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Fished from 5 pm to 11 pm north of cemetery point. The four of us caught 56 crappie and I limited out on 20. Be prepared for the weather though!!! When we left the lake it registered negative 22 degrees when we were driving away. We had to use our Mr buddy heater to defrost my truck keyhole to unlock the truck. The ice was 8 inches thick where we were and there were tons of crappie below us all night! Dead sticking was the key. It was a very light bite though. [fishon]
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Thanks for the report
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Nicely done sir and thank you for the report! What depth of water were you fishing in and how deep were the Crappie suspended?
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We were there and it seemed as though we were some of the only people who couldn't catch fish.... by 11:45 when we left we had 3 fish between 3 people. Did what everyone said. I thought. What were we doing wrong?
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We were in 50 ft of water. The crappie were so thick that it looked almost like the bottom was at 44 ft. We would let our jigs down to about 46 ft just below the top of the crappie mayham below us, then dead sticked it. Any color of lure was catching, but chartreuse seemed to nail them. I started out with chartreuse and limited out. My buddies switched over the last hour and caught as many in an hour as they did the whole prior time. Tip your jig with half of a gulp chartreuse maggot. Yes half....our jigs were 1/32 oz jig head w/sickle hook, so don't cover the hook barb with your maggot. My buddies used some wax worms also and that seemed to work also for tipping the jig with. The bite was super super super light!!! You need to either have a ultra light rod or a spring bobber indicator (sorry don't know what they are actually called...Never used one... My buddy had one on the tip of his rod). Used a green underwater light at about 25-30 ft deep similar to the hooked on Utah episode that aired last year and is on the hooked on Utah Facebook page. I love that show! Good luck everyone!!!!! Don't freeze!!!! [fishon]
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Just a guess but I bet you were getting bites you just never felt. Crappie can be VERY deliberate, often just taking the bait in their mouth without moving it at all. Many times, the rod tip will move UP as the weight of the jig is lessened.
The clue in the OP may be the comment about dead sticking. If you are holding the rod, the natural jiggle of the rod can mask the very small movement of a crappie bite. Having the rod in a holder and watching the tip (or spring bobber) like a hawk is the key.
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I was up there as well and I found it to be relatively poor fishing. When we first arrived at 5:30 we set up on the west side of the tent city in 52' and marked fish immediately. The catching was decent for a while...I was trying different stuff and caught 7 while my buddy fished a tungsten 5mm tipped w/waxie and landed 11. Around 7:30 the bite really tapered off. We were still marking fish but not in the numbers I've seen in the past. Maybe 5 fish on the finder at a time was all. So we went looking for more fish. We drilled probably 25 holes on every side of the tent city from 55' to 15' and never marked more than 2 fish. We dropped a line down many times to confirm that we weren't seeing a false bottom of crappie.
When we were on fish they were hitting the Hali jig like crazy. Hookup rate was very low however. Overall our best lures for catching were the tungsten jigs tipped with waxies or small gulp minnows.
Talked to one other group that didn't catch many. They said one of their group had arrived a bit earlier, around 4:00, and had caught 40 by himself.
Maybe the timing of the bite is different this year due to slightly higher water levels, maybe the crappie were just confined to the tent city area. Maybe the cold high pressure had something to do with it, I'm not sure. When fishing is good up there it doesn't take long to catch a limit though.
Thanks for the reports, it helps to formulate a game plan for next time!
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This!
I've fished up there the last couple years and you absolutely need a strike indicator on the end of your rod. Drop down to where the crappie are and set the pole in a holder and watch that strike indicator, once it moves, set that thing!
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Yes indeed!!!! Very very light bites!!!! If I would have landed all the bites I was getting, I would have been done the first hour and a half. I had so many on that got off after one or two reels. I started ripping them to set the hook and found better catch to loss rate. Even one time hit the top of my tent with the tip of my rod. Lol. I probably felt 5 bites all night, but saw a bite every 2-5 minutes. I am using ultra light rods. Super sensitive. I have to rest my arm on my leg to keep my natural tiny movements from causing the tip to move like crazy. [fishon]
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My favorite method to detect the light bites is to use a small slip bobber and a bobber stop. This method really sucks for fishing outside since it will freeze up, but in the shanty it's very nice. You can jig whenever you want to, then drop your line down so the stop rests on your bobber. If a fish even farts on my lure I can see the bobber move and I set the hook. I still miss more than I catch but I feel like this is a very reliable way of seeing light bites.
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IceMan -- I feel your pain; I've had days like that, but last nite shouldn't have been like that for you.....buddy and I finally got started about 5:00 (after drilling around looking for my preferred depth) and we were right there near Tent City off No. Cemetery Pt. like every one else....Nite before I prepared 4 rods with different lures : small red/white Demon...sunfish slush bug...chartreus banana bug...and small chartreus tailed blood worm....All these lures have Glo heads or bodies and would benefit by occassionally re-charging them.....My buddy had some different, some similar, and all worked at different times....that is the key for me....show them something different every once in awhile, including your bait offerings....I was doing good (off and on) with waxies, butter worms, crappie McNuggets, half mealworms.....and my buddy caught some with spikes also....Of course we missed a bunch, but I had a nice limit by 8:00, my friend was ready to go with his 6 (his first time nite fishing for crappie) so I gave him a bunch of mine and we were both happy with a good first-of-season Pineview outing....and yes, FRIGID cold taking down...-12 at truck...Guluk...and get some while you can...
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I sure wish more of those crappie would have come by today. They were few and far between.
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[quote kentofnsl]I sure wish more of those crappie would have come by today. They were few and far between.[/quote]
Took a drive with the wife out there today, wondered how the fishing was. Saw there was about ten-twelve groups out there.
Wondered if the catching was as good in the daytime? Figured better for perch, maybe slower for crappie?
Good luck to all!
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I fished for crappy for the first time last year and look forward to it again. Both times the bite was light, but I finally figured out how to hook them the last trip. I keep the pole in my hands and drop to the bottom of the school. I was using 4 lb test with a small treble hook and a wax worm. I would then reel very slowly to the top. I would have a bite or two on every retrieve and caught a fish almost every retrieve. By using this method, I could feel the bite and all I had to do was set the hook. Worked very well for me.
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Were you using a swivel when you'd get bites and not get a hookup? Perch and crappie hit my swivel more than they hit my lure. If I am night fishing, I tie directly to the line, otherwise I use a blood knot for my fluorocarbon leader. Try sight fishing for perch in shallow, clear water some time...they'll hit a swivel more than they hit a lure.
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Tied directly to the jig head. I am just new at crappie fishing. I figured it out as the night went along. I troll up at Flaming Gorge for Lakers and Kokanee. Ice fishing is new to me, but super fun![fishin]
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] nicely done!