Quote Originally Posted by treeadem View Post
Thank you for the reply Slabhunter. The information you (and others on this site) provide is priceless. I will try vertical fishing in 6 inch increments a little deeper like you suggested. I usually catch some fish but I seem to miss more soft biters than I catch under cold front conditions. Do you have any suggestions on the soft biters? I really appreciate your response. Thanks again.
Give this a try : Crappie Pappy Article

The two most common types of bites that I've experienced when Vertical Casting is : #1 - the tic/thump (where it feels like your jig just bumped a branch on the way up) ... #2 - the slack line hit (where the fish's upward momentum keeps it coming up after it's hit the jig, causing the line to go slack).

I generally tend to get more of the #1 type of hits, some soft/lite & some hammer it ... but, by far my most favorite one is the #2 type !! When I get that slack line hit, I KNOW the fish can't feel any resistance from the rod tip, so they're less likely to let go or spit the jig out before I'm ramming the hook into their face.

I've used this method with a 1/16oz jig in as little as 10 fow, and a 1/32oz jig in as much as 30 fow. If you have a sensitive tipped rod, you'll feel even the lite bites (or see them, as in the case of the slack line type of hit). I don't usually pay too much attention to lite pecks, but if I'm convinced they're coming from finicky Crappie ... I'll downsize my bait, or speed up/slow down my retrieve, or change colors, and possibly even all three.

... cp