1/32 oz. number 6 hook jighead

I struck up a conversation with a fella crappie angler at the lake yesterday . He asked me as I wind milled them crappie fish if I was using a 1/16 with a number 4 hook . I said no sir I am using a 1/32 oz . number 6 hook jig . He said something to the effect of WOW that's a small hook for crappie and I replied this ….
Have you seen me lose a fish I hooked yet ? Short of the whopper that broke my line ? :Rofl
I am always amazed at how some of the hardened crappie anglers think you have to use a big hook , he even went on to say I should try a sickle hook , I told him the first jig that got broke off was a number 6 sickle and the second one I tied on was regular ole store bought j bend number 6 .
Now mind you he had a fancy something er other rod with a little fly reel looking thing on it and 65 lb braid and presented the bait like a true crappie fisher person ...but ...
I explained to him at spots that get ridiculous amounts of pressure from crappie anglers it is often they key to working the fish over even when like he said they are not biting midday !
Besides the fact that all kinds of fry are abundant right now , this jig has a very slow fall and very subtle action .
So the next time you think they are not biting , try downsizing your presentation , if I used a 1/16 I would have done poorly for sure and I had 2 in my pocket and larger plastics as well .
As we approach warm weather and post spawn fish and loads of fry in the water , its a great idea to mimic what is likely the diet . Low energy required food sources are the key to survival in the world under the surface after a long hard workout in the shallows .
In one hour at that spot I managed somewhere in the area of 25 fish and about half were keeper size .
KABOOM is the word yawl and I promise this aint no fish story :highfive
p.s. the fish were holding around 10 foot deep on the down current side of some brush in around 14 foot of water and the takes were mostly VERY light . slack lines and or jig wont drop . only a very few bit like they meant it .:cheers2

Great story and real nice fish. Kaboom was the word!

nice ones for sure...

Good post and pics!

if you are saying you have never lost a crappie that you have hooked, your credibility is reduced

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Originally Posted by Tiger

if you are saying you have never lost a crappie that you have hooked, your credibility is reduced

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That isn't what he said. He said "Have you seen me lose a fish I hooked yet ?"

Let me ask you a question. Did you ever see that photo of the world record largemouth bass I caught? No, you haven't... because I didn't catch it :). Fishermen don't lie, we simply phrase things in such a way that you hear things we didn't say... (or y'all all lie. I don't, but y'all do). :)

How deep were you catching?
It takes a long time for a 1/16 to get very deep! Not sure I have the patience for it but I'm gonna try some.

Nice job, and I agree completely about the drastic downsizing when vertical jigging summer.

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Originally Posted by Redge

How deep were you catching?
It takes a long time for a 1/16 to get very deep! Not sure I have the patience for it but I'm gonna try some.

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Similar to the lake I visited today at around 10 foot deep or less on presentation.
Alot of the fish at another lake were acting just like those ,around 8 foot down the jig stops sinking.
Today was about stupid good with that same jig and presentation about 75 miles away.
1/32 ..
KABOOM

I second the KABOOM with a smaller hook. Many have fallen to my #8 sickles.

Great advice!

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

I second the KABOOM with a smaller hook. Many have fallen to my #8 sickles.

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That's what i was going to suggest a No#8. You have to dip all fish of any size. LDS

I had Curtis at Litewirehooks (a CDC member) make me some 1/32 with #6 sickle hooks, to tie small jigs with. Turns out they are perfect for fishing a wiggler for crackers. Highly recommended. Just ordered another hundred.

on a side note : many anglers don't realize or have not researched the diet of a black crappie . I read where they did stomach contents analysis of mature black crappie and large portions of the black crappies diet consisted of very small organisms ,up to 80 % in some lakes .
So if you think this 1/32 light presentation just applies to white crappie eating fry , I suggest you find some black crappie and give it a try .:highfive

I use #6 often. 4 and 6 are all I use.
I have been using 1/32oz more this year because of the slow presentation it offers.
My old stand by was the 1/16th.
I now have a few 1/24th as well. It probably don’t matter much but it has helped.


