Another trip in the books.

Gus Bigin and I Returned from our second trip this year. Had a great time as always. Much better winds than 2 weeks ago but fish were waaay shallower. That makes it tough on spider rigging. Need to wade more I guess. The hospitality is second to none. Great food at the restaurants. Great biscuits at the minnow shops. Great folks at all the gas stations and hotels. And of course great big sow crappie. One of these days I will figure out how to hook these super shallow fish. Rolled over more than I put in the box. I have not fished alot of north wind at Grenada so I was a little lost Friday plus where I wanted to fish at Youngs was still flowing just a bit too much for my liking. Became more of scouting day really. Decided to let the wind work its way out of town so Saturday hit protected area at Enid (thanks for the tip Rees) in the am and caught decent amount fish but not very many keepers and no real big fish. Dead calm in the pm so Put in Sat pm at Youngs and found them in newly flooded super shallow flats. New water was still coming in but it was fishable. Found Big fish some almost exceeding the magic 3 pound number. Went back in the am and did the same. flow was basically non existent by then.

We would ease up out of the channel with the wind into the puddle flatsand put the old Xpress boat in four wheel low with minnow tips jigs 6-12 inches down in less than 2 foot of water. Had to be SILENT or we would could see them scattered off the beds. Gotta invest in a silent stalker. Got stuck in the mud several times. In those conditions it is like hand to hand combat.

I know I always preach up my Ozark rods and still believe them to be the best year round rod overall. But in those conditions I would love to have a specialty rod with a real soft tip just for those super shallow hook sets. Maybe some BGJPs or something custom with even lighter on the tip and also some super sensitive drag reels. Give me a little more time and space between tip and lip. Thanks again Rebel friends. You guys are truly blessed with a great resource. PS ran into John Harrison and Larry Holmes at the filling station, It was good to talk with them again. If you are ever looking for a guide make sure to hook them up. Larry makes the best homemade pimento cheese sandwiches.

Very nice trip it sounds like!!!!!!

Sounds like a dang good trip. One tip I can give you on those real shallow fish (YEH, folks on here will call me a yankee, LOL) Use a cork with a couple extra feet of line out. Give them a chance to take the bait before they feel the pull. I'll put corks on if the waves are yanking the bait up and down

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Originally Posted by DonDon

Sounds like a dang good trip. One tip I can give you on those real shallow fish (YEH, folks on here will call me a yankee, LOL) Use a cork with a couple extra feet of line out. Give them a chance to take the bait before they feel the pull. I'll put corks on if the waves are yanking the bait up and down

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Thanks DD. Will try it.

Great read, glad yall came away smelling like fish.

On the subject of missing shallow fish and on lighter action rods, I feel your pain. I miss my B&M C&C rods everytime I have one do it to me, but at 16 ft. long, when ya got 2 fish on while simultaneously fighting a 12 mph crosswind by yaself, the fun only had begun once the hook set was complete- hauling in a sow with those 16 ft. long limber things was a challenge!

I have tried many things and the cork idea is a good one. Another thing I'll resort to (after ensuring that the basics are covered, like checking hook sharpness) is putting on some of the Rockport Rattler 3 hook jig heads. I'll also try opening up the gap and also pinching the barb down.

Another thing I'll do- and this ain't far from the cork technique in the fact that I gotta teach myself to WAIT a split second before I take action- is to put a SMALL OFFSET circle hook on. Small because the fish will suck it down their gut easier with the minner. Once the fish feels and spits the hook, it is at that time that the hook- by design- rolls out into the top/side of their mouth. As we know, a circle is intended for just this purpose: inhaled into the gut and exhaled without harming the fish. The caveat is that the fisherman must train himself to WAIT and then ease pressure into the fish. If he does that, hook sets are just as high as normal j hooks. From my rod and reel flathead catfishing days, I got better at waiting, but it can still be hard to do. Bank on it: The first couple I'll pull the hook out on.

I use the same circle hook technique on windy days to combat bouncing rods and finicky fish. With a normal Kentucky rig tied up, I use circle hooks instead. The main factor is that I am essentially drop shotting because I have a carolina keeper above and below the drop lines; that way I can slide the bait to the depth I want. So fish in 20 FOW holding 10 ft deep, I put weight on bottom, slide hooks to 10 ft and rod bounce is no longer an issue. The issue then is seeing line movement which usually happens when the hook is spit out. Solution? Self-hooking Circle hooks.

If those techniques fail, I say screw it and reach for the dynamite.

Again, great read!

Wow. Talk about a great read. Thanks.

I went to drop shot rigs with circles last fall. Never thought of using them for this reason. I make my own using drop shot swivels from Barlow tackle. Need to tie some shallow single rigs that way for sure. Gonna bargain hunt up some c&c rods to try as well. I could not get my hands on 3 hook rattlers with big enough hooks in time for this trip. I did have trailer hooks but forgot to try them. Duh.

I too am a catfish guy. We back troll the Mississippi in St. Louis. Basically giant size spider riggging and use 10/0 circles 12 ounces weights and 100 pound braid and 1 1/2 pound sunfish for bait. My second passion.

Sounds like a great trip! Congrats! Harrison was inducted into the outdoor hall of fame here recently! He is a great guy and I enjoy picking his brain. A ton of knowledge for such a short guy. Ha. Those fish on a short line like that are tough. There's all kinds of tricks u hear about but the number 1 trick is learning to jig fish with pole in hand. I've been wading since I started and prefer to wade fish crappie over anything, even a good marlin trip! It's an art to keep a super tight line and getting that fish close to u, so close to to grab, without a net! Ha. I see guys carrying nets now wading, tickles me. Good luck and if u ever get a chance hop out of the boat and give it a shot. I think it's Gods way of fishing:)

Spider rigging super shallow fish is tough but productive, another tip is to keep your rods hi, like 3 foot off the water and it gives you some extra line out to help. Fish don't seem to care that the rod tip isn't dead on the water and lets you see the line move easier.

Which of the big 3 lakes in Mississippi is the hottest right now for crappie? Sardis, Enid or Grenada?

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Originally Posted by Slabz R Us

Which of the big 3 lakes in Mississippi is the hottest right now for crappie? Sardis, Enid or Grenada?

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Boy that's a crap shoot, what do you call hot? They seem to be changing daily, having to hunt fish everyday.