Do yall fish 25 feet deep for crappie? Countdown method? Slipcork?
I can't hardly fish over 8 feet deep or so. When there are brush tops deeper than that I'm not sure how to fish it at all...
Help me!
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Do yall fish 25 feet deep for crappie? Countdown method? Slipcork?
I can't hardly fish over 8 feet deep or so. When there are brush tops deeper than that I'm not sure how to fish it at all...
Help me!
me neither i cant fish over 6 unless i know thts where the fish rLOL but i will if i have 2
Well contray to what some folks say, using anything less than 1/8OZ jigs won't get down there very fast. I use 2 jigs about 2 or 3 feet apart so there's even more wt to get you down there. Next I fish long poles, like 10 or 12' poles so I know i've got that much line out before I even put it in the water. Next I pull some line out with my hand which makes about half of that, so say 15 or 16' right there, then when that gets tight pull out just a bit more and your there. Now if your in 30' of water and the fish are 25', just drop to the bottom then crank up a few cranks.
Its near impossible to get even a 1/8 oz jig down to 30 feet+...especially if there is any wind or current, which lately seems to be everyday. I pour 1/4 oz jigs for winter fishing and use them almost exclusively, I simply open the bail on spinning reel, allow a free fall until line goes slack, then it becomes a feeling game, that why its important to me to use a sensitive rod like the Ozark 11 footer and the new 9' spinning rod they offer, both in IM6 graphite, both are Great Crappie Rods. I seldom fish two rods, one in each hand as some do, I am concentrating on what the jig is doing and it seems the largest crappie have been more guilty of this,,but,,it just "feels" different, no thump, set the hook....hes/shes there...hard to explain. I also like the rod tip close to the water in windy conditions, the bag in your line from the wind is reduced and the thump is more pronounced.There are times,,when the crappie are more agressive and a 8 oz. sinker,,a broom handle rod and #72 nylon cord will catch crappie, but seldom in the winter months. This may or may not work for you, it seems to work for me.
I use a slip cork and a heavier jig head or split shot. 1/4 is a must at that depth.
do you also use larger bodied plastics when fishing the 1/4 oz jig heads? I was fishing 25' deep last week with a 1/4 oz head and had a 3" plastic shad and caught a 15" crappie, but it was the only keeper I found that day. Didn't know, guess it was luck. I thought I was fishing a top so I dropped a bouy and found out it was a shad ball on the bottom because it moved away and I tried to follow.
Yes,,I do..I subscribe to the theory, larger bait, larger fish...but it will supprise you how the dinks will nail those also..lol
Yesterday in the wind, I put a 1 oz sinker on the very end of my line and then tied a couple jigs above that. I like that myself...I can set (and feel) the sinker on the bottom...and then have two jigs within 24" of bottom. I was drifting with wind yesterday...but I've done the same thing vertical (with a smaller sinker)...a drop shot type rig.
Right now at lake Monticello I'll fish 50 ft deep (give or take a few feet) with 1/16 oz jigs. I normally put out eight rods (16 footers) that are usually the sensitive Capps & Colemans because of the very light bite. Might cover 50 feet in an hour....need to be on top of the fish before dropping the jigs and use markers for reference........
I used a pair of 1/8 oz jigs about 3' apart tightlined.
I use a 1/16th slide weight ahead of jig.It gets deep fast plus when you get hung up just jiggle rod tip and weight will knock jig loose.
We've bass fished lake Monticello but I've never seen 50' water on that shallow lake??Quote:
Originally Posted by luvpt
If your Crappie fishing Lake Monticello this time of year be sure you have plenty of line (some fishermen have had to re-rig before being able to fish). I've never heard LM referred to as a shallow lake....that's a new one for me! Even in the summer we usually are fishing for Crappie 14 ft deep in 20-30 FOW. The deepest area I have personally seen on the lake was a hole out from the Hunger Run boatramp that was 64 ft. There was another hole SW of the spillway pipe that showed 61 ft last winter and was slap full of fish! I think the main body of the lake averages between 35-50 FOW. It's down quite a bit right now but still deep compared to most other lakes in this area. This time of year it's ultra slow-trolling at it's best!Quote:
Originally Posted by constructskeeter
I use a 16' pole, so I let my line out 11/2 times the pole length. Weight depends on conditions. I use a 1/2oz with minners or jigs usually. Have gone up to 4oz tho when moving faster.
