How spooky are Crappie in tops / brush piles ?

I have always said in dingy water hanging up usually don't bother them. I have many times used my rod to knock loose a jig and drop back in and catch Crappie.
Yesterday I did something that suprised me. A top I out had was getting thin. I carried a tree out and dropped it on same spot. I always check it with depth finder. For some reason I dropped a jig to check it that way. Believe it or not I caught a Crappie right where I just dropped the tree seconds before ?:scratchhead
What is your opinion? Does it mess up a spot in muddy/stained water to hang up and knock it loose? Most of the time heavier jigs can be shaken loose and some guys use light wire hooks. I resort to knocking mine loose if that fails.

I used to catch bass off tops in afternoon that I had put out that morning. I think the little fish come for the insects and the big fish come for the little fish. Who knows what a fish will do? After 50 years of chasing them "they is where they is"!

I've been amazed before at the things I've done that I thought surely I've messed this spot up such as letting the boat get into the top ect. and still catch fish. But I also have experienced getting hung and moving the top just a little and the bite was over there. But I've never sunk a top and then catch a fish.

If you put a top where the fish want to be then it will not take long for them to show up.

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Originally Posted by l_tedford

If you put a top where the fish want to be then it will not take long for them to show up.

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You would think a weighted tree dropped on their heads would have them running away! :Rofl

They may have been sleeping and you woke them up. After a nap you are always hungry.

I try to be as stealthy as I can, but I think sometimes a little disturbance is good. Talked to a guy that lived in the northeast and they tied a commode plunger on a long pole and plungered the bottom before they fished. Said it simulated fish feeding and got the others all stirred up.

RCC, If I change my story to "caught them the next day" will you take that commode plunger off that pole?:Rofl

Nimrod cant help catchin limits regardless of technique. Lot of fish up there.

I've put out tops and within 30 minutes started catching on them.

Not surprising. I would bet you could catch one in your garden, or at Fowler's parking lot.

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Originally Posted by RBM

RCC, If I change my story to "caught them the next day" will you take that commode plunger off that pole?:Rofl

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You oughta know by now to "not go first". :Rofl

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Originally Posted by RCC

You oughta know by now to "not go first". :Rofl

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Amen, lesson learned!

Water clarity, depth and how much noise you make determine the spookyness of fish on brush piles.

Here's my take on it. I think crappie are constantly moving. Maybe not far but on the move. From the videos I've seen on here and Youtube there are some holding by the brushtop and a few out on the edges and some moving in and out.

Don't know about tops but once i caught a crappie off a cypress knee that i had just totally washed out with my trolling motor after a gust of wind pushed me in too close.