Old School tricks of the trade thread maybe ?

Saw a thread about old school tricks for ketchn crappie fish ....I say we maybe chime in as a collective and give up a few tricks you know work .
One I use that an old timer taught me was to wipe my jigs on the crappie and get the slime on the jig , it seems to be particularly good on feather type jigs for me and seems to help on my plastics as well . here in texas we are not legally allowed to actually use crappie as bait but I hear that strips of crappie work really well also .
so please chime in and give up some of this stuff that could possibly go away if we don't share it and possibly help another angler get into these here tasty rascals .... ....:ThumbsUp

First is to what NOT to get near the jig or bait. Be careful of what you handle before you go to the water. Gasoline in particular will stay on your hands for a long time and I'm given to understand that fish find it offensive. I wash my hands before I leave the house and try to handle the first fish and just rinse my hands for the rest of the day. Might not be any fact in this but I feel more confident by doing this.

Keep your hooks sharp and have a way to measure fish. A dollar bill is 6 1/8" long.

Before sonar we would "mark" fish spots using the triangulation method. Most would carry a notebook and write it down. Some would just memorize it.

Once your on the spot, look to shore and pick two landmarks in a line, then look in another direction toward shore and find two more landmark in a line. Where those two lines intersect is your fishing spot. X marks the spot.

Great Thread! I have always been told when the fish aren't biting to fish slower. But also have followed one of the best fishermen I know for crappie and he moves fast when single poling dropping around a tree and jigging a few seconds and then moving over and doing it again. Never sitting in one place too long unless the fish are biting.

My dad taught me to always start shallow ( like 2 feet deep ) and work your way down when fishing a submerged treetop if its been a few days since you were on the water .

How about pick up a road kill on the way fishing in warm weather hang on a limb over water maggots fall into the water attracting fish. Yeah, bet you cant fish there for the smell.

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Originally Posted by concreteman

How about pick up a road kill on the way fishing in warm weather hang on a limb over water maggots fall into the water attracting fish. Yeah, bet you cant fish there for the smell.

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That works, knew a guy that would catch carp, put a rope through the gills and hand em
He would tap a paddle to the fish and use the maggots, caught huge bluegill
Stay on the upwind side

More than 50 yrs ago I read about putting 2-3 bumblebee in a jar and sinking it
Claimed the buzzing would attract crappie
Doe' s that qualify as an " old time trick"?

Never mess with gas before I go and bliss text as in chap stick don't hurt anything.... sounds weird but I can't say for sure if it helps or hurt....so far it seams to help. ??? Dunno...

Thats funny right there.Aint there one about putting rice in jar, cant remember.

Fireflies are supposed to work good

Ole folks saying was if the cows were up and eating the fish were biting and if they the cows were lying down the fish were not biting.

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Originally Posted by scrat

Ole folks saying was if the cows were up and eating the fish were biting and if they the cows were lying down the fish were not biting.

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I'll vouch for that one.
When I was guiding 200+ day per year I started watching the cows as I went home.
Days where the fish were the cows were up, on slow days they were lying down chewing their cud.

When " perch fishing" and you run out of bait go to your stringer and use your hook to remove a perch eye. Panfish love eyes- ever notice how crappie peck out your minnows eyes even when they're not really hungry? I once used this trick in the Panama Canal turn around lake. About 15 of us were on a longboat for a " 5 hour guided peacock bass excursion". The guide brought enuf tiny minnows for about 2 hours and seemed to be looking forward to running out and heading in. Most of us were having a good time catching weird aquarium fish and little peacock bass so I taught the real men on the boat how to use fish eyes for bait ( from the fish our guide was keeping to eat or sell). For some reason he had no appreciation for American ingenuity and let me know about it but we squeezed another couple of hours of fishing out of those eyes. Once he caught on he stopped keeping our fish and we ran out of bait and headed back in. Half the people on that boat thought I was the beans and the other half hated me a little I think. Some Euros lack the pioneer spirit.

