Minnows or jigs

What do you prefer and how and why do you use them?
For us we strictly fish Minnows via slip bobber technique at our local lake around stick ups and brush piles. We just don't seem to get the bites with jigs that we do with live bait. This doesn't stop me from buying new jigs that catch my eye whatsoever, but our bites typically come on a live minnow.
We have a spider rigging setup too, which has proven over and over to not work as well as a single pole with a slip cork and minnow in our neck of the woods. We see guys drift by us pushing jigs or Minnows and don't see them landing the fish that we are.
We have tried pendulum techniques with jigs as well as just vertical dipping. But 99% of the time the bite is light and they want live bait that sits there for a period of time. And even then you have to really let them pull the cork under or let it pop up for some time before you set the hook or you miss them,
Maybe our fish are getting wise to fishing technique? I don't know,,,? But for us the slip cork with a minnow is most effective from spring to fall!

I love the challenge on fooling the fish with something that I created so it is soft plastic minnow shaped lures or hand tied Marabou and flashabou jigs for me. I try and have Chartreuse somewhere in everything that I create because I have a ton of confidence in that color. In each case I will tip with a Crappie nibble for an added attractant.

I fish with minnows during pre spawn and summer.
the rest or season is jigs for me

No Live Bait at all....just jigheads and Plastic Swimbaits!

Same here. No live bait for crappies but will use waxworms sometimes for gills.

I prefer jigs tipped with minnows....lol

I usually catch probably close to 5:1 if I have a minnow verse no minnows. If I do fish no live bait it's almost always a crappie magnet with a crappie nibble between the split tails to open em up. But you just can't beat the action of a minnow kicking around


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Nothing but jig and soft plastic for the past 20 years for me. I love the versatility of artificial baits. Plus, I don't have to worry about keeping bait live and fresh. To me it's a major money saver and, from my personal experience, I catch far more fish on jigs than on live bait.These are a couple combinations that have produced a lot of fish for me this season, on quite a few variations of lake conditions.
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if you dont fine tune your presentations with jigs you will never ketch more than live bait ....and many a live bait angler ketch the fire out of them for sure .
of course i dont use minnows, they are way to much hassle for me . we even have new laws here in Texas governing the sale ,transport and use of them as well to make it more of a hassle .
i will say this though ....if it works for ya maybe stick with it ....getting REALLY good with a jig is not all that easy and there is an art to it that is impossible to totally teach a person .....alot of it is trial and error and your personal preference on how you want to fish them ......
i go out with a alot of REAL good crappie anglers and in many cases a tiny slight variation in tech. size and color and or presentation can make a BIG difference with jigs

I prefer jigs tipped with minnows....lol

I usually catch probably close to 5:1 if I have a minnow verse no minnows. If I do fish no live bait it's almost always a crappie magnet with a crappie nibble between the split tails to open em up. But you just can't beat the action of a minnow kicking around


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I use jigs most of the time but I keep a throw net in the boat to catch shad when I run upon a shallow school of them. Works for me.

I mainly jig fish and will buy minnows from time to time . You must experiment with line size, jigs 1/64-1/8 to really get the "feel" of your bait . The use of multiple tails is a must also . I would go lite if the minnow bite is better than the jig bite . Try 4 lb. fluorocarbon line and small jigs . a 100th oz. jig (bass pro shop) with a number 3 split shot 10 inches above jig will amaze you in clear water . Longer rods help feel the bait better also . (jmo):popcorn

We fish deep clear water lakes and shallow clear river's."trout waters" Why fish for crappie when you can catch 100 trout"The only time we can get minnow's is during the spring they sell you "12 minnow's Expensive". Bass and Trout is the target fish. To get a crappie minnow is almost impossible.55 -85 degree water like plastic's with a jighead with a spinner "roadrunner type" "Reaction bite"Below 55 degrees is when our hand tied crappie jig's shine. Arkie's shinne hinee cannot be beat.Unless you tye your own in smaller weight's.2-4 lb test and need a stealthy approach."quite" if we spook the fish game over.

There are loads of "minnows vs. jigs" threads in the archives. Here's a summary:

1) Some people use jigs.

2) Some people use minnows.

3) Some people use both.

4) Everybody catches fish.

I use both during the spring and fall. I compare which one is doing better, then swap over accordingly. Most crappie in the lakes I fish usually want turn their nose up at minnow, but sometimes jigs do better. And ain't nothing better than using a long jig pole and feeling that thump and setting the hook on a big ole' slab crappie..

Someone once said "I'd rather fool them, than feed them" (might have even been ME :dono :Rofl)

I rarely use minnows, but I'm not above doing so. I "prefer" to use jigs, either casting or pushing them. Why ?? ... less equipment involved, less cost, and less time "baiting up" ... but, the "minner buckets" are always aboard the boat (just in case).

I mainly jig fish but there are times when nothing seems to beat a minnow.

