crappie won't go down to hit a bait?

Took a buddy that's a die hard bass fisherman crappie fishing sunday evening. We were casting jigs and we came across a point and caught a few small ones then all of a sudden he is just spanking my butt from the back of the boat. When I asked what he was doing he told me he was dragging the jig on the bottom. I tried it and immediately hooked up. We wore them out for the better part of an hour on that one spot dragging jigs. Water was only 10 foot deep and I know for a fact it was on the bottom. They'd just pick it up while it was sitting still like a bass would. I've never seen anything like it. I've always been told crappie won't go down on a bait but that doesn't seem to be true .

The crappie were on the bottom already they are starting their spawn beds now. So they were looking straight at the bait and they will attack anything that gets in their bed now. If the crappie were in 20' water suspended say 10' and you were fishing below them they would not go down lower to bite your bait but they will go upward to get the bait.:twocents

I just can't see them spawning in 10 fow at this particular lake. It stays pretty dang muddy up there most of the year but I may be wrong

They'll do it when not spawning.. ice fishing, they'll pick baits up off the bottom. Windswept points, they'll sit on bottom and pick off bait. Drainage tubes, I always catch them dragging a jig near tubes that stack with bait

That's a myth! Crappie feed on crayfish all the time. That's probably why you caught them on bottom. Most of the time they feed up but not always. I catch them on bottom every now and then. There's no absolutes in fish.

This is just a general rule now. I am sure that if any fish is hungry enough it will go after the bait or food wherever it is. The way that I understand this is that crappie that are suspended will have their noses pointed slightly upward making their strike zone more forward and upward and not as much downward. The temperature of the water and the ph of the water dictates to where the comfort zone is for the crappie they may be anywhere even on bottom. I have even seen them strike the top of water like bass.

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Originally Posted by lowe175

That's a myth! Crappie feed on crayfish all the time. That's probably why you caught them on bottom. Most of the time they feed up but not always. I catch them on bottom every now and then. There's no absolutes in fish.

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I keep hearing that , never found one in a Crappie here ?:dono

Definitely a myth I have been fishing roadrunners for 30 plus years and love to fish in summertime the most. When the sun gets up I move to deeper water and cast 1/16 roadrunners and let them go all the way to the bottom. I catch more that pick it up dead on the bottom than any other way. You will not even know they are on until you start to reel .

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

I keep hearing that , never found one in a Crappie here ?:dono

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I wasn't a believer either until a few years ago we had smallmouth and googleye move down the creek on to the mud flats where i fish and the reason was crawdads hatched on the flats for a few years and when i opened up crappie they were full of small crawdads the smallies and googleye disappeared because the crawdads did so i guess what i'm sayin is if they're there crappie will eat em.

Like others have said....Crappie will feed nose down just like a Smallie, Walleye, etc....I bottom bounce swimbaits all the time for them. Our lake is heavily populated with "Fresh Water Lobster" and if you check at certain times in the year, their bellies will be full....they love Lobster as much as I do! :):):)lol