Thread: Shiners Rule the Summer

Can't say my post was to help the guys who don't really care if they catch a Crappie or not. Or for guys fishing impoundments as my original post is directed to river fishing guys who actually want to catch Crappie while they are Crappie fishing. Long line trolling, spider rigging, casting, tightlining, jig & float, pullin' cranks, and dippin' shiners are all ways to catch Crappie created by Crappie anglers who want to target and catch Crappie while they are in the boat. Few don't care if they get skunked or not. If you don't care about getting skunked I don't know what would change that. Again not the point of my post, it is to help the ones who do, don't know why their jigs stopped catching, are new to Crappie fishing, and to bring the attention to the humble shiner which can save a trip.

The round trip to fish the experiment supporting my post is 2.25 hours driving plus a 22 mile round trip in the boat, and again if I'm taking time off of work to Crappie fish it is to Catch Crappie. I've seen the look in the eyes of some of the Crappie anglers who have been around maybe too long that live on Ross Barnett and there is no Magic left in their expressions, it looks like they are just going thru the motions but really don't care one way or the other, Lifeless. If my heart stops pounding with excitement as I pull up to the boat ramp there will be a big boat & equipment sale when I get home. Fortunately after 20 years of Crappie fishing it still makes me very excited to stick steel to big Crappie.

Originally Posted by Rojo

I use Fatheads as much as Golden Shiners during the summer when Crappie don't want to bite a jig. We are working on a Outdoor article now about buying live minnows (shiners or fatheads), which is easier to keep, what equipment works best as well as alternatives, water additives and conditioners, amount of time you can reasonably expect your minnows to last, etc. Pike are toothy critters that like a flash, they don't bite your other Crappie presentations?

Yep, they do I pick my own crawlers about 50 dozen this year after the first steady rain in the spring ( That’s the only time they surface around here) so basically free… a 100 crappie/50 fatheads a scoop not to bad, but the $10 shiners they count out gets spendy.

The lakes i fish don’t have man made brush piles/stake beds/ect they are illegal to build in Minn waters, so you fish crappie along weeds/in the weeds/over the weeds ect, pike,bass territory. Casting or trolling a spinner type bait with plastic seems to be the most effective, lately a mister twister with a 1/8 oz jig and a 3” Pumpkin pepper meany has been best…for everything.lol.