I NEVER SEEN A TIME WHEN JIGS WOULD NOT CATCH CRAPPIES BUT HAVE SEEN MANY TIMES HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I FISH THEM,ALSO HAD TO CHANGE STYLE OF PLASTIC AND COLOR.I HAVE NOTICE ALSO THAT NOT MANY MINNOW FISHERMEN REALLY KNOW HOW TO FISH A JIG DAY IN AND DAY OUT,NOT TRYING TO PUT ANYONE DOWN ,IT IS THEY KEEP LOOKING BACK TO THEIR MINNOWS AND WITH A CRUTCH IT IS HARD TO GET REAL GOOD WITH JIGS BECAUSE IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING A BITE THAN YOUR MIND GETS BACK ON MINNOWS,MOST PEOPLE FISH JIGS WAY TOO FAST.BUT THEY ARE GREAT MINNOW FISHERMEN,YEARS AGO I STARTED FISHING WITH A GOOD JIG FISHERMEN ,I THEN WAS A BASS FISHERMAN ,HE CAUGHT 10 TO 15 TO EACH ONE I CAUGHT,I TRIED TO COPY HIM AND WITH SAME BAIT BUT IT TOOK DAYS WITH HIM TO TO CATCH NEAR AS MANY AS HE DID,THOSE WERE SOME HUMBLING DAYS TO SAY THE LEASE

This is the most docile minner vs jigs thread I've ever read ...

Rickie

I'm relatively new to crappie fishing so I'm sure 100% of my results are based upon lack of technique. My 70 yr old boss took me fishing one day and made the rule that we could only use jigs. I was game and went along. Needless to say he spanked me very very bad. I'm not to proud to say we had 30+ keepers and only 4 were fish I caught. It was a miserable time that day to see him literally yanking them in, and I couldn't even feel a bite. We were using the same jigs, but as someone else mentioned line was a lot different between he and I. He was using a 4 lb seaguar, and I had 6 lb gamma copolymer. I could watch his jigs pull the line right very close to the surface when he swung them out to pendulum it back. Mine was like barely pulling down in the strike zone. It took me most of the day to watch and figure it out, but I then decided to put on a 1/4 oz head to pull it faster. This was nearing the end of the day and I started feeling the bites, and caught some. Since that time I've spooled up the same line as he had and still yet have had little success with jigs. To further complicate the story his "reports" have been similar in that his recent trips out have been little action, while I'm catching them on Minnows. We take a jig pole setup with us, and we like the thump, but when there ain't no thumpin, we give up!

I do think conditions change and one vs the other may be different under different circumstances. I would like to not to have to go out and buy minnows and keep them alive, because it's a giant pain in the butt! But I'm just not comfortable to not have them on the boat with me. I could bring some just in case, but that still means buying them and keeping them alive. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'd like to get comfortable enough with plastics to use them exclusively, but I guess I'm just not there yet. My minnow crutch is just too hard to not rely on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rnvinc

This is the most docile minner vs jigs thread I've ever read ...

Rickie

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MINNERS!!! And if you disagree, you are a low browed, inbred, no crappie catching, such and such!!!!

Better?

I to use slip floats and minnow most all of the time. Have been able to keep up with most people in our crappie club so I know it works well. Do what you think will catch the most fish but givin the choice I will go with the slip float and minnows. There is more to it then just throwing it out there and leaving it. I have proved that with most of the guys I have fished with. I do on occasion push jigs and have also done well with that. Good luck.

Are you using clear line or hi-vis line ?? I ask, because you stated that you had to go to a heavier jig to "feel" the bite. Now, I like the "thump" as much as anyone, but I'd rather catch fish than not ... so if I don't feel the bite, I want to "see" it. Hi-vis line allows me to do just that. All I have to do is see that line make one tiny little twitch, just ONE, and I'm setting the hook. And a majority of the time I will sink the hook into a Crappie's mouth.

When I'm casting/retrieving a jig, I'm using a very sensitive rod and I do "feel" a lot of the bites. But ... when conditions are not particularly in my favor to always feel those hits, the hi-vis line allows me to see them. Case in point - I was fishing in a 10+mph cross wind, casting to a laydown. I had to cast 10-15ft upwind of the tree, in order for the jig to come anywhere close to passing over it. I had at least a 6-8ft bow in the line while retrieving. I never would have felt any of the hits that occurred, but whenever I saw the line quickly "jump" just that tiny little bit, I set the hook and caught fish.

I don't normally cast out and let the jig "pendulum fall" back to the boat, though. What I do is cast out and very slowly reel it back in, allowing the line to bow slightly from rod tip to water's surface. I reel in just fast enough to take up the slack and keep that slight bow in the line. The weight of that line above water keeps that bow, and anytime that line makes that single little jump, starts moving off to one side or the other, or suddenly goes slack (& I know the jig cannot be on the bottom) ... then I set the hook !! More often than not, I stick a fish. I love the thump, like I said, but when casting/slow retrieving ... I don't want the fish to feel any more resistance than necessary. I want the fish to be surprised, when the "food" he bites, bites back !!

No Minners , scents , or nibbles for me . I use tube jigs almost exclusively . :fish

No secret here.....my handle says it all and I use a 10 ft pole.....picture shows my slip cork set up and the line I use for jigs or minnows.....but, when things are slow I will grab my 10 ft. pole with a 1/16 oz jig head with a plastic tube or plastic minnow.....for that I will use garlic spray....the spray will increase my hits 3 to 1....if it is slow with the jigs I will try different patterns of presentations....ie, slow swimming the jig or bouncing it.....sometimes it seems like you have to "talk" a fish into a bite with a little action....(also, I call minnows shiners)....

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Pan fish = artificial bait, ultra light reel set up with a spinner and a jig head.