My grandpa was a commercial fishermen on Cumberland.
Told me catching was easy, put what they want to eat where they want to eat at and be patient.
You can catch big fish on little hooks but you can't catch little fish on big hooks.
I helped him for 10 yrs, that uneducated man taught me a lot about fishing and being a man

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Originally Posted by Hanr3

Before sonar we would "mark" fish spots using the triangulation method. Most would carry a notebook and write it down. Some would just memorize it.

Once your on the spot, look to shore and pick two landmarks in a line, then look in another direction toward shore and find two more landmark in a line. Where those two lines intersect is your fishing spot. X marks the spot.

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yes sir ...used that many moons ago on open water to finds humps .....works great ...taught to me by an older fella when I was younger

one older fella taught me about "feeling" the line as well .....instead of watching it ....of course that's all fine and dandy till you are using braid and set the hook without thinking about it .....LOL

Read to hook a crappie behind its dorsal fin with a small float and release it and follow it back to the school. Moving marker bouy. Never tried it but sounds like it would work.

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Originally Posted by Lloakley930

Read to hook a crappie behind its dorsal fin with a small float and release it and follow it back to the school. Moving marker bouy. Never tried it but sounds like it would work.

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I hope someone else comments on this, but I think that's ILLEGAL

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

I hope someone else comments on this, but I think that's ILLEGAL

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Why would that be illegal? Your doing the same thing when you fish with minnows,only backwards,rotfl

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

I hope someone else comments on this, but I think that's ILLEGAL

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Probably is illegal, definitely unethical, rarely necessary, and likely doesn't work all that often anyway.

Here's a prior discussion from 2009 on some of the so called "secret tricks" stuff : http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...-tactic-3.html

And a follow-up thread concerning "ballooning" a fish to follow it back to the school : http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...fishing-2.html

I have heard it done with white bass, who move lots more than crappie do. After looking around some I found it illegal in most states. But then lots of things passed down from simpler times don't fly in today's world. One is hanging some minnows in a jar over the side. Illegal in TN and you don't want to talk with Mr Greenjeans with a jar in the boat. His attitude goes south fast.

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Originally Posted by scrat

Ole folks saying was if the cows were up and eating the fish were biting and if they the cows were lying down the fish were not biting.

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Is this true? I could see it relating to the time of day or weather.

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Originally Posted by SwampFisher

Is this true? I could see it relating to the time of day or weather.

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It's basically a myth, but based on the barometric pressure angle of wildlife movement.

I usually watch for wildlife activity on the way to launch ......It seems to follow that if rabbits, deer, etc are moving around the fish are also active.....If there is no wildlife activity the fish are sedentary also.
If there is no wildlife activity, I will usually start looking a little deeper and move the bait slower.....Then go from there based on what I find.

Anyone use iSolunar app? It's based off farmers almanac using lunar times for feeding activity.

Look at the fish's eyes the first one you ketch.If the eyes are pointed up fish a lighter jig.If fish's eyes are turned down fish a heavier jig or weight.

If ya find a school of fish and they won't bite.Drop or throw a rock into school"will scatter the school" go fish another spot come back in an hour or so.Fish will bite.

When dog woods are blooming crappie's biting.In the spring When oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear Bass are starting to make their bed's to spawn.

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Originally Posted by algenco

More than 50 yrs ago I read about putting 2-3 bumblebee in a jar and sinking it
Claimed the buzzing would attract crappie
Doe' s that qualify as an " old time trick"?

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hmmm, seems to me they would either drown or suffocate :popcorn

Have your partner sit close to the net, and you will catch more fish, than him!

Bend the point of your hook outward just a tiny bit for better hookups.

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Originally Posted by Dollfly

Bend the point of your hook outward just a tiny bit for better hookups.

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Yes .......

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Originally Posted by Lloakley930

Read to hook a crappie behind its dorsal fin with a small float and release it and follow it back to the school. Moving marker bouy. Never tried it but sounds like it would work.

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Seen it done before .....I didn't but I saw a guy do it in another boat .....and YES I am pretty sure it's illegal

Good reread. Preserve history. One good boom on the Sun and the GPS is fried.

Not a myth the meat inside Beaver Tails cut in to small strips works excellent for Panfish, it is so tough one piece will last almost all day.

We Dairyed for over twenty years and I would watch the cows and use as a gauge for the fish bite it would be right about 80% of the time.