Help with Lure Selection

Was at the pond fishing the dock yesterday and was using 1.5" tubes, caught 2 little one's right away but didn't get any more bites. Tied on a BG slab huntr and had a hard thump that about skeered me, lol, no hookup though. So then I tied on a Flicker Shad 5 and was just playing with it like a jerkbait, when 4 big crappie's in a row come up and swipe at it. So tgis clearly showed me they were there. I was thinking of trying live bait, would rather figure put how to get them on artificial's. Next time out I'm thinking of trying a Bill Lewis Tiny Trap black back chrome and a 2.5 inch Gulp minnow in smelt and fire tiger on a 1/16 chartreuse jig head. I'm looking at the Bill Lewis Gnat crankbait as well. Also thought of trying a beetlespin. Any suggestions are appreciated

Zman baby ballerz on a 1/32oz jighead or smaller would be my suggestion. Tight lines to you in your near future :fish

Thanks for the suggestion, speaking of Zman I was just looking at their Flasback Mini's, looking for some vicious reaction strikes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

Thanks for the suggestion, speaking of Zman I was just looking at their Flasback Mini's, looking for some vicious reaction strikes

---

Attachment 504359
Pictures upload sideways now but I have some pairs with a zman shad fryZ they are deadly

The biggest crappie I've caught at that pond was 11" on a Gulp minnow but I know they're way bigger in there, I've seen what look like footballs come up and swipe at my baits, just gotta figure out how to get the bigguns to bite

Maybe slow down bait speed too!

I've been reading about retrieval speed when casting, and though a slow presentation may often be the ticket, that might not always be the case

“The problem for most people is when the fish follows the jig but never commits, they don’t know how to adjust. When this happens to me, I always increase the speed of my retrieve drastically. In my opinion, it makes the fish think the bait is getting away, and their God-given survival instincts kick in, and they will accelerate to smash it. Most people won’t use this technique because they are afraid they will take the bait away from the fish but don’t realize just how fast a fish can swim.

“Most of my clients that struggle with their LS are amazed that this one technique increases their catches drastically.”

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

I've been reading about retrieval speed when casting, and though a slow presentation may often be the ticket, that might not always be the case

“The problem for most people is when the fish follows the jig but never commits, they don’t know how to adjust. When this happens to me, I always increase the speed of my retrieve drastically. In my opinion, it makes the fish think the bait is getting away, and their God-given survival instincts kick in, and they will accelerate to smash it. Most people won’t use this technique because they are afraid they will take the bait away from the fish but don’t realize just how fast a fish can swim.

“Most of my clients that struggle with their LS are amazed that this one technique increases their catches drastically.”

---

And a lot of people say a Crappie won't chase a bait very far, but on more than one occasion I've had Crappie come racing towards a Road Runner that I was burning back to get in another cast before having to deal with boat position. These instances were around boat docks & marina boat slips ... out in front of them, not under or inside of them. (which is one reason I cast out in front of and around the sides of a boat dock several times before getting in close enough to shoot the dock)

And on your comment on how fast a Crappie can swim ... one only needs to remember that Crappie chase down and hit jigs at 1mph and faster, and crankbaits at 1.8mph to 2+mph. And while it is probable that many of them sense the bait coming and intercept it, that's not to say that they couldn't also track it down and catch it, if they wanted it bad enough.

Here's an interesting article from the In-Fisherman

Crankbaits For Crappies - In-Fisherman

But, one of In-Fisherman's fundamental teaching points applies as much to crappies as to any other fish. It's often best to begin with aggressive strategies and let fish tell you whether to temper those strategies to something less aggressive.

In crappie circles, anglers typically begin with tentative tactics, assuming, before they get a judgement from the fish, that such strategies are sure to work best. These anglers believe that because finesse tactics are so prevalent that those tactics must be so good that they are going to produce fish no matter what mood the fish are in.

I admit that where spider-rigging can be used in conjunction with jigs, rigs, and livebait, it's usually hard to beat. And where spider-rigging can't be used, because multiple lines aren't an option, I also admit that straightforward jigging methods usually produce some fish. The crappie is, after all, a fish of comparatively laid-back character.

But not always. Crappies are cranked way more often than most anglers realize — and anglers don't give crappies a chance to tell them how cranked they are. Fish often seem tentative when they're presented with tentative strategies — because they're not interested in those strategies when they're in a more aggressive mood. In not using aggressive tactics to begin with, we often minimize catches by not maximizing strategies that pay off in producing more fish. When crappies are cranked you catch more of them with aggressive tactics. So begins this tale.

