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I spent the weekend with my wife and daughters at Six Flags. Got home around 12:00 and decided to make a quick trip to Ditto. Water was lower and the bite much slower after the cold front, but still kept half a limit and returned a few short fish and one 15 inch Slab. Best bait was a 1/16oz White Marabou Jig about 18" under a cork fished slowly along the banks. The water was 61 degrees.
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So you do use jig under a float some??I do from the bank but thought it might not be cool in a kayak. Lol.
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Bob D has told me for years I need to learn, so I'm giving it a try this year. I usually try to get good at something new each year. Last year was Shellcrackers on artificial. This summer I'm also going to work on drop shot for gills deep.
You the man! Db good job!
I'm telling ya, that float and fly trick can be a killer! Good job DB, congrats on another great day on the water.
Question on the float method. Often Crappie can take a jig and spit it out before you realize he hit unless you watch your line really close.
How quick do you have to strike using the float? I use one for bluegill and Shellcrackers but using live bait they take the float under and hang on.
I assumed with a jig they would spit it out rather quickly as compared to a bite on live bait.
Enlighten me, I'd like to try this.
I can't help, I'm just starting to learn. The day I fished there was some scattered brush along the banks that had been in 24 to 36 inches of water before it dropped. It was now in only 12 to 18 inches or so. I paddled close to several spots where I saw the fish spook ahead of me. I backed off and started using a float down the banks. Most of my hits they nailed the jig, there wasn't anything soft or shy. For some reason they wouldn't take my spinners or little slider jig.
That’s my experience with a float and jig this time of year. They nail it and there’s no doubt. Don’t even have to watch the float you can feel the hit.
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Float and fly like all techniques is different with the mood the fish are in. Sometimes they come up and hit and the float falls over, then they slam it and down it goes, other times they'll swim to the side with it, soooo, just watch what they're doing and set the hook accordingly. You don't miss as many as you would think, they hold on to that jig long enough for you to put the hook to them.
I am going to try the float and jig on my next trip but plan on adding a little pinch of deer liver to the hook to see if they will hold a little longer. Don’t know how long I’ll be able to resist the spider rig though [emoji15]
Did these fish have eggs in them? Most years I fish through the winter and kind of follow the fish around. This year, with all the flooding, I barely fished the past few months. My last two trips have been duds. I'm trying to figure out what stage the fish are in, but I don't have enough of my own data to figure it out. I caught a limit 3 trips ago, but that was early Feb.
These were all full of eggs, but the eggs weren't bloody or separated yet. Best guess from these fish is spawn is a couple weeks away. The Dogwoods in my yard say different. I'm think the up end of Wheeler (up steam of Decatur) is probably behind the lower end due to the high water in March.