Some questions for the veterans
I am new to crappie fishing and being the month of april, I thought it would be perfect time to start doing some fishing. I have a local lake I went to today and had no luck, not even one bite. So I have to ask:
* Is putting a live worm on your minnow lure a bad thing? I did it today so that I could have the lure for the crappie and the worm for the small mouth bass. Didnt get any so I want to see if the worm can actually hurt chances of crappie.
* What is better: Crappie fishing next to a giant bridge, fishing off of a boat ramp, fishing off a large dock, or going to a site nearby a large deposit of wood? Tried most of these today to experiment around, to no avail.
* What is better: The lure, or an actual live minnow?
* Do the geese/ducks know where the prime spots are? I saw them today bobbing their heads in the water or totally swimming down the bottom of the lake (looking for food I assume) and I was thinking that maybe the geese find natural hotpots. Or does it not really matter?
*How long do you wait before giving up on a spot? I was at 3 different spots today, spending about 30-45 minutes at each. How long do you wait at a spot without getting one bite before you give up? Was I being impacient?
* And last but not least, when is the best time? At the advice of a friend, I went today around 3 pm as the water was supposudly the warmest then. Someone else told me that while fish are more active in warm water, I should have gone like an hour before sunset cause their most likely to feed then. Others have said dawn is better, and some people on the internet even said that according to lunear cycles it could be best around 10 pm! So what is your guy's opinions on all this?
Anyways I would love some answers to these and any other advice I can get from the people that have caught lots of crappie in their day. Also if one of by chance happens to know Clinton Lake in Lawrence, Kansas I want to know the hotspot!
Thank you