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Hey everybody just wondering a few things from you crappie fisherman. I've been fishing a lake here in North Dakota on a regular basis this winter for crappies. Only managed to get 2 so far that were about a pound each. Anyways I was wondering if any of you had some suggestion to catch more. I can see them down there on the vexilar but just don't get many to bite. I've been fishing in 16 feet of water and usually catch some perch before sunset and right about sunset they quit and the crappies move in. The presentation i've been using so far is a forage minnow tipped with a minnow. I'm wondering if anyone would have some advice to get these picky buggers to bite. They usally will follow the jig up a ways and just look at it, not eat it. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!
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my best crappie method.
I use two rods, a single hook on each.
my first line is 4 pond test. a single number #6 or a #8 arbordeen hook tied directly to the bottom of the line. I place a 1/8 ounce split shot one foot above the hook. Place a live minnow on the hook, make sure it is a good swimmer cause crappie dont like lazy minnows, drop it all the way to the bottom and back up about two cranks. and leave it set.
my second line is one or two pound test line with a 1/16th silver tear drop tipped with a wax worm. place several holes around your minnow hole. drop your waxworm all the way to the bottom and work it from the near bottom to 5 feet off the bottom.
you will catch crappie on one or the other or both, this setup will also bring in the perch... and gills. This combination is deadly on the bass if you have an open bass season during your ice season. I caught 20 LBM's yesterday, and released every single one of them... (season ended here in mich Jan 1st)
the problem with the vexalar or any other fish finder is that you cant tell what kind of fish it is. this is where the under water camera comes in real handy.
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Gotta try different hooks/jigs. Sometimes they prefer just a plain hook with bait of course. Ive used red hooks, or glow hooks. Some times you need to get rid of the bobber and vertical jig. Most of all you need to be mobile. Drill a lot of holes around you and move from hole to hole if you don’t get bit with in a 5-15 min time period. Find out if people are getting them on minnows, wax worms or even just a minnow head on the hook.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]If you see them on the vex, don’t just place the bait in front of them. Try to get them to follow the bait up, this will make them want to take the bait before it gets away.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Hope this helps.[/size][/font]
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You are a genius. I'm gonna hafta try that.
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Well I've sort of figured the crappies out on that lake but all of them are about 5 inchers. Still fun to catch but not worth keeping. Seems the waxworms on a fat boy did the trick. Thanks for you help you guys gave me.
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I have fished crappies quite a bit in Monatana and what worked for me is a castmaster or swedish pimple tipped with live minnows. Had to use a spring bobber most of the time because of such light bites. Watch for your line to go slightly slack most of the time they will come up and hit from underneath. I also had succes with ant style ice flies tipped with meal worms for them. Since you have a fish finder always try and position your bait a foot or 2 above them. Rarely will crappies follow a bait down to hit it. If you see fish coming up to your bait as your dropping it stop it above them and slowly reel up to entice them to bite. What part of ND do you live in? Thinking of maybe heading that way in Feb.
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] TRY PUTTING TWO MINNOWS ON A SINGLE HOOK !! HOOK ONE THROUGH THE LIPS , AND THE OTHER THREW THE TAIL , IT WORKS FOR ME !! (THEY SEEM TO SCARE EACH OTHER , SO THEY KEEP MOVING )