Tuff Bite on Jigs, Think about Trying This??

We have been sweltering with over 30 days out of 40 of 100 plus degree days and the crappie fishing for me has been tough using crappie jigs. Last year when the bite got tough, I happened to experiment with some micro jigs that I purchased in the Trout Section at Bass Pro Shop. Anywhoo, for the last three weeks the bite really slowed down on the 1/16 oz. jigs I was using, targeting brush piles in the 10-14 ft. range and a very few docks. I recently have drastically improved my catches by using the micro jigs. I went through the same areas again using the 1/16oz. and very little. I tied a 1/16 oz. about 10 inches above the 1/64oz. jig and found I could get in the target zone of 10-14 ft. and it appears the little microjig is almost floating even with or slightly above the 1/16 oz. Man, you talk about an immediate difference. It was suprizing the number of fish I was not catching, although when using minnows I did catch some fish.
It might be worth trying if the jig bite has slowed, and I am sure the veterans might even have a better method of using the microjig. I tried just tying two of the microjigs on, but I could not get them down to the depth I needed.
One word of caution, the microjigs seemed to have the hook point bent to far toward the shank so I took some pliers and opened the gap up which helped. I caught some big crappie on these microjigs and have no idea why they would not take the 1/16oz., but I was not going to argue with them.

Just a thought and perhaps will help someone catch an extra crappie. Not trying to push the jigs, but they were called White River, Prolites. Seemed like there are in 12 packs for less than a buck and a half. I am sure there are much better jigs out there. I found them in pure white, white head/yellow tail, and white head/chartruce tail. The microlite jigs do not get hung in the brush very bad either.

Good Fishing,
Ron, Mud-Dabber

Interesting, that is why I use 1/32 in the spring to fish around grass with out getting hung too much and I also feel the fish will hit the 1/32 oz. even when they don't hit larger jigs.

Also why I have added 1/32 oz. jigs with a #6 & #8 hooks. They are small (especially the #8 hooks) but look very good.

Wile your micro 1/64 is smaller, when they get this small I am pretty sure the 1/32 with a #8 hook will produce as well. I just a few days ago made up some solid Yellow Chartreuse ones to try. Also made a few in other colors, but the Yellow Chart. sure look good.

there's very sound reasoning behind your "micro" jig suggestion. When water temps get to a point, oxygen content of the water decreases. Warm/hot waters do not hold oxygen as well as cool/cold waters. The fish will seek out a "happy medium" of depth/temp/oxygen content ... but, they still have to eat. Being stressed by the high water temps and decreased oxygen, they become lethargic and don't chase prey or indulge in the eating of "normal" sized or larger prey ... but, they still want/have to eat. The "micro" sized bait fits the bill, as it allows the fish to use less energy to digest, while still maintaining their food intake.
Did you know that, on lakes that stratify in the Summer, some fish may even lose weight ? Having to stay in the "comfort/survival zone" area of water, decreases the overall amount of water area that the fish can survive in ... which can decrease the opportunity to feed. Growth rates are generally highest from April thru July ... and slows afterwards, due in part to the increased use of metabolic energy to grow the egg/sperm sacs (for the upcoming Spring's spawning session). It's also possible that the higher water temps create higher metabolism in the fish, which can decrease their weight if sufficient nutrition isn't consumed. The higher water temps also stress and slow down the fish, due to the decreased dissolved oxygen content of the warmer water ... making them less likely to feed as often, or on a size of foodsource that will consume more energy to catch & digest, than it provides.
............ cp :cool:

i use micro jigs a lot and catch some nice fish when bigger jigs arn't working good. i like to use canyon plastics tubes and minnow heads. they improve my bluegill catch ratio also ;)

Crappie Pappy

I certainly appreciate the thoughts and your knowledge. Explanations like that are helpful in trying to understand this remarkable fish.

Thanks and Good Fishing
Ron, Mud-Dabber

Skip and CK14, thanks for your comments and ideas. Skip you have some great looking jigs, so I gather you do tie some microjigs for sale.

Good Fishing,
Ron, Mud-Dabber

has anyone tried the little 1/48 oz. heads? i have noticed that hot conditions change the feeding habits of white crappie. they seem to prefer small morsels with a slow presentation. black crappie in my area are few and far between and i haven't caught enough of them to know a lot about their feeding habits. the tips from our friend in texas has got my old brain to churning. think i will try a new approach. i've read about crappie spitting up 3 inch shad, but i doubt they have the desire to chase down shad this size in water that's above 80 degrees. i know i move a lot slower in hot weather.

willsjwills
We only have white crappie out here in West Texas, so it kind of fits what your thoughts are. Water temps. are running early morning around 83 and before dark around 87. I sure wish we had some black crappie, but I think our lakes have to high a ph for them.

