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I know this may seem like a dumb question.......I've been spider rigging this year several times. We've caught some good fish, but I've probably missed twice as many as hooked. I'll see the bite, and try and set, but it's not there. Am I doing it wrong? Should I be waiting longer to set the hook? :banghead
What size hooks are you using. I have found that crappie have really big mouths and sometimes the small hooks don't catch as good as the bigger size one's do. You may want to use the sickle hooks they are really sharp and give a wider gap for better hook up. The worst thing a fisherman can do also is to fish with dull hooks. A old time test to see if a hook is sharp or not is to drag it across your thumb nail if it doesn't stick in the nail and just slides across change hooks as it is not sharp enough.:twocents
I love the sickle hooks, too! I've only been rigging a couple of times, but we had to have our hands just inches away from the rods to react really fast to the bite
How fast you trolling? Could be try to slow the pace and see if you get more hook ups.
How much weight are you using? It sounds like your seeing the fish spit it out and not the small tick when he took it in. Rod could be to stiff as well.
YOU SEE THE BITE AND SET THE HOOK AND ITS NOT THERE,FISH DONE RELEASE IT,MINNOWS OR JIGS? NOT HOLDING ON LONG ENOUGH OR TOO SLOW SETTING HOOK,SHARP HOOKS WILL SOMETIMES HOOK THEM LONG ENOUGH TO SET HOOK
scent helps to,put some on ur hands too
Funny, I was just getting ready to start a new thread and basically using the same exact words! I've been pushing two lines on the front of my boat and miss way more fish than I catch. It's gotten so bad that I started just holding the rods. I'm using 1/8th oz Sickle jigs and plastics for the majority of the time and some hand tied chenille and marabou on 1/16th oz sickles, both rigged on a Carolina rig with 1/4 weights. I always tip with crappie nibbles. Seems I can't get the rods out of the holders quick enough. I'm using light action 7 foot rods spooled with 6 lb Mr. Crappie.
Is why when I long line troll I hold the one and only rod I am fishing with! I don't ever feel them letting it go because I set the hook on anything suspicious! Also I use a lot of Sickle hooks, but I also use a lot of real Roadrunners with that #6 regular bend hooks hat come in them! Form me something I think the smaller profile of a real Roadrunner will get hit more often some days over a Pony Head with a #4 Sickle hook. AM I more confident that I will land the fish if on a Sickle? Heck yes I do feel that way so am more careful when I get a good one on the #6 hook in the real Roadrunner! Still they work!
Oh and I usually go between .4 and .8 MPH with a lean to the .4 more.
Skip
Let me see if I can answer everybody's questions.....I think the hooks are 1's. Those are changing. I'm pushing minnows, at .5 to .8, with a 1/2 oz homemade Capps and Coleman rig. I appreciate everyone's responses. I'm going to change the hooks today. Going out tomorrow to try again after this past cold front. Gonna try and take mom out there.
I just thought of something. The line......I've got 6lb mr crappie on. It's the toughest non braid I've ever seen. But have ya'll noticed how much it stretches? I wonder if that's it.....C
IM:twocentsHO .... you may be having small fish nipping at the bait, they may not all be in a feeding mood, you may be using too short or stiff a rod, or you may be a bit quick/slow on the trigger.
I use 7-10' rods with 1/4 - 1/2oz weights & plain hooks or 1/16oz jigheads ... and I usually have to set the hook AS I AM REMOVING the rod from the holder. I now have some 13-14' rods to try SR'ing with, and I anticipate being able to see the rod bend more (due to the lighter action tips). But, I also tend to think that I'll be setting the hook in the same way as with the shorter rods ... as I am removing them from the holder, and not trying to remove the rod from the holder & THEN setting the hook. The fish are already feeling the resistance from the rod, while they're biting .. so no sense in putting more resistance on them by picking the rod out of the holder before setting the hook. But, even so ... when setting the hook as you remove the rod from the holder ... you will still miss some bites.
And Daddy/Luke ... I'm not saying YOU are removing the rod before setting the hook, and I'm not either ... just a tip to anyone reading this, that might be doing so and missing the fish.
... cp :kewl
I use Mr crappie 6 lb also and I get no stretch. The fish are just finicky.
Yeah, I set the hook while I'm getting it out of the holder, too.
I couldn't find sickle hooks at Academy. I guess I'll have to watch the poles like a hawk tomorrow.
Put a plastic bead between the second and third eyelet of your pole. You will hear the bead click against your rod before the pole starts to bend.
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They are also more on crappie.com that sell crappie tackle here is some that I came across on here:Quote:
Originally Posted by Daddy and Luke
Simply Crappie...Your one stop source for all your crappie fishing needs!
https://grizzlyjig.com/
I always use a scent or minnows. Even if fishing a jig I have a minnow on there too. That makes them hold on a tad longer it seems.
Bluegills. Those suckers will eat your minnows in a second and you will think you missed a good crappie even with those little bitty mouths. They were wearing me out last week. I was catching crappie but in between the crappie bites, the piranha bluegills were hitting one rod and then going to the next. I would hang a bluegill every now and then when the hook was just right in their little mouth.
#1 best source and price I have found for Aberdean sickle hooks Matzuo Sickle Aberdeen Hook, Red Chrome - Walmart.com
You can have them shipped to store for free.
#2 check the tail area on the minnow on the next one you miss. See if any scales are missing. Had a lot of that last year, they would just hold on to the minnow and pull rod tip under water and still missed them.
I've been using a pair of 7ft light action Shakespeare rods for tightlining. Yesterday, I picked up a couple of longer rods (9ft Mr. Crappie Slab Daddy's on sale :biggrin), ran home rigged them up, hooked the boat and headed to the lake. The longer, softer rods seemed to give me the extra time (fractions of a second, I'm sure), to recognize the bite and set the hook. I had a blast with these rods yesterday evening and am confident that my ability to hook more of the fish that bit had something to do with the change to the longer rods. They are much more sensiitve than the 7 footers I had been using before.
I agree, RW .... and that was my main point in referencing my change from 7ft rods to 10ft rods to the 13 & 14ft rods. The extra length & "give", of those more limber rods, seems to allow the fish to pull the rod tips down easier/farther ... not only giving you more time to see the bite & react, but also give the fish more time to commit to grabbing the bait & moving off.Quote:
Originally Posted by RWiske
... cp :kewl
Really??? Works for 14 foot rods??Quote:
Originally Posted by yikess
Spider rigging?
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That trick really does work, especially if you tend to drift off into la la land instead of concentrating on your line and poles.Quote:
Originally Posted by chippo
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Works like a charm. Been using them about 5 years. I'm deaf and can hear that bead click.Quote:
Originally Posted by chippo
I also tie a little jingle bell that you can find in the craft section onto the last eyelet of my rod.
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pesky bluegill.