I am making my first trip to paint creek this saturday, and could use some advice on the best way to fish that lake. Thanks!!!!
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I am making my first trip to paint creek this saturday, and could use some advice on the best way to fish that lake. Thanks!!!!
Sorry, I haven't been there in many years...CJ is only 10 minutes from my house, so I haven't been going anywhere else....hopefully someone can help you out!
Have always done well long lining jigs or vert trolling minnows rigs when the waters warmer....... targeting suspended fish or off shore structure
Thank you for your time
I'd be interested in how you did. Size and Quantity. We have our first ever trip planned for next weekend.
At CC the numbers are off the chart but the size are like a cookie cutter at 8-7/8. Anywhere from 6-14 feet works.
Herb
I am sorry to report I caught a total of 4 small crappie. I am quite the novice at crappie fishing and my knowledge on how to find them is limited at best.
1st off welcome to CDC. I'm curious to how you fished? give everyone more details and chance are You will get some help, Summer Crappie are a different animal then Spring spawners.
Thanks for the welcome. Yeah summer time is killing me for sure, I had a terrible time finding them at all. I would find small pockets in about 20' of water and I was vertical jiggy. Not sure if it was a bad day or I wasn't holding my mouth right. Like I said summer fishing is killing me
Try slow trolling, like .5-.8mph minnows with a 1 oz egg weight and watch for the tick, crappie arnt gonna slam your pole. Last 3 weeks Ive been finding them in 12ft+ of water and anywhere from 8 to 14ft down.Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
Nightprower just gave me a idea, I think there should be a Crappie tournment to see who can catch the most 8 3/4" fish, that way I may have a chance, maybe penalties for 9"+ fish too:Rofl
Like Tom said "welcome to the site"
James, Tom & Herb are giving you excellent advice.
I mostly like to fish jigs but the last few times out minnows have been definitely providing most of the action but don't get set on fishing just one technique.
Last Wednesday I fished with a friend and when we started out we were killing them on double minnow rigs (like Tom told you). 2 hours later the bite died. I could still see the fish on my electronics so I switched to jigs. I was getting hits but not many hooks ups so I tipped the jig with a minnow. Bam...it was game on again for the next 4 hours when we gave up cause of the heat.
I fished Saturday morning for 4 or 5 hours and my best presentation was a plain 3/32 oz head tipped with a minnow (no jig body). Both days the fish were 10'-12' deep in 12-15 fow.
Whatever you do, don't give up on summer fish. Once you find a few spots and learn a few techniques you can really put them in the boat.
Tom, now that's a tourney I have a chance at.
Count me in on that one as long as it is at CC. NOT PAINT CREEK
Thanx crappiemax, all of you guys ha e been awesome with the advice and I will definitely use these new techniques. What kind of gear do I need to slow troll
Minnows have been by far the best for me the last couple times at East Fork. But I prefer jigs when the larger crappie are in the coves. But it seems like all the best fish are out in the main lake chasing shad.Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
I like this crappie rig the best. It doesn't tangle very often. Mr. Crappie Troll-Tech Crappie Rigs | Bass Pro Shops
Walmart had them for a long time but my local store stopped carrying them this year. But there are many types of them out there.
Try You Tube and look up "tight lining for crappie" or "slow trolling for crappie".
There's a bunch of variations to the rig mbk posted but I'm not expert on the tactic so I'll let the other guys point you in that direction.
For me though I normally use 12' rods when I do fish that way but I know some guys like longer rods. I also just tie my own rigs using mostly a 3/4 oz weight but again I just use 3/4oz cause that's what I happen to have in the boat.
I haven't been there in a while but Paint Creek is a great lake. You just need to learn it.
Go to you tube and watch videos on how to long line troll and vertical troll ( spider rig ) ....... Learning to troll in the summer months will increase your catch rate
Good point James...I forgot to mention the long lining. One advantage to trolling is you can cover a lot of water quickly.
How much weight would I need to long line in 20 to 25 feet of water or is there a better technique for fish that deep
If your marking fish on cover, hold your jig as still as possible, then "pop it" and let it fall back. This will trigger reaction strikes when they're eye-balling your lure and tight lipped.
Some times you can hold your jig dead still and a good wake will "pop it" and you....
If your not marking fish, strap on the skies and join the crowd making laps around the fishermen...lol.
Gotta love Summer!
NP
I don't think you need to go nearly that deep. My guess is you will probably find fish anywhere from about 6'-15' deep. Even if you are fishing in 20-25 fow the will probably be suspended.Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
You should be able to locate some fish on your electronics (assuming you have some type of electronics). Then it's a matter of figuring out what makes them hit. It's not uncommon to find fish 8' deep in 20 fow.
Long lining is simply a method of trolling jigs. In a simple explanation it's all about SPEED & DEPTH CONTROL. I used to LL troll quite a bit but I think I have adult ADHD...I just can't sit still so I'm always casting and swimming jigs. When I used to LL I always used 6# test line and varied either my speed of the boat or I'd vary my my jig weight to get my jigs to go deeper or shallower. Let's say you are trolling a 1/16 oz jig at 1 mph with 40' of line out and you aren't getting deep enough. Your options are to slow down to .8mph or fish a little heavier head like 3/32oz or 1/8 oz. If you want to fish shallower speed up to maybe 1.3 mph or switch to 1/32 oz jigs. I would fish different weight jigs (or Roadrunners) like 1/32, 1/16, 2ea 1/32, 1/32 & 1/16 ect.... getting heavier or lighter as needed. Using a variety of jig bodies will let you hone in on the fishes preference.
If you stay constant with the line weight and amount of line out the back of the boat then you can cover quite variety of water depths by varying the amount of weight or the speed. It takes a little trial & error but it's not that hard.
