Thread: Longlining Questions?

Originally Posted by Spiderman

I have read this thread and found it very interesting & educational. It's December and the water is in the low 50's. Will long lining be effective now with the fish moving deeper or would spider rigging and moving slow be a better tactic.

I just don't know how active the crappie will be for moving baits in the colder water?


Thanks for all that have contributed to this topic, allot of knowledge here on a subject most crappie fisherman have never tried.

For myself I will change over to spider rigging while the fish are deep. They seem to hold closer to the bottom as the water drops into the 40's and most will move to the deeper water. They can still be caught longlining as it does work year around.

Probably been asked but I am to lazy to look back through all these post. Question is... How long do you pull a jig before deciding it aint the one they want so change it ? Like color or size or weight of jig.

I, myself like to keep things as simple as possible. This may sound odd to some, but this is how I break things down. I have a 12 rod set up, I start with two basic colors, blue, black and chartruese, and white and chartreuse. These two colors are staggered on every other rod. If the fish show a preference to the lighter colors, I will add more lighter colors to the spread, but I will never change them all to light colors as the fish may change their prefernece at some point during the day. If you are marking plenty of fish, but not catching as many as you feel you should. A change to a more neutral color may be in order, something translucent is especially effective in really clear water. As far as jig weights go, I use two. If fishing in waters 7 feet or less, I use 1/32nd. If 8 feet or more, 1/16th ounce jigs. If the fish are deeper than 15 feet, I will add a split shot to get them a little deeper. Like wise, if the fish are suspended only a few feet below the surface, over deep water a change to lighter jig will be needed to keep the baits higher up in water column. Trolling speed will be between .7 and 1.4 in most cases. When the water is cold, or really muddy. Jigs tipped with minnows can't be beat. It gives the bait a bigger profile, and that natural smell and taste those big ol'slabs can't resist.

Originally Posted by ofishlbizzness

Probably been asked but I am to lazy to look back through all these post. Question is... How long do you pull a jig before deciding it aint the one they want so change it ? Like color or size or weight of jig.

Fishing in stump laden water like Stumphole area, how deep do you run the 1/32 jigs? I always figured I wouldn't get 10 ft. without hanging half my jigs.

You cant avoid getting hung up Ray, but you can reduce the times it happens by paying attention, and staying focused. To start, a place called Stumphole is named that for a reason. Your mind set has to be, "I'm going to catch quality fish in numbers" to justify losing some jigs. Now that your mind is right, it's time to go into attack mode. You know going in that waters being fished will be 7 feet or less. No need to cast anymore then 20 feet out. Being the waters are shallow, and lines are short the long outside rods will catch 90% of the fish as the boat will spook some fish and send them scurrying to the outside of the boats shadow. Consistent boat speed is critical, you must constantly monitor it. My final and best tip is to take a pair of needle nose pliers and close the hook gap by nearly half. This will help the jig ride over some of those stumps that the fish are holding to.

Originally Posted by SeaRay

Fishing in stump laden water like Stumphole area, how deep do you run the 1/32 jigs? I always figured I wouldn't get 10 ft. without hanging half my jigs.

Thanks Ink. I think I am over coloring my set up. To many different colors to start with.

Yes I keep mine simple. Black and Chartreuse (cloudy) and white and chartreuse (sunny). I will throw in a red and white now and then (sunny). No bubblegum or pink for me. Rango told me once that the slimers for some reason like that color in Lake Wylie. I have witness it to be true. Looking for a neutral color when the water is clear in Wylie.

Tenn shad is very neutral. It's gray and clear. Blue/Black with chart tail is awesome everywhere. Lake Weiss Killers, chart. shad, red/black with chart tail, electric chicken, pink/purple with chart tail, black/gold flakes and chart tail...are all good too. Shoot....I got 4 boxes of different colors and theyre ALL good at times.