May 29, 2025 Food for thought.
I have been thinking about this subject for a few days and want to share some thoughts on the presentation of lures. Specifically I want to talk about loop knots or any knot tied directly to the eyelet of a jig hook. I have used both types of knots with good success, so I’m not saying that a loop knot is better at presenting lures to crappie than the Uniknot that I use most of the time.
I have noticed though that I get more bites when the knot is tied directly to the eyelet when fishing deep water with a very slow presentation. Most say that the loop knot looks more like a natural minnow as the lure remains in a horizontal position throughout the retrieve. This statement is true.
Looking at a jig the is tied directly to the jig and you will notice when the jig is barely moved or sitting still in the water column, the tail of the jig seems to hang lower than the head of the jig. This statement is also true.
Now what I have been thinking about in relation to fishing and presenting an artificial lure to a crappie in its own environment is this. In the animal kingdom, not just in fishing, which animals do the predators look for before attacking a meal? The weak, the crippled, the lame, or the old.
When I am presenting a lure in 20-30 feet of water or more, I sometimes take one to two minutes to finish my retrieve. Dead sticking or not moving the jig by the rod or reel, is something that I have learned have put many more fish in my boat than constantly moving the lure. You do that in shallow water when the fish are chasing.
Every turn of the handle of my reel moves the lure from 22-24 inches. When I’m sitting in 30 feet of water and let my jig settle on a pendulum drop, I let it fall at least 25-30 seconds. That depends on current flow and direction that I am casting.
When fishing deep, I hold my rod about 8-9 o’clock position and I don’t raise my rod to raise the lure. I let my reel raise the lure up from the bottom by turning the reel handle one or two slow times and when I pause, I give the rod a little palsy twitch which imparts a dying quiver to the jig as it is falling back to the bottom. You will be surprised how many crappie see this little “minnow” struggling to survive, but is really an easy target to hit verses a minnow that is in a horizontal position and may flee when it sees a crappie approaching.
I don’t know if I have conveyed this info in the best possible manner that is easy to see and understand or not. Hopefully, it will give you something to think about when you are fishing deep. Remember, location, presentation, and confidence are the 3 major keys to fishing success.
