Thread: Switching baits with livescope

I’m a very rank amateur with this stuff. Can’t quit doing what catches me meals of fish long enough to really learn it. I dedicated roughly 3 days to it, leaving trolling gear at home, sink or swim. First two I definitely sank. Skunked. The last, I got on a deep water brushpile with lots of fish, and finally managed to catch a few, but all 6-7 inch dinks.
But I rigged after watching a YouTube video of a pro, rigged like he showed with a tungsten egg pegged a couple feet above the jig. I can’t tell you how many times I’d drop on a fish and they wouldn’t leave the egg sinker alone, ignoring the jig and chasing the sinker. Thinking I’m messing with bream or something.


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Originally Posted by J White

I’m a very rank amateur with this stuff. Can’t quit doing what catches me meals of fish long enough to really learn it. I dedicated roughly 3 days to it, leaving trolling gear at home, sink or swim. First two I definitely sank. Skunked. The last, I got on a deep water brushpile with lots of fish, and finally managed to catch a few, but all 6-7 inch dinks.
But I rigged after watching a YouTube video of a pro, rigged like he showed with a tungsten egg pegged a couple feet above the jig. I can’t tell you how many times I’d drop on a fish and they wouldn’t leave the egg sinker alone, ignoring the jig and chasing the sinker. Thinking I’m messing with bream or something.


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I wouldn't be too sure about that, JW ... friend of mine watched a buddy of his, fishing with a float & minner, jerk and cuss & jerk and cuss, saying he was getting bites & just couldn't figure out how he was not hooking up. After watching him for awhile (& laughing under his breath), he told his buddy that the Crappie were hitting his sinker & not the minner

He was watching the screen the whole time & saw them the whole time, while he snatched out Slabs one after the other (on jigs). His buddy just wouldn't get with the Livescope program, insisting that he could catch them just fine with the float/minner rig.

more often than not this is the case ,,,,,pay attention and you can ketch them ....
they often investigate possible prey ,,,,,you are seeing it in person live on your live scope ....
3 main reasons for it ,,,,
1 ... a better visual
2 ....a sniff test
3 ....to close the gap in case it is edible
they might nip at it to actually taste it as well , but most of the time , they have made up their lil fish minds by the time they have closed the gap ....
make very sure you move it SLOWLY away from them in an upwards fashion and DO not stop going up with it
2 reasons for this ....
1 ....it resembles a prey item moving away from a predator
2 ....it also helps to keep them from a for sure positive identification
one thing for certain ....if they have interest in it ....
they are for sure positive ketchable .....
scent plays a huge role in it as well , if it doesn't smell like food , it can cause them to lose interest ....
scent is a really huge thing so many dismiss ....
fish use them nostrils ....
just like us ....
we did tests back when with and without scent on jigs . 3 to 5 fish would rush the jig and just look at it and then swim back to the cover IF it didn't have scent ....
drop it to the same fish with scent on it and they would repeat the scenario ....
and one would race in and smack the fire out of the jig EVERY time !

Personally I don't give them a target without a hook involved somehow.

JW one good thing about being on Crappie.com. you can get some really good information without having to worry about getting information to promote some sponsor and his products that those pro’s and guides have to promote on TV or YouTube.

With that said, for me until forward facing sonar came along, I can tell you I rarely when casting put a weight in front of my bait to make it drop faster. This is only my opinion, but I am a big feel guy. I found by putting that weight in front of that bait, it taken a lot of feel away from that lite bite. I am a huge line watcher but I have a problem. The older I get that’s getting a lot harder, so I have to depend on feel even more.
But the funny thing about feel and weight, if I am fishing say 18 to 20 foot deep I generally will go to a drop shot method and use a heavy weight and if that crappie as much as breaths on it I can feel it. There is something about that weight being above that bait that kills the feel.

To end with this rambling. Continue to ask questions. Pay close attention and you catch success rate will increase. I have been fishing all my life and I learn a lot from my fellow crappie anglers. I also found stop watching the screen so much and go back to fishing. I use my LS to locate, and get accurate count down to top of where crappie are. I will also use it from time to time to see at what depths they start reacting to the bait. Meaning sometimes the fish maybe say 12 foot deep, but he may see the bait two foot down. The moment he sees it and starts reacting start a slow retrieve or hold it in place. No prey jumps into the lions jaws.


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Originally Posted by silverroach

JW one good thing about being on Crappie.com. you can get some really good information without having to worry about getting information to promote some sponsor and his products that those pro’s and guides have to promote on TV or YouTube.

With that said, for me until forward facing sonar came along, I can tell you I rarely when casting put a weight in front of my bait to make it drop faster. This is only my opinion, but I am a big feel guy. I found by putting that weight in front of that bait, it taken a lot of feel away from that lite bite. I am a huge line watcher but I have a problem. The older I get that’s getting a lot harder, so I have to depend on feel even more.
But the funny thing about feel and weight, if I am fishing say 18 to 20 foot deep I generally will go to a drop shot method and use a heavy weight and if that crappie as much as breaths on it I can feel it. There is something about that weight being above that bait that kills the feel.

To end with this rambling. Continue to ask questions. Pay close attention and you catch success rate will increase. I have been fishing all my life and I learn a lot from my fellow crappie anglers. I also found stop watching the screen so much and go back to fishing. I use my LS to locate, and get accurate count down to top of where crappie are. I will also use it from time to time to see at what depths they start reacting to the bait. Meaning sometimes the fish maybe say 12 foot deep, but he may see the bait two foot down. The moment he sees it and starts reacting start a slow retrieve or hold it in place. No prey jumps into the lions jaws.


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plus the weight above the jig often makes it look less life like and even gives the fish pause to go investigate the big ole sinker as well

Originally Posted by Ketchn

plus the weight above the jig often makes it look less life like and even gives the fish pause to go investigate the big ole sinker as well

Ya know, the YouTube vid I watched and tried to mimic, was from a guy known for livescope that has been making the tournament world cry…
Who knows, maybe he can catch fish rigged like that just because he’s so good? He wasn’t promoting any brand of tackle in the video.
This has got me thinking though, next time I try this, I may drop one of those egg sinkers pegged tight against a small finesse type hook, just to see what happens lol. Or maybe a bare jighead. The sinkers I was using are 3/8 ounce tungsten with a black epoxy or some such coating. Pretty compact little things.
This is reminding me of 25 years ago when I started pulling crankbaits -
I had some entrenched ideas that were wrong, and actually keeping me from being successful. Also I had very little confidence in what I was doing.


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I've had pretty good success using a tiny bait with egg sinker above for weight to get deep.