BRM
Just put a 1/2oz. barrle weight between the two jigs, or on the very bottom of your line.
That way it gets down fast and you can feel the bottom good. Before you drop your line in the water, turn your reel handle one full turn and see how many inches it comes up, that way you know for sure what one turn is.
About the barrle weight... if you put it between the two jigs, just loop the line thru the hole in the barrle weight about three or four times, and it will stay in place.
The reason of putting the weight in the middle of your jigs, is fishing that deep and you get hung up, don't set the hook in the brush hard cause the weight in the middle can knock the hook loose by bouncing it up and down directly over the hang up ...most times.
crappie cowboy
I've got a 3 3/4 pound crappie on the wall that a soda pop can will fit in his mouth.
I've caught a crappie before that had tried to swallow a shad and it hung in it's mouth and I could see it's tail inside it's mouth.
I like a 1/8 and 1/4 oz. jig with a big hook, I get hung more, but the hook up ratio on the crappie is much better.
I'm with xring on big bait big fish theory.
crappie cowboy
What weight line are you useing? And are you putting out 50 ft. of line,,or are you fishing 50 ft. deep? I can get a 1/8 oz jig down to 30 feet, unless the wind is blowing,,the damn is not generating too much water that causes a current, or shutting off generators can cause a upstream current...and when I hook a fish useing 1/8 oz., he may be 30 feet behind my boat..I cannot even imagine trying to fish 50 feet deep with a 1/16 oz jig.Quote:
Originally Posted by luvpt
Hey xring - I fished 2 lakes today this weekend and never saw water deeper than 8'. I use 8 lb trilene big game green. I still plan on coming down to fish with you.
Get yo'self down here...crappuie are hongry...Quote:
Originally Posted by Billy E
It just takes a little practice. We use 6# line with a 1/2 oz weight 18-24 inches above a single 1/16 oz jig. Bobby Garland baby shad is our first choice in vegas, chart/red glitter, nat cricket, elec chicken, blue thunder, ect. Also the Mo'Glo works good in the Ghastly Minnow and Pink Phantom. We find the fish with DF and drop a marker....Then we put out the lines...Throw them out about 40 ft or so away from the boat and let them swing down to keep jig from tangling with the weight. When it is straight down we slowly lower it to the bottom then pick it up a couple of cranks and put the rod in the holder. Takes a little time to get all the rods set up and fishing. Most of the time we are trying to keep all eight lines as vertical as possible while watching for an extremely light bite. They are lazy right now and you have to put that jig right in front of their eyes and tease them for a while before they will take it. This time of year the LM crappie will suck that jig in for a taste and spit it back out before you can even see the bite. Many times a fishermen who is not having any luck on LM is just not paying enough attention to the rod tips and is not detecting that bite! I have not had any luck with anything larger than 1/16 and sometimes even go to a 1/32. We try to stay right on top of the fish and usually stay inside of an area the size of an acre. If you catch'em just right LM can produce gigantic black specks that are as large as any I've seen anywhere. Blue Thunder and myself caught 14 thick slabs one morning that ran from a small of 17 inches up to 19.25 inches. The battery was down on the scales so we didn't get to weigh any of them before they got cleaned! Granted, that was a few years ago but we still catch an occasional headturner!
Thank you for restoring my faith in you...lol I had some serious reservations about getting a 1/16 ounce jig down 50 ft..lolQuote:
Originally Posted by luvpt
Yep,,I can see where that would work well, and if the crappie move deeper, I may have to give it a shot...so far with the 1/4 oz jig, unless its gale force winds or strong current, I can bump bottom along..these fish sure like the jig on the fall and I try to give'm what they want...Never caught a 18" crappie,,let alone a bigger one!!
I use 1/16 or 1/8 and tight line in the fall and winter. I can feel the bite better with a larger jig head at those depths. Oh yea, I use a fluorocarbon 6lb line to help feel the bite. Sometimes it can be tough to feel em hit it down that deep. I use the same size jig I typically fish with and sometimes tip it with a minnow.