Originally Posted by
drumking
Seeing fish on depth finders or cameras and then not able to get them to bite can be frustrating. I know. I find a lot of fish at times and they are very slow to bite. Crappie Buster gave some really good advice. Most people fish way too fast for crappie. About the only time that I speed up my presentation is during the spawning period when the fish are actively chasing minnows away from their beds. Other than that, I fish slow. Dead sticking can be and is a deadly technique. I have watched crappie on a video slowly swim up to a plastic bait, pause for several seconds to stare at it, and then suck the bait in.
I have said it for years. 9 out of every 10 crappie that I catch, I never feel the bite. I never feel the fish until I set the hook. I am 74 years old and have taught many people how to crappie fish. My advice is to get a hi-vis line in the 4-6 lb test range, and become a line watcher. Watch it like a hawk. If you like to gab with your fishing partner and look all around the lake while you are fishing, you are going to miss more fish than you ever catch, simply because the fish will suck in your bait, which you won't feel, then decide after a few seconds, sometimes instantly, that it isn't real and will spit the lure out. Sometimes when the fish tries to spit the jig out, the hook will catch on the lips and that is when you feel the "thump" that everyone loves to feel. You will have a report that says that the fish just weren't biting today, but they really were. You just didn't know it.
Teaching someone how to detect a crappie bite is the biggest challenge that I have as a teacher. Bites are so subtle and varied each day with differences in moon phases, wind conditions, water clarity, solunar feeding periods, and a myriad of other variables which keeps us fishermen in a constant fog many times. But, here are several ways a crappie bite looks like. (By the way, I count down every cast that I make and let it fall on a pendulum arc.) If you are watching your crappie jig fall on a pendulum arc, and you see that it is slowly falling as it should be, and you see a little "tic" on the line, (meaning that there was a very tiny jump in the line), set the hook. A crappie has just inhaled the jig. When you get that fish in, look at the placement of the jig. Most of the time it is way back in the throat in the roof of the mouth and not anywhere near the lips where the jig is when you wait to "feel" the thump.
Next time the jig is falling and it is falling straight down and it slowly begins to drift off to one side or another, set the hook. A crappie has just inhaled the jig, which you didn't feel, and is slowly moving off with the jig in its mouth. Next, while the jig is falling and you see the line slightly tighten, set the hook. Many times a fish has inhaled the jig, which you didn't feel, and is just easing along with the jig, but the weight of the fish takes a little bit of slack out of your line as it is falling. Sometimes, this tightening is just your jig pulling into weeds or brush, but after a lot of time on the water and experience, you can tell the difference. Next, the jig is slowly falling over deep water and you are counting down your jig and the line suddenly goes slack like it hit the bottom at an 8 count or so and you cast into 15 feet of water. Set the hook. A suspended crappie sucked in your jig, which you didn't feel, as it fell right in front of his face and he is just sitting there enjoying whatever flavor you have on that jig. Grin.
And then there are the exceptions to the rule. Sometimes, even after dead sticking the lure and you don't see anything happen to the line, you don't feel anything at all, the jig isn't moving anymore, and you decide to just reel in and make another cast and discover that a crappie was holding the jig in its mouth and you didn't know when it sucked the jig in, it was just on the line when you speeding up to make another cast. That is when you shrug your shoulders and say "go figure." On the rare days then the crappie are feeling extra frisky and are chasing bait a little more aggressively, are the days when the sight bite and the feel the thump bite coincide. I like those days too. LOL
I don't know if any of this helps you, but this is the way that I fish and you should be able to tell by my reports that I do catch a fish or two from time to time. I don't troll. That is like kissing your sister. When you troll, the boat is actually doing the fishing/catching and you are just reeling them in. Where is the fun in that unless you are trying to fill up a freezer?