James is the real master of LL on the Ohio thread.
We long lined early this year in Alabama at those depths...... Had two 1/16 oz heads per line and did well..... .8mph ....... I'll be honest though I've never fished that deep here in Ohio. Most lakes around here thermocline shallower than that...... We usually concentrate on 8 to 14 foot of water at PC during the summer months....... Start with a 1/16th jig on one rod.... 1/24th on the other..... Make a good long cast and start trolling at .8 mph .......... That should put you close to being on the right track...... Look for bait fish and/or suspended fish on your graph in those depth ranges........ Get a few 1/32 - 1/24 - 1/16th heads and you'll have the basics you need to long line. Good luck.Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
nah I'm just lucky ha ha ........ Honestly I've fished with guys like Terry Whaley in Alabama who are truly masters at LL trolling ....... You can learn ALOT from guys like himQuote:
Originally Posted by crappiemax
When I spider rig in the Summer this is what I have been using although the top dropper can get tangled, I am playing around with useing heavier line then 4 and 6# mono to tie them with. I have one ounce and 1/2oz rigs pre tied around 12- 16" pieces of pool noodles, most are tied with #2 aberdeen hooks and others with small snaps for lures, I keep them in a 5 gallon bucket but forgot it yesterday and and to do some quick tieing. I had a hard time finding them yesterday, went to deeper water 20-25ft but still fished 12-14ft down, found some structure and irregularities in the bottom, and slayed them, just kept trolling back over that spot till I was out of minnows, it seems to me in Summer long lining or spider rigging is the best way to find them, especially if You are fishing a lake with little structure in it, or if you dont have decent electronics to find shad and bait balls.
[IMG]http://www.***************/sites/default/files/img_thumbnails/2316_2639.jpeg[/IMG]
In case this link dosent work I use a Capps and Coleman dbl minnow rig, uses a 3 way swivel, eggs weight and hooks, 18" long a 6 and a 12" dropper
Attachment 213886Here this is better
Onero22, welcome from Louisiana. I looked at your post because it said need some advice. Obviously I can't help you with the lake you fished, but aren't the C,c guys awesome. Great advice guys. You can learn so much on this sight.
Just wanted to tell everyone that has posted on my thread here, THANK YOU, for all the tips and advice. I figured that when i started this I would get a couple of responses at best, but it turns out that you fellows are pretty chatty folks, which is awesome. I have learned more in the last couple of days with you guys than I have in the last year on my own. So I am headed to Bass Pro friday for some new tackle and will be hitting CC bright and early saturday morning. I willl surely update you guys, good or bad. Thanks.
If You are going to Bps for the Capps and Coleman rig, they do not sell the 3 way barrel swivel. I order my stuff from Grizzly Jig co. in Mo., they are much more reasonable on most tackle.
Thanks Tom but I am going to try the troll tech by mr crappie
Your local Walmart should have the caps and Coleman rigs by BnM ........ Worth a look , I like em pretty wellQuote:
Originally Posted by onero22
I hope I am not pushing myself here with too many questions but my electronics does not tell me my speed. Am I SOL?
Be easier to vert troll with out knowing your speed..... Just keep your lines vertical or very close to vertical...... if your gonna long line it's gonna be a trial and error kinda thing..... Is your trolling motor variable speed? ...... If you have a smart phone you can use its GPS to tell your speed......
You should be okay. Do you have a handheld GPS?Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
Is your TM a 5 speed or a variable speed or ...?
When I 1st started to learn to LL troll I had a 5 speed 30# TM. My standard practice I did on most days was to use #2 speed with the wind and #3 speed against the wind. I had to make adjustments as wind speeds picked up. I had no idea how fast I was going.
If you are slow trolling, spider rigging, tight lining or whatever the proper name is try keeping your line fairly vertical as you s-l-o-m-l-y move along. If you vary you speed try to pay attention to the angle the line is going into the water. Then try to repeat what works.
This is relevant to this discussion so I thought I'd post my results from East Fork yesterday. My dad and I went there Wednesday and fished from about 2 to 7. We nearly cancelled due to the forecast but glad that we didn't. One more example of why you shouldn't base your fishing plans on the weatherman. It looked ominous at times but I'd say it drizzled for 10 minutes in that entire span and that was it. It was a Wednesday but the lot was empty, probably because of the weather forecast.
Anyway, we got 4 dozen minnows from Boar's Head and trolled minnows until we ran out. Then switched to jigs, then the last couple of fish I caught pushing a crank with a 2 oz. weight attached. With the crank, I am just experimenting with that technique and still need to work on it based upon my results.
The bite was as active as I've seen it since spring. I caught 69 and my dad caught 45. All trolling near the channel in 10-18 foot of water about 6-8 foot down. Most of the fish were in that 12-14 foot range, about 1/2 way down. Oddly, we never caught a single other species. I would have figured at least a few hybrids but it didn't happen. Also, probably caught 40% black crappie which seemed a bit unusual. No giants. Biggest was probably 11" and we caught some dinks but overall the size was decent and brought home several.
Good report..
onero22...so how did you do?
My dad and myself was at east fork on 9-5. Caught some using a jig tipped with minnow just drifting. When we ran out of minnows we started pulling crankbaits. Caught a few 12 to 12.5" fish trolling crankbaits. Also catfish apparently love the crankbaits too, and snagged a damn carp in the back with one. That was fun to reel in on the crappie rod lol. But the crappie we were catching on the crankbaits were bigger in size. It was later in the day and the damn ski boats were damn near running over our marker and it was about 95 degrees out at that point, so we called it a day. I caught 23 keepers to my dads 3 lol.
Those are special type of fish down there, you have to communicate with them ..DROP THEM A line..Quote:
Originally Posted by onero22
C J Polecat
Catch them while they are still in school ?