Try using a pencil float and a sunfish colored small jig with a crappie nibble on it ….
Pitch it far and drag it back stupidly slowly…..
Thank me later

Me too. Float and crappie magnet with nibble. Subtle movements.

I’m fishing gulp minnows this weekend here in Michigan in the hopes of landing a citation Crappie. I like them and slabanator Jigs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ketchn

Try using a pencil float and a sunfish colored small jig with a crappie nibble on it ….
Pitch it far and drag it back stupidly slowly…..
Thank me later

---

I would like to try the float but there's like 100 turtles and a thousand bluegills at this dock so it's difficult to keep them from messing with it, very frustrating. Another reason I'm not using live bait. What pencil float would you recommend? And how does the spring work?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie

I’m fishing gulp minnows this weekend here in Michigan in the hopes of landing a citation Crappie. I like them and slabanator Jigs.

---

I like the Gulp minnows, they are pricey, actually Berkley has raised prices on a lot of stuff, and they're not durable, but neither are live minnows. I try to get em on sale on Amazon. I got a pack of 18 black shad for around $7 on amazon, whereas a dozen live minnows is going to cost me over $5, and I have to drive to get them and keem them cool. Gulp minnows are so much more convenient. And I have found that using a loop knot, the bait is riding head up at a 45 degree angle, so I'm going to try direct tying to see if I get better reactions on the retrieve. I'll add that the only difference between Gulp! and Gulp Alive! is gulp alive comes in a larger container with extra juice to put the baits back in. I just buy the smaller packs

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

And how does the spring work?

---

There's a notch in the lower shank of the float that's covered by the spring. Push the spring past the opening of that notch & insert your line. When you release the spring it will cover the notch and pin your line to the shank of the float. Adjust depth by pushing the spring back and moving the line ... DO NOT simply pull line thru the spring's grip, as you can damage your line by doing so. :twocents

As far as brand .... :dono .... Ketchn may have a favorite, I do not. ALL of the spring floats I have belonged to someone else, as I've found them floating on the lake or washed ashore or hanging from a tree limb. :kewl

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

I would like to try the float but there's like 100 turtles and a thousand bluegills at this dock so it's difficult to keep them from messing with it, very frustrating. Another reason I'm not using live bait. What pencil float would you recommend? And how does the spring work?

---

The thill wood ones are superb but pricey , we typically use the comal version in styrofoam from Walmart, dirt cheap …..the thinner the better and size your weight to the float , float should be about half underwater sitting dead still ….use a fat body long bait to slow up the bluegills a bit and don’t let turtles get close to the float

Amazon.com

5 floats for $8 on amazon, I'll try them

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie

I’m fishing gulp minnows this weekend here in Michigan in the hopes of landing a citation Crappie. I like them and slabanator Jigs.

---

I was just messing around with the Gulp minnows on a bare hook and found something you may want to try. Rigged it belly side so the hook falls downward so don't know how that might affect hooksets. Also the one's where the tail split is up and down instead of sideways, I rigged one sideways and it has a killer tail shimmy on the fall like a wacky rig kind of. Maybe something different they haven't seen. I'll play around with it at the pond and post results. Using a #1 aberdeen eagle claw hook, weighs 1/16 oz

Edit: Switched to a #2 hook and got a slower fall without sacrificing much weight. And if you nose hook it it falls more at an angle instead of falling straight down threaded on the hook

After further testing with just a bare hook, I may have found a better way to rig the minnow, this way it falls hook point up and has a nice wobble to it on the fall. If you rig it a little crooked it will have more erratic action when you give it little twitches. So I would twitch, let it fall for however long, falls about 3 to 4 inches per second, then twitch, twitch, repeat. Should work well in 10' of water or less

Here's a 3 inch minnow rigged this way

Hit the pond today and caught a bunch on the Gulp 2.5" minnows, threw a bunch back before I decided to start keeping some. Bunch of dinks in there because no one harvests them that I know of, but that's just more for me. Lost something big wrapped around a dock post, wasn't watching my line and swam up under the dock, either a bass or a big crappie. Could feel it tugging but the line finally snapped. Was using a 1/32 oz white jighead, thanks to the guys that recommended slowing down, gotta remember I'm not bass fishing. But the Gulp minnows will definitely be one of my go to's from now on, can get least 2 fish on one minnow, sometimes more

