Plastics through the ice?

[Crappie 1]

We got some fish on plastics last winter, but not many. I have some of those Jigging Raps. and will be trying them more this winter. Thanks..

[no1son]

They can be dynamite. So can the littlest Chubby Darters. Both are often very good jigging in open water too. Or cast under a slip bobber. They rise on the draw through of the line and then settle on the release. Ice fishermen often adorn them with waxies, spikes or a minnow head. some of the little Gulp Alive baits work for this too.

We use the little plastics through the ice quite a bit, often more effective than spikes, but not always.

[Crappie 1]

Hey no1, we had some good talks about this last winter. I tried some of the things you suggested and did fairly well. I looked up some of last winters fishing pictures and I guess we did better than I thought. I need to have more confidence in the plastics, and make myself use them.

[no1son]

I grew up under the adage that you can't beat meat. No pun intended - REALLY no pun intended! Once I started fishing plastic tubes for crappies during open water I found out differently. My late father always carried nightcrawlers in the boat as a backup bait, and I spent most of my life believing the only true crappie bait was a minnow.

I still carry spikes onto the ice as a backup, but my partner and I got a real eye opener a few of winters ago when we hammered crappies with a bare black Marmooska type jig, no live bait and no plastics, no hackle either. The pair of us had consistent results in one spot doing that with the high point of 70 crappies between us from the same pair of holes during one 1-hour period. All released and from shallow enough water that they should have recovered nicely.

We repeated that pattern the following winter, but in subsequent years the crappies vacated since the local muskies learned to identify our holes as handout points. The d**n tooth carps got to following our transducers from hole to hole and not just a single one of them. We got consistently wolf packed; so we moved on after one afternoon where we counted close to a dozen sunfish taken by the big toothies either coming to the jig or on the way down after being released. We both had the "heavy marks" on our screens just about the entire afternoon. That had been a honey hole, but died off pretty completely at least for crappies.

I think I said before I am not a fan of stocked muskies; I am sure I did. Nothing in the water will put crappies off around here faster than muskies moving in. All of my favorite crappies waters have been stocked with them.

Once you work out the Rapalas on the ice, don't put them away especially early in open water either. What we mostly do is just slowly raise the lure between about 1 and 4 or 5 ft and let it flutter back down on a just slack line. You work that up and down the water column. Most takes are true strikes on the flutter. Some will be on the rest at the bottom, too; so always be ready for that additional tension when you start a lift, especially if you let the settle go all the way to the bottom, where you might not feel the pickup. (just like you should do with plastics! We take so many fish that we first feel just as the jig comes off a rest on the bottom! That is even more true for perch around here than for crappies.)

That goes for the Phoebes, Little Cleos and Swedish Pimples, too. They jig just as well after ice out when you have an edge to work over. (Do not take the flicker off the Swedish Pimples, though! And the red one was best for us last spring.)

You gotta learn the techniques for that kind of offering, but it can be really dynamite when you get it down. We don't put away our plastics then either. They augment each other.

[DroptineJoe]

Once you work out the Rapalas on the ice, don't put them away especially early in open water either. What we mostly do is just slowly raise the lure between about 1 and 4 or 5 ft and let it flutter back down on a just slack line. You work that up and down the water column. Most takes are true strikes on the flutter. Some will be on the rest at the bottom, too; so always be ready for that additional tension when you start a lift, especially if you let the settle go all the way to the bottom, where you might not feel the pickup. (just like you should do with plastics! We take so many fish that we first feel just as the jig comes off a rest on the bottom! That is even more true for perch around here than for crappies.)

You are so right! We hit Glen Elder last March in a post cold front condition and the crappie wouldn't touch plastics, I put on a jigging Shadrap and they tore it up until my trolling motor died and I couldn't hold my position!!

[rico]

Jigginraps are a main stay in my arsenal. I dont leave home without them!!!!!

[river scum]

x2 on the jiggin raps. you can trick them out with plastic too. lol lil tail glows and never stops moving. you can add sent to your presentation too, just like open water.

[ready2fish]

been using plastic for the past 3 years and i don't think i would every use meat again

Sure nice not having to make that stop at the bit shop

[Crappie Vermonster]

The only time i use live bait when ice fishing is fore bluegills but crappie fishing plastics rule. 90percent of the time i use a northland slug bug tail on a fiska tungsten jig. plastic baits come alive from the extra heavy tungsten. Other great plastics come from maki plastics and fiskas nuggies work i've been haveing good luck with something a little differnt a bobby garland scent wiggler pinched off so thers only the last ball and tail its a little bigger than most ice plastics but big crappie love them. cant wait to try some new plastics this year.

[no1son]

This is a really productive approach, pretty much what we also mostly use. The new little tungstens are superb. The pinched off scent wiggler works real well in open water, too. With the bigger plastics and the little jigs one has to be careful to leave enough hook gap exposed though or one will be missing hookups.