Thread: Oologah Archives

CrappieWhisperer,
do you catch a bunch when you find a good pile? I usually get 4 maybe 6 at the most from a pile and then it's off to the next one, if I get that many. Starting to put together a milk run of piles that I can count on for at least a couple or four at a time. How long do you spend on one pile before you move on if you don't get a fish? How long after the last bite before moving to the next one? Still learning, thanks for sharing.

I fished saturday morning in Blue creek and managed a dozen. It was slow, I dropped a few and spent a lot of time helping the kids. They did catch the biggest crappie of their lives too!

Kenny I'm sure not an expert here and I know I fish different than most, and don't kid yourself we're all still learning. If I start catching some fish on a pile I'll usually stay at that pile or another I have close by the whole time I'm out that day. Now I'm not gonna stay there if its not producing something every 15-30 minutes. I kinda look at it like you cant catch fish if you're drivin the boat. Many times I've seen it where there seemed to be schools of crappie moving in and out of a pile all day chasing shad. Sometimes it gets crazy how many bites you can get in a short period of time. What I normally see is the crappie will be shallow early in the morning and progressively move deeper as the day goes on. Lately I've seen the fish suspended at 8ft as soon as I get there in the morning and then they move to 10 ft, then again when it gets hotter they'll move to 12 ft. If I go very long without a bite I know it's time to change my depth the fish have moved deeper. Normally as soon as I change my depth I start getting bites again. I know most people fish for the aggressive fish on each pile then move to the next and do great at it. Probably a lot better than I do sitting in one or two spots close by each other. If I fish by myself I normally fish with 7 rods, 6 are down rods and I fish with one rod either jig fishing or drop shotting. Fishing with this many rods has its advantages, I can usually find one area of the pile that the fish are congregating and focus my attention on it. Normally this time of year I catch most of my fish drop shotting after the early morning jig bite, but I haven't seen the fish go to the bottom yet except the ones I've caught shallow in 10ft or less. Hope this helps a little, bet it just confirms to you how different people are about the way they fish. I see it every time I go fishing. If you wanna go out sometime holler at me.

Originally Posted by CrappieWhisperer

Kenny I'm sure not an expert here and I know I fish different than most, and don't kid yourself we're all still learning. If I start catching some fish on a pile I'll usually stay at that pile or another I have close by the whole time I'm out that day. Now I'm not gonna stay there if its not producing something every 15-30 minutes. I kinda look at it like you cant catch fish if you're drivin the boat. Many times I've seen it where there seemed to be schools of crappie moving in and out of a pile all day chasing shad. Sometimes it gets crazy how many bites you can get in a short period of time. What I normally see is the crappie will be shallow early in the morning and progressively move deeper as the day goes on. Lately I've seen the fish suspended at 8ft as soon as I get there in the morning and then they move to 10 ft, then again when it gets hotter they'll move to 12 ft. If I go very long without a bite I know it's time to change my depth the fish have moved deeper. Normally as soon as I change my depth I start getting bites again. I know most people fish for the aggressive fish on each pile then move to the next and do great at it. Probably a lot better than I do sitting in one or two spots close by each other. If I fish by myself I normally fish with 7 rods, 6 are down rods and I fish with one rod either jig fishing or drop shotting. Fishing with this many rods has its advantages, I can usually find one area of the pile that the fish are congregating and focus my attention on it. Normally this time of year I catch most of my fish drop shotting after the early morning jig bite, but I haven't seen the fish go to the bottom yet except the ones I've caught shallow in 10ft or less. Hope this helps a little, bet it just confirms to you how different people are about the way they fish. I see it every time I go fishing. If you wanna go out sometime holler at me.

CW.
Great post. Would love to go with you sometime. I will be working for the next couple of weeks straight but after that I'm in. I've been the hit and run type but after my gas bill for the last two outings you might have a convert. Lets see, where did I put those anchors.........

I like to hit and run. I fish for those aggressive fish on each pile and then move on. But I am rarely out for more than 3 or 4 hours so I want to get em quick. I'll catch the ones ready to bite and then once it slows down I'll move on to the next pile. One thing that I am doing different right now is I'm not fishing any brush deeper than 12 or 13 feet. I just don't seem to catch many fish in deeper piles. I use one pole at a time. I put a number 2 split shot about 5 inches above a number 3 minnow hook. I like the heavy weight up above the hook because if I get hung on brush I can usually drop that weight and it will pull my hook off the brush.

MD,
The only thing I have been doing different is I put a 3/8oz weight a few inches below my hook and I usually stay out longer.

Yote, what do you like about the weight below the hook? I've been thinking of trying it that way. It sounds like we fish perty much the same way. If you are interested in going sometime, I'd be glad to.

MD's definitely has a pattern that's working Kenny. Sounds like you've got a couple of good offers here. Don't it always seem to happen when you gotta work lol. I'd like to meet both you guys myself. I'm chuckling a little bit here... we all three have a different drop shot set up. I usually fish a 1/4oz to 3/8oz weight 18 inches below my hook that has a 2 or 3 inch leader off my main line. I have to admit, I've watched a few videos where they put the hook below the weight like Meatdragger does and it got me thinking. I bet the minnow sure does get a lot of movement that way. The main reason I put the weight below is so I can stair step the minnow up and over each limb in a brush pile from a distance. It takes some practice but it's effective. I'd like to try MD's method on my down rods and see how it works, and I can always learn a little about the run and gun style too. Anytime either of you want to fish I'm game... just shoot me a message and we can trade phone numbers.

Kevin