Jig timing?

I'm new at crappie fishing an was wanting to know how long do you jig with a certain color before you try a different one?

That's a tough one. I can only answer it this way: water color alone normally narrows my choices down to 4 or 5 combinations. My confidence baits are blue/white black/chartreuse and red/chartreuse. I always try one of these first. For instance in slightly stained water, I have confidence in a jig with some black and chartreuse in it. If the water is clear then I want something with white in it and a dark head, in cloudy conditions I like red/chartreuse even though the bream seem to hit it more often. To directly address your question I would have to say that you should stay with a color combination until you lose confidence in it. The truth to the matter is if the fish are biting, color combinations take a back seat to placement, depth, and presentation. If you put a jig in front of a hungry or agressive crappie chances are they are going to hit it with little thought to the color combination. In my humble opinion way too many fishermen get so excited about the perfect color combination that they fail to focus on depth and proper presentation. They keep convincing themselves that there is some 'magic color combination" that is going to catch a limit no matter what they do when what they should be doing is changing the way that they are fishing and taking mental notes when a fish does bite in order to establish a pattern (how deep was the bait?/what was the water temp?/ how deep was the water?/ what kind of structure was close by? etc.). Just one man's opinion though.

I find fishing with minnows to be a hassle, especially when compared to fishing jigs. However, I've had better luck with minnows, which makes me have more confidence with minnows. With that said, what are some basic presentations for using jigs?

WOW Gut Shot thanks, that sure helps my Crappie fishing Process lots!!!! this thread will save me much time and $$. LOL all though i just spend like $60 bucks on jigs this week;)

Fetmo

Use any color as long as it's black/chartreuse :) !!!

Here lately any dark color like Purple , Green, or Black with chartruse. Fetmo , 60.00 ain't much I just bought several new jig poles and 1600 more Umbrella tubes.:eek: I probably burn 15.00 of gas everyday or more. Don't miss many days either. I need a fishing buddy who can buy gas. I may have to get a part time job to support my fishing habit.:o