Crappie Rig

[RAM357]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and excited about all the cool info...

Some friends and I want to do some crappie fishing mostly at night... stationary with a light (cuz of equipment and boat size limitations). We're fishing Georgetown, Granger, Stillhouse and soon Travis.

What's a good way to rig up for this? Single hook, multiple hooks? Weigths below or above hooks? Hook size?

Thanks for your thoughts...

Rob

[smoothlures]

You could try a float over a minnow with a jig under it for the weight.

[joejv4]

From everything that's been talked about on this forum about night stalking, lots of folks have said to try straight line jigging - with the jig down just below where the light gets to, or just outside the lit up water.

[FishnLine]

Welcome aboard RAM357. Try tight lining minnows on a #4 hook and a spit shot up above the hook. I have heard of a few people also using jigs, but I would go with minnows myself. Good luck.

[RAM357]

Thanks for the feedback guys...

I think I'll be experimenting with some jigging, but I've got some younger friends that haven't fished. Will probably go with minnow setup for them...

FishnLine... What does "tight lining" mean?

Thanks again.

[creekslick]

I use the same double hook rig that I spider rig with. Lets you fish 2 depth at one time. Tight lining is where you just fish straight down from the end of your rod. When you have a bite your rod tip will bend or you will see slack in your line.

[sccamper]

Go back to Crappie home page, click articles&tips; check out night stalking by Rango. Thats a great article to get you started.

I use minnows on #2 hook under split shot, multiple hooks w/ minnows, jig under hook w/ minnow, and sometimes hook w/ minnow under a float. Try them all till you find what they want. Check local regs for # of hooks per line and # of rods per person. SC is unlimited from a boat.

oh yea... welcome aboard

[FishnLine]

FishnLine... What does "tight lining" mean?

creekslick explained it. You just have the rod in a rod holder with only the hook and weight. No float. You have to watch your line and rod tip very good, because some nights you may just see your line move a little or it may just get a little slack, so you need some soft and sensitive rods. Then sometimes your rod tip may go crazy. I missed a lot of fish in the beginning from not noticing the light bites.

[skiptomylu]

Attachment 10970 From Toledo Bend Texas!

Here is what I do....I do night fish during the summer and that is the only time I use minnows at all and I rig them like this....I take and tie on a 3 way swivel and to that I tie on a short (8"-9") mono leader with a mnnow hook and then I tie on a drop that is about 18" below that and I tie on a 1/4oz jig. The jigs has double duty as the weight and as bait.

Most times the bigger fish will come on the jig, probably 80% of the time.

Hope this helps,

Skip

[FishnLine]

Attachment 10970 From Toledo Bend Texas!

Here is what I do....I do night fish during the summer and that is the only time I use minnows at all and I rig them like this....I take and tie on a 3 way swivel and to that I tie on a short (8"-9") mono leader with a mnnow hook and then I tie on a drop that is about 18" below that and I tie on a 1/4oz jig. The jigs has double duty as the weight and as bait.

Most times the bigger fish will come on the jig, probably 80% of the time.

Hope this helps,

Skip

I've been considering a rig like that skip. I know during the spawn(which I missed this year) I always catch my bigger crappie on jigs, but I've never used them night fishing.