This was a fresh jig head, the paint has been chewed off from the fish biting it today. That's after the big fish ate the other jig and broke off

I just wanted to add to this thread, that when direct tying the line to your jig, you must adjust the knot after each fish caught. So make sure to pull the knot back so that the jig swims horizontally. Otherwise, it will swim at a 45 degree angle and the bites will diminish

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

I just wanted to add to this thread, that when direct tying the line to your jig, you must adjust the knot after each fish caught. So make sure to pull the knot back so that the jig swims horizontally. Otherwise, it will swim at a 45 degree angle and the bites will diminish

---

But, baitfish don't change depth "horizontally". When they dive or swim up & away from a predator, they swim at an angle. Now, when you're vertical jigging, Vertical Casting, or holding a jig in place ... that probably makes a difference. But, personally I don't hold a lot of credence to a loop knot being better than a direct tie when casting or flippin' a jig at a distance ... since many of my bites occur on the fall or rise ... and most of the time my jigs are tied direct. (the only time one is not tied direct, and is on a loop knot, is the top jig of a double jig rig when I'm flippin that rig while Livescoping)

If four large crappie came up to strike the flicker shad , I am no longer looking . :fingerdance

They do swim at an angle up and down, but not when swimming straight. I don't raise my rod tip up or down when retrieving, just a slow steady retrieve. If you don't adjust the knot to a little back of the center of the eye, it will loook unnatural on the retrieve. I've had a rosy red I kept in my aquarium I've been watching for months, and I can see why the straight tails work so well

Minnows seem to dart around and swim at various angles, but mostly horizontal

https://youtu.be/gunuGn1pjB0?si=LbSJgQDFIPl9uup7

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Happyfisherman

They do swim at an angle up and down, but not when swimming straight. I don't raise my rod tip up or down when retrieving, just a slow steady retrieve. If you don't adjust the knot to a little back of the center of the eye, it will loook unnatural on the retrieve. I've had a rosy red I kept in my aquarium I've been watching for months, and I can see why the straight tails work so well

Minnows seem to dart around and swim at various angles, but mostly horizontal

https://youtu.be/gunuGn1pjB0?si=LbSJgQDFIPl9uup7

---

Okay, but I would think you'd want to have the knot well to the front of the jig eye on a steady slow retrieve. If it's towards the back half of the jig eye isn't it going to turn the jighead to a downward position on retrieve ?? That is IF it even stays in that position on the jig eye after a hard cast.

I'm just basing my comments on my experiences (of the past) when I was casting a jig, holding the rod tip at the 11 o:clock position, allowing the line to keep a slight bow in it by my slow retrieve speed while watching the line for any movement not created by me. My knot was always TDC on the jig eye (unless it got pulled to the front of the jig eye from landing the fish, and was never corrected). I never intentionally pulled the knot towards the back half of the jig eye. Even if it did end up in that position, it would most likely have ended up back at TDC on the next cast.

Caucht a bunch again today on the Gulp minnows, gotta decent eater around 12". Was hoping to catch another nice one but after that one the bite just seemed to die. What do you guys do when that happens? I switched colors and caught a couple more, but it's like they just turned off. Turtles started biting off the tails. You can also cut off the used portion of Gulp minnow and trim it and still use it

If the knot is to the front of the eye, once the jig "planes out" on the retrieve, it will be swimming in a tail downward position. If vertical jigging, which I haven't really messed with yet, but I need to, you certainly need to adjust the knot so the jig is level in the water. This is one advantage to the loop knot, you don't have to adjust the knot. So even if a bluegill nips the lure when direct tied, and causes the knot to slide to the front, the rest of the retrieve it will not be level in the water

Here's one of the gulp minnows I trimmed down after getting ripped up. They don't seem to care which side up it's rigged, so just flip over when one side gets ripped up

Thats what is so cool about fishing from a boat on a lake. If youre in fish that simply wont bite then you can MOVE! After doing everything that you know and still no bites then it's time to move on and find other fish....maybe the ones that will bite! All too many times I see the same fellas, fishing the same creeks, doing the same things over and over and over again, and then saying the fish wasnt biting that day. All I coulda tole them was they werent biting where they were fishing.;):)

I tend to agree with you, and fishing at a dock, after the fish see your lure so many times, they just won't bite if they don't really want it