Thread: How deep do you fish in February?

I've been ask a few Q'tions and decided to answer all here on the board as to others input too.
I'll start the day with 2in. curly tails,pony head jigs,crappie nib. and scents.If I have to I'll change though out the day with sliders,creature baits.The last thing I'll pick is the tube bait for casting b/c it takes more work from the rod tip to get great action.It also can be deadly when lockjaw is a problem,its better suited for the long poles.
What color to start with,clear water I'll start with a tenn. shad colored bait,if only a few takers I'll go to a wally world colored bait.From there I'll either pick blue/white, black/blue,black/char,pink/white,from there I'll scatch head.Even tho the color of the bait may have been right for the day the jig head color could have been the wrong color.I'll start with a black jig head,then go to orange,olive green,char.,dark red,dark blue and pink.
After the cast my rod tip will be at 8/9 oclock,let bait sink to what ever depth you want and slowly start your rod tip up on the rewind as to keep it at that depth.When the rod tip get at the 11/12 oclock mark stop and let the bait sink as you lower the rod tip back to 8/9 oclock and repet all the way back to the boat.If your worried about loseing jig heads stay off bottom or learn how to crawl/flip the jig over wood.I use 10/2 P.P. braid on all my rods/poles,it even lets the jig fall slower though the water colum.I do not own any floaters to keep the bait at a depth but they too can be used in a matter of popping the float to get the attention of any near by fish.However I have found the floater to be more spooky(swallow water) to the fish as the reason I use no floats.
Scents,I like Bang and Gulp in anise,garlic and crawdad,it not only helps in getting strikes it kills the plastic scent that most baits have.

it is easy whatever the depth you are fishing in start out at one half that depth. this really works good for me but i don't fish real deep water. mostly oxbowls

Originally Posted by arkansas slim

Never Crappie fished in the colder months of Jan-Feb.... but thinking about it... I always wait till it warms up a little in March April and fish more the spawn....

Are the fish generally quite a bit deeper than March-April?

Always keep this in mind when you are crappie fishing, CRAPPIE ALWAYS FEED UP, they never feed down. so a good rule of thumb would be to locate the depth of the bait fish and fish just below the baitfish starting out, Then make depth adjustments accordingly, I usually make my adjustments in 2 to 6 inch adjustments, then when I get hit, I stop at that depth for a little bit and see how well it works out. Then if it dont produce I start adjusting deeper.

O come on now slabsntaters surely you don't believe they always feed up...:grin:
Someone didn't want you to know they'll stand on there heads rooting out nymphs and crawdads like all fish do.I like bottom fishing for hogs just before the hatch or then they are wiggling up though the mud.

I don't care who you are, now thats funny! :D:D:D

Originally Posted by Turtlebait

O come on now slabsntaters surely you don't believe they always feed up...:grin:
Someone didn't want you to know they'll stand on there heads rooting out nymphs and crawdads like all fish do.I like bottom fishing for hogs just before the hatch or then they are wiggling up though the mud.

Oh turtlebait, here we go again, to read what you have written in past posts, you are a expert drum fisherman, a expert bowfin fisherman, a expert gar fisherman, but I have never seen you write about being a expert crappie fisherman. You can't call trash fish crappie, crappie are in a totally different catagory of thier own. Crappie actually serve a purpose for the space they take up in a body of water.

Yeah but when I become a expert in crappie fishing I want haveta dig them out of the mud anymore.I'll be able to catch them while they are looking up at all the crosseyed bodder watchers:D.

Originally Posted by Turtlebait

Yeah but when I become a expert in crappie fishing I want haveta dig them out of the mud anymore.I'll be able to catch them while they are looking up at all the crosseyed bodder watchers:D.

To bad you are so far away, I would enjoy swapping fish pictures with you, but I can't post pictures from my iPhone.
We obviously don't agree on most all topics, but that what makes it fun, I ain't ever met nobody on crappie.com that wasn't a swell person. I got lots of pictures of fish I could share with you. Everyone has their own opinion and thier own style of fishing I recon. However I may never be able to agree with you on the drum, bowfin, and gar. :D:D