hate Gupys Well Like I Said Thangs Change Now The Key Is Jus Being The First One There Out Of The Mases That Come An I Have Allways Shown Them All I Know For I Know What It Was Like When It Was Jus Those 3 Other Guys You Could Look Down In The Creek An See Them A Cuple 100 Strong Sittin There Not Going Forwawds Nor Backwards The Whole School Movein Back An Forth With The Current As If One Indavidul.Hope To See You At The Creek This Year. Froger Findum Fishum Falayum Fryum Fergitum Till Sunrise Tomarow.

I would tell you to go with minnows also,but if they aren't allowed in Idaho,...go smack someone lol. I've always used these little red earthworms, the kind that you find just under old 2x4's and lightweight rocks. I've had a lot of luck with those.
Another thing I do is take a rainbow or chartreuse colored Rooster Tail/ or Beetle Spin and throw out a bobber for bluegills, and then cast the Beetle Spin or Rooster Tail out about 5-10 ft. from the bluegill bobber.
In doing this, I'm using the "offer the bluegill something so they'll leave my crappie jig alone" technique (you guys are free to use this technique, I havent copyrighted it yet)LOL.
Anyways, cast your spinner out away from the bobber, of course if the bobber starts bobbing, that could be a crappie also, but either way, you're gonna get a fish. And that is the whole purpose of using my technique in the first place. You have to be smarter than the fish, or at least make it look like you are.
------The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend.------

That is the best wisdom I have ever heard
Michael
Twin Falls, Idaho

Keep looking to the East
He will be coming in the clouds.

Yes, lite lines and light floats is the key here! I'm not trying to make you buy some, but perhaps you can look here to see the best Floats for Crappies! They are a nice addition for any Crappie and Trout Fisherman.
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Good Luck and Tight Lines!
Thanks, MrGrey.

I fish a lot from my float tube. For crappie around structure, like vertical ledge, bushes, sticks, etc. I like to flip a rod's length of line or a bit more with a bright colored jig. I can see the jig descending in the water, when it disappears,I set the hook, most of the time the fish is on. Water clarity is usually 5 to 8 feet and just at that point where the jig is coming close to going out of sight due to the clarity, it will vanish, that is the fish, set the hook. This works good for me here in SE Id. Best of luck, love sight fishing the 'gills, crappie, and bass.
Tight lines and screaming reels!