Thread: I want to dispel the myths

Had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Mick Thill, the gentleman from England,
who introduced European style floats and long poles here in the states. There is
nothing like using a 12-13ft pole with 2lb line and catching any kind of fish as I and
my fishing buddy have done. I occasionally will use the long rod, but only from shore,
but in the boat I always have a 7ft Light rod with 4lb test Sufix Elite Hi Vis and a 2ft
Fluorocarbon leader 4lb test.

I've been using 2# test Fireline Crystal as the mainline on 4 of my crappie rigs. I also use a 4' section of 4# test fluorocarbon leader, for the abrasion resistance only. It acts as a fine shock absorber as well. Been using this set up with 7' & 9' B n' M rods for many seasons now - this will be my 5th.. To attest to it's ability to handle brute strength I offer the following:









All of these fish were caught on barbless 1/16 oz. jigs and various plastics, using the line/rod set-up I've described above. We do NOT fish heavy vegetation and/or brush, so I would not recommend this combination to those who do. But it does work to subdue any fish that swims, providing that the angler does his/her part during the battle. All these fish, as well as everything I've caught over the past decade or more, are strictly CPR.

Crestliner
Your Fireline is a good example of what I'm talking about with Superlines...Even though it is rated as a 2lb test and has a very small diameter, it has been tested to break from 7 to 10 lbs.

Good read. i fish 4 lb. but left some of my ice fishing 2 lb. on this year. Working ok so far.

Originally Posted by skeetbum

Redge - deeper than average for around here. Structure is the key. Crappie like to be around something a lot, wood, brush docks and so on. If I find deeper water near something they can get around I'll most times get a few

Eagle1 - I use the same reel on one of my rods, the 6920, and love it. Smooth is the word for both drag and operation. What rod is that you're using? I have 2- 5'ul and 2- 5'6"light and I'm looking for a ul in about 7' that won't cost me the farm. All I look at are too heavy or parabolic, bending in front of the handle like the Eagle Claw rods, and I just don't care for that.

DBD, I've read some Charlie Brewer myself. He's a wealth for guys like us. We had a writer for the Orlando Sentinal name of Charlie Waterman that was way above average til his passing a few years back. Looked forward to little in the paper other than him.

Check out the BNM crappie wizard 7.5, I have one with a 1000 series shimano and love it. Sounds like it may be what your looking for. It by far my rod of choice when casting.

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

I'll help to dispel even more myths for those trying to decide! If you are fishing for the table then please disregard....this mainly pertains to those who are catching and releasing fish!

In highly pressured water, smaller bodies of water, or during stressful warm water periods, it is recommended not to fight fish to fatigue with UL tackle UNLESS you are taking them home for the skillet. Studies have shown that Fish fought to fatigue, normally die under the added stress, even when put directly back into the water.

Knowing the local forage and patterns helps you to decide what size bait to use...using too small of a bait and hook allows the fish to completely swallow the lure...just because you get out the deep swallowed lure doesn't mean that the fish hasn't suffered a mortal wound. Again, there's plenty of research out there to confirm this. When I am C&R Crappies at Prespawn or other FEEDING events, I use a jig with a 1/0 sickle and a 3 inch swimbait....and my catch rate never suffers.
Again, if you are C&R fish, A deep hook-set means the lure is too small, or you were late on the bite. Any bleeding event in a fish is normally fatal and if legal, the fish should become table-fair.

UL today is a misnomer except with rods, but they have even better construction than older models....now we have micro reels that are light and strong, yet small....and super-lines that are small and strong....you don't have to sacrifice as much fishing UL, as you did many years ago.
Many super-lines today have 4 lb or less Mono size, but 10 to 20lb strength....now, we even have super-line braids that due to construction or coating, are just as opaque as Fluorocarbon...now, we even have braid that sinks. UL fishing with Super-lines also helps cut down on lost treasured or high dollar $$ lures, or losing that once in a lifetime Trophy!

Good Fishing!

I am not disagreeing with what you are saying, and my preferred hook size is #2. I also have ultralights in the arsenal. That being said, I caught this fish last week. I am not sure what had happened, but it appears to have been a pretty serious injury. He was obviously still swimming and willing to eat.

A tip that will help on the hook ups is to bend the hook down a little to give it more of a bite it will stop the missed bites. Us ice fisherman have been using lite line for many years with small jigs and lures.

I once won a outboard motor during a crappie tourney using a 1/80 th. once jig and maggots.


The smaller jigs are will produce when the bite usually stops on larger baits.

I use an Shakespears excursion that is a solid one piece 7 footer. Picked it up at Wally World for a whopping $17. It has 7 eyes which helps with lite line. Not flimsy at all. I use a cheap Shamano 1000 reel, $12, and have a good cheap outfit that works perfectively with lite line.

Sparkie, I have a few medium action rods and find the casting tougher because of the stiffer tip. A softer tip loads more and casts the tiny jigs much better for me. I would like a 1 piece 7' or 7'6" light or ultra light rod with a light tip like I speak of. I have 2 older Shakespeare micro light in 7' light action. While they are good rods, especially for the money, I think that a 1 piece rod would have a more appealing action for my taste. I'm just too cheap to give up the big bucks for a higher priced rod, so I guess I'll be looking for a while. I need to handle before I buy, and that doesn't make it any easier.