Regards,
Mud

Mud-Dabber these are about as small as I tie right now and they are pretty little with that #8 hook even if they are 1/32 oz. When you ask I took this picture to show them.
Attachment 6181

I nightstalked last weekend using jigs only Friday night and only caught 2 crappie. I used every jig in the box and didnt get a hit till I tied on a jig given to me by a crappie.com member (LaBill). His jigs are made out of a hook and epoxy and just look like an ant. Small little dudes but tough. the only problem I had with them is the crappie always swallows the hook.

Muddabber I googled white river prolites and couldnt find them. Where did you get them? I am sure my wife would like me to buy more tackle.

gooch
I bought them last year at Bass Pro Shop in Garland. They were in the Trout Fishing Section/Fly Tying portion of the building. I could not find any tiny ones when I looked in the crappie fishing section. I have a friend that said last night he was going to start tying the tiny jigs and I will post his information in a little while. Rushing back to work.

Mud-Dabber

Luckily on vacation today, so back to the lake again. Similar results today, not quite as many fish. Water temp. was 86 degrees and started at daybreak, targeted water at 10-12 feet with murky conditions which is normal.
This time I was armed with minnows plus the 1/32 and 1/64 oz. jigs. Caught 2 on the 1/16 oz. both nonkeepers, tried the 1/32 above the 1/16 oz. and they would not touch it. As soon as I switched with the 1/16 oz. on top and this time a little longer drop (14 inches) on the 1/32 or 1/64 on bottom, I started picking up keeper fish (no monsters, just solid keepers). This is very much a line watching situation.
I fished two rods and had one with minnows. I got very few bites on the medium size minnows, but did see some action on the smallest minnows I could get. However, the micro jigs outfished the minnows 3 to 1. I am about convinced that the size plus the fact it is dropping very slowly behind the 1/16oz. is provoking the strike. Everything shut down around 10:00 a.m.
Main problem with the tiny jigs, is they want it big time and are taking the jig most of the times really deep in the throat while I am watching the hi-viz.

As stated before, the bite here has really been TUFF, but this is definetly working for a day or two anyway.

Good Fishing,
Mud-Dabber

mud-dabber-------- as i stated before, what you posted about small jigs got me to thinking. i tied up several streamer flies in different colors to try. today i killed two birds with one stone. i bought mama a new rod and went to the lake. the water i fished was 30 ft. at the deepest. dropoffs from 16 ft. to 25 to 30 ft. i loaded mama,s rod up with a streamer and a l/16 pz. jig and proceeded to follow the fish with my depthfinder. surface temp was 95 degrees. i started picking up hits over the dropoffs at 12 feet. thunderstorm moved in and the wind killed it all. i had a blast. thanks for the tip.

I use 1/100th oz trout jigs in missouri, this time of year. But instead of feathers I use squirts or very....very tiny stingers on the jig. It seems the only thing they will bite on. I use them with slip bobbers and a split shot to get them to the sweet spot. I almost dead stick them, just let them drift over the brush pile.

This is an old thread and maybe a silly question but are there special slip bobbers to work with microjigs? Are they heavy enough to work alone or do you always have to add a split shot?

Ishields-you'll need a little bit of weight to pull line through the slip bobber, maybe a split shot? If you are fishing depths more than a few feet, you want some extra weight to get your jigs down there...or else the jig will take 5 minutes to get down that far.The finer/thinner line you use, the easier it will go through a slip bobber also.

I have also experimented with smalls (under 1/24) when the bite was slow in the hot months. I believe they like it so slow so that they can look at it and decide if it's worth the effort, alot like they do in the cold months. They take extreme patience but will produce good fish. I traded bugman some small sickle hooks(8's and 10's) a while back, maybe he could work up something you might like. One day I had a 1/8 left on from a previous trip and got zip. Went to 1/16 and got a little interest, so I went to 1/32. Now I was catching fish regular, but had to find out if i was onto something. Tied on a 1/64 that I could barely cast but was getting a fish almost on every cast. Had fun and left them biting as I headed home. Just cuz they aren't biting doesn't mean they aren't there or aren't interested.

Interesting!

love to see some pictures

for many years I have used micro jigs in 1/32oz. 1/64oz. 1/80oz. this is what I used usually in Oregon on the snake River all through the season and have done quite well we do tie up a number of them using a glow-in-the-dark head
with very little or no tail hardly at all it seemed to trigger more fish and it seemed like all the panfish really liked at small sizes I've enclosed a picture of some of the fish from Oregon on the snake River from last year the jig head is a 1/64oz. with one of my plastic baits on it but usually we are using hand-tied jigs.
Attachment 214903