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On my lake in the heart of summer, crappie bites are a lot of times so light that even on the 7'3" Eradicator with Varvais braid with a short fouro leader, I don't feel anything when a crappie takes the jig, then very quickly spits it back out. It amazes me how many times I can set the hook based on what I'm seeing on livescope and he's on, though I felt nothing. Kind of mind boggling at how many fish have had my jig in their mouth over the years, that I had no idea. Scott
Even with live sonar, anytime something feels different I set the hook.
I'm with you, ultraslab ... back when I would cast and slow retrieve, I'd feel most of the bumps ... even the light ones and sometimes even feel it before I saw the line jump. But, I'm sure there were times when they hit the jig & I had no clue I had a bite.
Since using LS I've had fish on that I didn't even know were there until I raised the rod, or I saw them on the screen make a quick move towards the jig. Now, some I do feel, but those are either directly under the rod tip (or close) or they hit it hard enough to register as a thump.
Livescope is a real eye opener. I like to do a slow raise when I see one near. It helps to feel them when they aren’t in that thump mode. I wonder how many I missed as we all did before livescope.
Thats what I've learned this year. A few takeaways having the same experience:
1. Use a long rod. I started with a 16 now a 17 footer and slowly lift your jig holding the line in your hand. They essentially hook themselves.
2. If it is that slow light bite, I either cut down my jig to make a smaller profile or keep switching colors till they hit harder. They are interested but not fully committed and I couldn't feel them.
This is something I noticed early on with LS , lots of times one of my buds would say he is right on that jig just looking at it …..as I set the hook and said whatever bro :Rofl
Those that focus terribly hard on the screen get lost in the game quite a bit. Anytime someone says they are not fully committed to my jig and just looking at it and it seems like it might be touching its nose …..I quit watching the tv show and pay attention to how my line looks and how my line feels .
In the summer months I have seen tons of crappie just looking at jigs really close on LS and in most of those cases they already ate the jig …..just saying :highfive
What I'm seeing a lot is a strike that I don't feel depiste the mentioned rigs which is about a sensitive as they come. What I beleive in a lot of these situations the fish takes the jig and in a hot second spits it back out. A slow raise of the rod won';t catch those fish. As most know the bite can be very different not just by the day but by the fish. Some take it a lot more agressive than others. A swing and a miss is free, and I'm sure many of you have seen when he didn't have it in his mouth the sudden jerk will make him chase it down. There are no certainty's when it comes to fishing but for sure, for me right now, with surface water temps 92-94 it's a different bite than much of the year. No matter what you do a lot of fish will just follow the jig 30+ feet then just say no I don't think so and swim away. It never ceases to amaze me watching the varing behavior with livescope. Scott
Over the years , I have caught lots of crappie when the bite was very light. . No thump , no line twitch, no slack.
Hard to describe the feeling , I just say " the rod tip felt heavy"
If I see a crappie image merge with my jig on livescope , I barely raise the rod, setting the hook if I feel any resistance. Many days I miss more fish than I catch.
MO
I've had plenty that weren't the focus of the Livescope screen when spider rigging that I noticed the line tension easing and tip slightly lift back towards straight rather pulling down when I pick up to set the hook.
Hey mister Scott, I have been using a 1/64 oz jig head with. #8 hook using a trout magnet style bait, then above that I use a #7 split shot about 5 inches above the bait, with my bait being close to my bait I can feel those small thumps or when the fish picks up the bait, this has helped me ALOT since summer water temps have reached higher than 85 degrees. And yes I use the braid the same way you taught me on my first ever livescope trip several years ago, and I thank you a lot for what you taught me, so I though I would help you out here.Danny Lang
Sometimes they're just giving it a quick "taste"! Hooksets are free anyways!
So fishing has become watching a screen now huh???? .... I see those bass tournament guys come by and never take their eye off the screen .... that is not fishing!
Back to the topic. I've fished with Garmin and have Lowrance live sonar, both seem to have lag time, what you're seeing on the screen is lagging just a second or so behind what you feel on your rod.
I’ve finally found some Crappie the past few days and found the bite to be as you described. Got ten or twelve today and felt maybe half. The Eradicator and Presso with braid is truly all the fun you told me it was. The jig I’m using is one of my smalls that deepfry tied for me and it’s cut the short bites to much less. The entire jig is less than an inch long. I have the ff but not the ffs portion. I’m not a fan of staring at a screen but I do see the value of finding fish, especially suspended fish, with the FFS. Victor uses his like this a lot and he fishes areas that I see where I fish and he fishes off the bank. I haven’t put that together yet, hence I see the value. Not on board yet but it’s a maybe one day as of now. I still know where to look for the crappie but the hot temps are changing the game some.
Exactly, I pull on jig real light and keep pulling if I feel anything . I use only 1/8 oz or bigger jigs to help stay in on contact . Seldom ever use a weight above the jig either . On a light bite you many times never feel it. I have neuropathy and makes feeling bite tougher these days.:twocents More than once guiding I seen them hold jig just above Crappie and fish turn up . If you don't see jig pull. Don't always feel if they come up. Told some humor me and lift the rod . :fishQuote:
Originally Posted by justinp61
Would have a hard time for me to prove if there is a lag time. My only proof would be the results of seeing a fish appear to close on my jig and as said, setting the hook without a feel to me, and he's on. You might be right or not but I don't know how to prove that other than setting the hook when it appears he's got it . That being said, as I've mentioned there are more than I want, times when I do, and he ain't, but then you also get the benifit of ocaasionaly getting him to comit by the sudden jerk of the bait. Amazing to me any way you look at it, and yes I TOTALY get those who feel staring at a screen just ain't fishing. But I will warn you it's addictive at least for me. ScottQuote:
Originally Posted by justinp61