I see em, can't catch em.

Crappie marking on Helix 10 Mega at two different locations in about 24 feet. Schools were near the bottom 5 feet of water column. Water temp 87, sky clear. The schools were big but only caught 2 fish. Caught one pulling a crank before I even saw the school and next came on a jigging spoon. I jigged every color Bobby Garland I have, jigged with a spoon and even came back with minnows. The minnows died almost as soon as they saw that 87 degree water. Any advice on how to catch crappie like this and how to deal with minnows that die as soon as they see lake water?

I'm thinking that those fish were down close to the thermocline and above that there is oxygen and below it, that's very low. If I went too deep in conditions like that, minnows died very fast. My standard advice when see but can't catch is to downsize and slow down. You may have thrown every Bobby you had but did you change the head weight? The one you caught on a crank was probably a reaction bite, not dumb luck. Stay with em, try different things and let us know what works. You're teaching us too.

Don't know how to catch them but you may try mixing some lake water with the water in your minnow bucket. I was having trouble keeping shiners alive when they hit the water. The guy I buy shiners from told me when I get to the lake to pour half the water out and fill it back with lake water next time I went I did that and they didn't die. Could have been just been the minnows were better, but it is worth a try.

Try kicking up your speed a bit. Sometimes you just got to force a reactive bite. How fast are you pulling those cranks? Both cranks & jigs can sometimes be enticed when the speed is well over 1 mph.....closer to 2. That goes with plastics too. Minnows I know nothing about.

I was pulling the cranks at 1.2mph with my trolling motor. I caught a few the other day pulling cranks but didn't mark fish on structure like I did today. The thermocline is about 25 feet. While in 50+ feet I could see it very well on my Helix. I did try different weight jig heads but no luck. To make matters worse the ski boats decided to hit the creek right where I had my marker buoy out. They got a 32000 acre lake and have to be in the same creek as fishermen. The main lake only had a few passing pontoons.

Frustrating for sure. It's jet skis here. Sounds like you have an idea of what you need to do. Slab sauce the jig, it always helps me. Good luck Brother.

they do that sometimes and I swear sometimes you just cant make em bite ,,,,,I would downsize to a whisper though and tip my jig with a pc a minnow if all else fails .

Kick those cranks up to 1.5 to 1.8 mph

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I've caught lazy crappie rip jigging with these before,reaction bite for sure.Attachment 314005Attachment 314006

At that depth water clarity is pretty low. Try using lures that you use at dusk and daylight. Any lure that gives off vibration will help. Or use a jig and body with a little meat for scent. If they aren't hitting with the speed that your moving try stationary shaking. We do it all the time while ice fishing when the fish are in a negative mood. Get your lure into the correct depth and just barely wiggle your pole side to side and up and down no more than a couple of inches. Or hold your pole in one hand and slightly tap the blank with your other hand which will make your lure jiggle and shimmy in place.