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Crappie have been labeled paper mouth by many, including by those in You Tube videos. Except for a small minority of fish, I still need to use both hand to get the hook out and at times must use pliers.
Anyone experience the same when it comes to hooks stuck good?
I catch some Crappie with much thicker mouths than others, but to me they are the minority. Most Crappie I've caught have areas of their mouth that are very thin. Sorta depends on where they are hooked. I've seen lots of dinks with gaping holes all over their mouth since they've been caught and released so many times.
I think the white crappie have much thinner skinned, and bigger mouths than the blacks. Depends on where the hook gets em. If they take the jig deep and get hooked in the top of the inside of the mouth it may require pliers to remove. On the flipside.... I've lost a lot of big slabs that were barely hooked in the thin skin of their mouths.
Seen a terribly high number of them get off myself , I even got one my bud lost on the same spot a day earlier with a tiny pin hole in the web . But if you hook them in the bone they are very hard to get off at times . I think that's why so many ole school crappie anglers use them big ole super gapped hooks . Number 2 and 4 are a mainstay with lots of folks . I don't like the larger gapped hooks myself . I use 6 and 8 most of the time . But then again I am just playing with them anyway :Rof
It should probably be more accurate to call them "paper LIPS", than paper mouths. Regardless of hook size, you stick one in the membrane of their "lips" and it will tear a good sized hole before the fish is landed (or gets off). When stuck in the inside of the "mouth", whether in the roof or tongue section, you're dealing with much thicker & tougher "skin/meat" sections of the fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoonminnow
Seems like some lakes I fish they really do have softer mouths. One lake I fish in the summer you have to really play the fish or they will pull off. Also the way your fishing can play a role in where the fish is hooked. When I fish a cork I seem to hook more of them in the soft part.
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Many times it is how good the bite . If they are aggressive most hooked deep or solid in roof of the mouth . But days with light bite many are lip hooked and can tear loose . I seldom worry about paper mouths as I swing em in no net .:biggrin Many are lost because hook tears a hole and given any slack hook can fall out . I figure I loose less by swinging them in , many do fall off in the boat . Beats losing them trying for the net .:biggrin
Fished the last two days, caught over 60 crappie - not one came undone and most needed my two hands to unhook a #4 hook/ 1/16 oz jig. Many were 7" runts.