Thread: Crappie my way

I tried the Charlie Brewer Slider heads, but didn't care much for them. Even the 1/16oz ones didn't seem to fall or feel like the 1/16oz jigheads I was using before. They felt more like 1/32oz heads (or even lighter), as they didn't tighten the line as much as I was used to, when they were falling through the water. And rigged "texas" style, they seemed to require a harder hookset and for the fish to have closed its mouth before a solid hookup was accomplished. Maybe it was just me ... but, after switching back to my regular weedless jigheads, I caught more fish.

I, also, fish a lot of blowdowns (where available) and as you pointed out, starting well outside of the branches and work my way in ... basically fan casting across the water above the tree, and working deeper on each wave of casts.

Also like you, I've gotten a lot of bites when the jig bounces over a branch. Here's something I wrote back in 2007 that explains how "bowing to the jig" can keep you from hanging up a weedless jig & still get that jig to bounce over the limb :

"Even weedless jigheads can/do get hung-up, occasionally. Here's a method I learned, that can keep you from hanging up and/or freeing your weedless jighead from a snag (before it hangs into it)":

"One thing that I haven't mentioned lately, that goes along with casting over submerged wood, even with a weedless jighead, is what I call "taking a bow" to avoid getting hung on a branch. Even weedless jigheads can & will get hung, sometimes. This can be avoided, to an extent. When retrieving the jig, usually the line will swing back to you ... and you will notice it at the point where it enters the water (it will continue to get closer to you, as you reel in). When it stays in one spot, as you reel in, that indicates that the line is draped over something submerged in the path of your retrieve. As you continue to reel, eventually the jig will come in contact with that obstacle. As it does, and when the rod tip starts to bend down, a lot of people tend to try and "jerk" the jig over it. That works, sometimes, but quite often - they get hung. I try and avoid getting hung in the cover I'm fishing, so as not to have to break off - disturbing the cover, losing the bait, or alerting the fish to any unnatural conditions. I do this by "taking a bow" - with the rod tip.
In essence - I wait until the jig comes in contact, and the rod tip starts to bend ... then I drop the rod tip about 6" towards the jig, and in one fluid motion raise the rod tip up towards me about 12". This is not done fast, like a jerking motion ... but, more of a slow drop and lift motion. What this does (or seems to do) is allow the bait to fall away from the obstacle - then when you lift it back (twice as far as you let it fall away) the head of the jig "bumps" the obstacle, and "hops" up over top of it. Well, most of the time, anyway. The reason I don't drop it down 6" and then lift it up more than 12" - is that I want the jig to clear the obstacle, but remain in the general area. I will work a tree top over, with this method, bumping and bowing and hopping the jig over multiple branches. Another reason I don't pull the jig back more than 12", or reel it back in (once I've cleared the branch) ... is because I've had numerous occasions where I've had a fish hit the jig, once it cleared the obstacle and started coming back towards me. In fact, it's happened often enough that I almost "expect" to get a hit, when "taking a bow" over a branch."

I currently use two styles of weedless jighead :

The "brush" style and the Y-guard style - as shown in this picture:



These are made by Grousefly, and are 1/16oz ballhead w/#2 Aberdeen hooks. I've also used these same jigheads w/#4 Aberdeen hooks, but since I've moved up to 2" and larger bodied plastics, the larger #2 hook allows for a wider gap between the top of the plastic body & the hook point. That makes for an easier and more assured hookup.

And don't think that hook is too large ... I've caught 4-5" long Crappie and hand sized Bluegill that didn't have any problem getting that hook into their mouths !!

Good stuff pappy. I actually get excited when I feel that jig release from the limb and usually say under my breath "get it boy!" I'll try the bow. Sounds like it may work. Thanks

Cast and retrieve is also my favorite. I have become very efficient in vertical deep water jiging also. The thing about vertical jiging is it's hard to complain about 150 fish a day. Obviously I don't keep that many. The down side of deep crappie is that you have to learn how to deflate their air bladder or you just wind up killing a lot of fish. I have found that it helps the fish survival rate to bring them up slower.

You two two give an awful lot of good advice and I enjoy reading your post.

Excellent thread. My partner & I single pole it most of the time as well. Here in MA, more than 2 rods per fisherman is prohibited anyway, so you are either casting, trolling or drift fishing. We prefer the later. But casting has it's niche in our game plan as well. We've found that wind drifting has accounted for more crappie for us than any other method up here. I love trying new techniques, but we are somewhat restricted by law.

Good posts guys. I appreciate the new ideas and techniques.

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This is a great thread. Sometimes I have so many questions I don't know what to ask, so I enjoy reading threads like these where you more seasoned crappie fishermen just tell what works for you! You mentioned using Bobby garland baby shad and Charlie Brewer crappie sliders. Can you tell a difference in catch numbers when using slider or paddle type jigs vs something like a baby shad? I would think something with more tail action would work better for this method so I'm curious as to what y'all prefer?

Most of the time I use just a plain tube jig and color is usually extremely important. There are times when they want something with more action so I carry several different body shapes and give the fish what they want. You would be amazed at how many I catch on a home made spoon. Everyone has their own favorite lures and realistically they all works.

I love the BG but the plastic is softer and pulls down off the head regularly. The slider seems to work just as good and is a denser plastic so it stays in place longer. When either style starts sliding down I bite off about a 1/4" of the head and put it back on and it works good again but not as long