Horizontal casting jigs (Need Help)

Is there any special way you all horizontal cast your jigs (tubes, roadrunners, curly tail grubs, marabou, specialty jigs, with-without spinners, etc.)which do you use? I have read about vertical jigging but I would like to know about horizontal casting jigs as the spawn is coming on and they are in shallower water. I have seen people casting just jigs and some cast jigs with a bobber which do you think would be better? Do you count down or just cast and retrieve (how fast to retrieve) or does weight of jig determine the rate of retrieve? What type of jigs and jig weight have you had the most luck on horizontal casting? Are they any special articals on this horizontal casting on crappie.com like the vertical casting artical by Crappie Pappy? I have bought and have just about every kind of these jigs and really have not use them a lot. I just bought today some more ultra light rod and reels (like I really needed them) I already had some and wanting to break them in right. I have used minnows most of my life fishing and I am trying to use artifical a little more and really don't know a whole lot about this so anything that anyone can tell me I will apreciate it. Thanks for everyones help

You tube is great for seeing how things can be done. Casting jigs under a bobber is called float and fly, a technique used on crappie and small mouth bass. I use it allot especially in spring. I prefer slip floats due to the greater range of depth they can be fished. Float and fly allows you to maintain a given depth and have a slow retrieve allowing you to keep the lure in the strike zone longer. Casting and swimming jigs works well also and is another technique that I use especially this time of year it allows you to let the lure fall through the fish or swim it along through them. As you said the count down method will help you get to the level you want to fish at. I use 1 second equals 1 foot on a 1/32 jig as a given but a bulkier body could slow that down. Hope this helps a little.

Read this:

Charlie Brewer's Slider Company - ******* Weedless Crappie Slider "Why&How"

This method works with any jig, not just sliders.

Shallow water a small cork helps keep jig in strike zone longer. I have seen where it had to sit in place for nearly a minute at times for a strike.

I like 1/16oz jigs (& RR's) ... and the cast & retrieve method. With the jigs, I cast & lift rod tip to the 10 o:clock position and retrieve with a slow & steady cranking of the handle. I'm just watching the line for any telltale "tic" .... then set the hook. With RR's ... I cast & hold the rod parallel to the water or slightly pointed down towards the water, and retrieve with a steady moderate speed cranking of the handle. I'm waiting to feel a "thump" or just sudden resistance (weight) that doesn't stop my line from coming in ... then I keep reeling and sweep the rod away from the direction of the bait. I don't "set the hook" because I'm usually using braid on a stiffer rod than my jig rod and the "sweep" is usually plenty enough to bury the hook.
Now, when I'm trolling a single pole w/RR on, it's usually a UL outfit that I've been casting with, and I'm just trolling from one casting spot to another (on the same stretch of bank). In those cases, I do set the hook with a jerk of the rod ... because of the UL rod & the stretch of the light test mono I'm using.

I'm generally always using weedless jigheads for casting, so the counting down method is not something I use all that often. My slow retrieve speed will usually allow the jig to reach 8-10ft deep on a steady slow retrieve, and if I want the jig to go deeper, I just slow my retrieve even more or wait a few seconds after splashdown to start cranking. I want the jig to go over the tops of whatever cover I'm fishing ... first ... then let it work its way down to & in the cover after having covered the top & sides of it. Fish above or "around" the cover are generally in a more positive (feeding/watching) mood ... while those "in" the cover are hiding or in a negative or neutral mood, and may only eat a bait that comes real close.

I don't much care for using a float with my jig ... as I don't have the same placement control as I do with just the jig by itself. And it also makes a bigger splashdown, which can sometimes spookify the fishes :Rofl ... so, if I want to fish real skinny water, I'll just downsize to a 1/32oz jighead (keeping the same size plastics on it).

... cp :kewl

This is why I love this site so much. I can learn more and find out more about fishing on crappie.com in one evening than it took all my life fishing to learn. I like to find out the different ways that other's fish and I apply it to the way that I try when out on the lake. There are ways of fishing that I would have never thought about trying. I have copied and pasted, down loaded information. I have found out more here about sonar different fish habitat about the spawn and different temperatures and depths, different ways and baits. I have read past posts and have learned tons of things on here. Wow! I could just go on and on and I thank everyone here on crappie.com for all the information and questions answered by all. And I especially thank all that make this site family friendly(Slab the owner, all the Monitors and all crappie fishermen and not to forget the women that fish also). Most sites now are not like the one here. Crappie.com is #1

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

Read this:

Charlie Brewer's Slider Company - ******* Weedless Crappie Slider "Why&How"

This method works with any jig, not just sliders.

---

really good article in the fact that it makes you think"I can do that".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fishervet

really good article in the fact that it makes you think"I can do that".

---

I've been doing that for forty years. It works! :biggrin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I've been doing that for forty years. It works! :biggrin

---

Yep ... me too :ThumbsUp

And even though I just read the article ... I've posted a lot of that same info on here, from my experiences and the techniques I use for weedless jigheads/plastics.

Love Charlie Brewer's 1.5" Slider Grubs & his Pro Whirly Bee ... especially the Junebug/chartreuse color combo. Not much for using his slider heads, though ... as I've grown accustomed to using weedless ballhead jigheads w/#2 hooks that I have custom made.

... cp :kewl

I really depends on where I'm fishing. Structure and bottom play a big role.
Some areas, Pitching is just the ticket
Sometimes Bobber of FNF is just what you need
Vertical JIgging is probably #1 and is great for brushpiles with or without a boat. Just get a longer rod. All Fishing Buy, 60 ft Telescopic Fishing Pole 98% High Modulus Japan Carbon, 60' fishing rod.
Drift jigging cross between vertical and pitch jigging

That's one long pole.

You could spider rig with those and cover the whole lake.

During the spawn I like a 1/32 jig head because it can be fished very slowly also a small float works well too. Makes a great 1 2 punch. Sometimes I will use a 1/16 also. Every lake is different so try a lot of different things and see what works for you.

I use just a simple ball head jig and body or minnow. Secondary pole. Has minnow and float. I usually drift 90% of the time the pole without the float is a searching pole. Cast out and retrieve. I don't do the count down just slow retrieve when the water is cold and faster when the water is warmer. It can really shine when the fish are on the bank. Cast and retrieve and catch fish. I don't like to sit in one spot and fish for a long time. Pull up to a spot 3 or 4 cast and no hits I keep moving along the shore line. I'm not going to sit there and try to make the fish bite. I go after the aggressive fish.


I use lite line and losing jigs doesn't bother me. That's what the period between ice season and open water season is for. I can pour a thousand jigs in a couple of days. 1/32 or 1/64 oz is what I use. Usually the smaller jig if for right at ice out.

I listen to my trusty little radio while fishing and bump and knock into things and don't pay much attention about noise.

All great advice posted above.
Scrat, I have to ask since I see you are in Miss. are you fishing lakes that have cypress trees ? This is typically where the crappie spawn from my experience. ( you probably know )
They will usually be scattered. I always look for trees with low limbs and other cover around the tree. ( a tree that will be difficult to fish with a cork and ultra light gear.)
Now getting to my point, you may be able to locate post spawn hungry females staging in water 3-6 feet deep, between these trees and deeper water ( points of coves are good places to look ) as they begin to move back out. These fish will be easy picking for the gear you want to use.