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Great read!! Thanks for posting.

use the small jig hook today ,made it hard to get hook out of fish without ruining plastic body also lost a 13 "and 14 inch crappie at the boat. i think you get more bites with them.

This 18" bass, 13" redear and 23" catfish were caught on these # 12 weighted flies fished under a weighted float. Small hooks catch large fish. Attachment 377358Attachment 377359Attachment 377360Attachment 377361

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I know a local retired policeman that use those weighted flies EVERY day of the week here locally and you cant possibly imagine how bad he hurts monster bass up close to the double digit range and monster bluegill and of course crappie as well .
I think he uses a clear float with them on a fly rod but I swear if you follow him on fakebook you will be shocked at the fish he ketches with such a tiny bait every single day of the week . :highfive

1/32 jighead on #6 or #8 hook with plastics, 6 for the large tails, 8 for the smaller like the Bobby Garland 1"ers. The key to the most control is to match the line to the jig weight. at 1/64 or 1/48 I fish 2# for 1/32 4 pound line both Gamma which has excellent knot strength in the tiny diameters. Early in cold water I will use 4# ice which is both smaller diameter and limper than their regular 4# or about the same as their regular 2# in diameter, but limper. For hollow bodies like 1.5" crappie tubes I use heads with reverse tangs. for solid body tails simple ball heads. I also prefer black color with no eyes. I powder paint my own. I will fish a 2# line on an ice rod with a 48th oz head and tiny tail for some jigging situations. I have a free spool straight crank ice reel that allows a straight casual drop. Bite happens on the way down many times, slack line before the bottom sort of thing. It also happens on a very slow reel up. If you miss that bite, drop the lure back down well below and come up past that point again. We saw lots of times on the ice that bringing the jig up past the crappie from below often got positive attention. That holds on open water too. They will often also come up to meet a sinking bait. The ice flasher has proven to be a very good teacher.

something about a bait rising past them from below them seems to trigger a auto response ….like oh know you didn't just try to swim by me kinda thing .
the falling bait is from what I can see a little different scenario in that its like come to daddy ,of course I cant see the look on them crappie faces ,but I bet the looks on the crappies faces would likely solidify my thoughts on this :Rofl

I think it's best you use a long shank 1/0 hook......rotfl

I just got some mean lil 1/16 #8's that's going into action very soon..... Yeah I said #8's

I hurt some crappie yesterday with a micro bucktail number 8 ....man is it a cute jig , stay tuned
Kaboom is the word

Just got another 100 1/32 ball no-collar #6 sickle hook from litewire hooks. I paint and tie these as well as use them plain for fishing a wiggler for shellcrackers & bluegills. Putting the worm on a jig head has eliminated almost all gut-hooked fish for me. Don't remember who suggested this to me, but thank you anyway.

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

something about a bait rising past them from below them seems to trigger a auto response ….like oh know you didn't just try to swim by me kinda thing . the falling bait is from what I can see a little different scenario in that its like come to daddy ,of course I cant see the look on them crappie faces ,but I bet the looks on the crappies faces would likely solidify my thoughts on this :Rofl

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The real trick with the falling baits is to have them "drift" down on an almost tight line and watch for twitches, stops that shouldn't be there or sideways line movement. The tungsten ice jigs are almost too heavy to do that on 2# line unless you back reel them down. It is perfectly possible to get these tiny jigs down to 20' with the right line diameter and limpness and a stable platform to fish off, at least it is vertically jigging.
You must also balance the tail to the jig head for the proper drift. I generally fish much smaller tails jigging than I do casting.

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

I hurt some crappie yesterday with a micro bucktail number 8 ....man is it a cute jig , stay tuned
Kaboom is the word

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Show us a picture, when you have time


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