Whats a good crappie jig

Quick question about retrieve speed. If your reeling it in slow like that don't it sink to the bottom and then bounce along on the bottom?

I had read that crappie feed upwards (baits above them) so always keep it above them, thus I have been reeling it in just fast enough to keep it a bit off the bottom (I'm shootin for what i think is halfway between the bottom and the surface but who can really tell with the stained water at t-bird). This is for when casting out away from the boat, not when fishin straight down next to stumps and brush, right? For straight down i keep it above them on the fish finder and kinda bounce/twitch it a couple inches every 10 seconds or so. I don't reel at all then, until it's time to try a new jig/color.

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Originally Posted by Okie405

Quick question about retrieve speed. If your reeling it in slow like that don't it sink to the bottom and then bounce along on the bottom?

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The jig will stay at the approximate depth it reaches when you start reeling. I cast the jig out and count it down to the depth I want to fish: one thousand one, one thousand two, etc. Then, I reel back slowly.

Nip my brother that is a great post. Very informative. Bla bla bla. All that stuff. In reality, a great bait, or jig is one you have confidence in. IMHO there are 4 different COLORS of water. Clear, stained, dingy, and awful. The fun is figuring out what works in each situation before that situation changes. If you do figure it out, give me a shout. I'm still figurin!

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

The jig will stay at the approximate depth it reaches when you start reeling. I cast the jig out and count it down to the depth I want to fish: one thousand one, one thousand two, etc. Then, I reel back slowly.

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I've found that the way & distance I cast/retrieve ... a 1/16oz jig/plastic will bottom out on a retrieve at about 8ft deep. But, then I am only reeling in fast enough to keep a slight bow in the line, with the rod at the 10 o:clock position. That way, even the slightest tap on the jig will make the line jump (the weight of the line in the bow above water reacts greater than a semi-taut line). Any pause, whether to let it sink deeper or just to jiggle the rod tip, seems to add another foot to the current depth of the jig.

I do, usually, start my retrieve as soon as the bait hits the water ... but, if I know the depth at the splashdown point is greater than 8-10ft. I will (sometimes) use the countdown method, especially if the fish are in that splashdown area, but casting beyond that area is not feasible.

And if you're fishing straight down, along side of or through the branches of those standing trees, you might consider "Vertical Casting" !! Here's a link to the "how to" article I wrote : Crappie Pappy Article

My fishing partner & I used the Vertical Casting method to catch many of the fish that we caught at Watts Bar Lake in E. Tenn last week. We dropped our jigs to the bottom in 15-25fow, and got the hits at the 6-8ft depths ... mostly around fallen & standing trees with lots of branches. We've also used the method very successfully around dock posts & concrete bridge pillars.

when you go to tenkiller: white, pearl, or clear are often the ticket there.

I have seen times a crappie dock full of fisherman, most of which can catch fish, and have one guy with one jig head/body combo that is catching fish. Everyone else tries to imitate but can't get it done. Sometimes they can be real picky. Two weeks ago me, a buddy, and his son were fishing and they were catching ten to my one, and bigger fish. Come to find out we were throwing same body shape and color, clear with blue sparkle. They had on a pink jig head and I had a chartreuse.