Keep fishing and changing things up, never, never, never, never quit! You can't catch them at them at the house, you may get a guide to take you out and learn some new tricks.
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Keep fishing and changing things up, never, never, never, never quit! You can't catch them at them at the house, you may get a guide to take you out and learn some new tricks.
I can feel and understand your pain. I have experienced the same thing last month. I have only had two "good" days this month. One of those "good" days I caught 7 crappie, the other one 8 crappie. I have fished every single day last month and caught very little. I would have an occasional day where I would catch one or two crappie but most days I was skunked. Yet I still showed up every day sometime between 7 and 8 AM, trying.
Last Wednesday I overslept and didn't get to the slip until 10:30. That day the crappie were in and everybody there limited out around 10:30. I know they weren't lying because I saw the stringers of crappie. I caught one 12" crappie and didn't catch another one although I fished until 8:00 pm that night, when it got too cold too stay. Ketchn and SK joined me in fishing that night, they caught crappie but I couldn't catch other crappie, fishing the same areas they were fishing.
I was unable to fish last year and appear to have lost my touch. But eventually I will get it back if I perserve, which I intend to do. I rather be fishing than anything else I could do, even if I'm not catching much at this monent.
I would suggest you watch SK crappie fishing videos, he has some good tips in them for crappie fishing. The bite on those I did catch last month was very light, not the normal thrump. You might try a rod with a more sensitive tip to help you feel the bite. Or you might try switching to an ultralight rod and reel for a while to help you feel the bite. If you are using jigs, switch to minnows. They are not as much fun as jigs but crappie do bite better on live bait that they do on metal.
Good luck and hang in there. As I said I am experience the same thing and will hanging in there with you.
I ran into a similar situation several years ago fishing for bull bluegills below a dam. I finally asked a guy near me if he minded if I just sat and watched as he was catching one pig after another and releasing them all. We were in an area that wasn't crowed yet so he told me he would enjoy talking. As I sat there he started to talk about his technique and the finer points of it. He also explained what he looked for as far as current and how it was different in spots but changed hourly. In the hour I sat there, I picked up more valuable info than I would have in hours on the computer.
Take a few minutes to talk to those who are catching fish but don't crowd them or cast into their spots. Just use each trip as a learning chance. There is probably just some small difference in your gear or technique like line size.
Knowledge of what and how your fishing is more specious then Gold or silver,,,,,Huge lesson I learned about crappie fishing is that most fisherman are more tight lipped then then crappie are these days..l so find a fisherman who will teach you about how to fish and its fish- on!
BA I feel your pain!
Personally the winter fishing is usually just plain boring.
The bite is too light and slow to be consistent. ( on the waters I fish )
I’ve decided to focus on getting my boats and projects around the house finished so I can hit it full steam when they move shallow !
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I might try the Smurf paint for my next trip.
If you want to catch fish, just go fish. Don't worry about the species. There aren't many days that I can't catch something. It may or may not be a crappie, but I don't care so much anymore what it is, as long as it's a fish.
It's not just crappie. Its every species. I'm so frustrated I cant catch a bass, trout, even a darn bluegill let alone a crappie.
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Hang in there, you haven't been truly skunked yet. Imagine going to a farm pond to fish for Bream with your FIL years ago armed with cane poles and worms. We sat side by side in the back seat of an old wooden jon boat. Well my FIL caught 40 sitting right next to me and I didn't have the first bite! I swapped poles with him, had him bait my hook and spit some of his tobacco on it, still nothing! Well I'll never forget that day and it took me a while to live it down with the other BIL's. My fishing recovered from that and yours will also get better.