Question for all the Experts

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

When for a while Sunday, fish were bitting real good. But had a problem I have not been having 75 minnows and only 8 fish
Fishing with slip corks, we would cast out to where they were, the cork would no more than get stood up and down it would go :D but when we set the hook all we got was a empty hook
We tried setting the hook earlier the same, we tried setting it later the same, we would even let them swim around with it but when we set the hook they would just spit the empty hook back at us
Tried easy soft hook set, tried a little harder hook set, just could not get the hook set. The ones we did catch were barely hooked.
So what should we have done the way they were bitting should have had a cooler full just could not figure it out. But I know someone here has the answer :D

[rnvinc]

Sounds like they were short biting....

You might have tried hooking the minnow under the dorsal fin to get the hook closer to the tail fin of the minnow...

Maybe a smaller hook too...

Could have been bluegill or warmouth also....

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

Sounds like they were short biting....

You might have tried hooking the minnow under the dorsal fin to get the hook closer to the tail fin of the minnow...

Maybe a smaller hook too...

Could have been bluegill or warmouth also....

That's were we started out hooking them, sorry didn't give that information. We also tried hooking them thur the lips and eyes. We tried smaller hooks, jigs heads tipped with minnows, smaller minnows ( we always get a few smaller one ). I guess they were short bitting. May have been some bluegill, but don't think we have any warmouth
I just feel like they were crappie we were on one of my holes, that about all I've caught there have been crappie and a few bass.
It was so bad it got funny, we laugh like kids about feeding the fish :D

[barrelslime]

With that many misses, sounds like you did everything right, I think you werent dealing with crappie

[deathb4disco]

Fishing with slip corks, we would cast out to where they were, the cork would no more than get stood up and down it would go :D but when we set the hook all we got was a empty hook

If you were using the type of slip cork where the line runs through the body of the float, I would expect you to miss bites. Those floats work best when you're vertical jigging and the float is directly under the rod tip. If you cast a float like that, you get much more resistance on the strike because the line forms a right angle as it comes out of the top of the float. This also causes the float to drag sideways on the strike, so some of the energy of your hook set is applied against the water instead of the fish.

A better option is the waggler float. Because it is attached at the bottom only, it "folds over" on the strike. This results in a straight line between you and the fish and a very solid hook set.

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

With that many misses, sounds like you did everything right, I think you werent dealing with crappie

You may be right I wish HB would make a ture Fish Finder that would ID the fish :D
Been catching quite a few crappie off this hole for the last 6 weeks or so. Last year when they moved from this hole, you couldn't buy a bit. Though I had them figured out, after following them the last couple years from this spot and on to others the way that they were bitting was very much as they have been, no hard hits just slowly take the cork down. I should have moved on to the next spot to see if they had moved already, but didn't was so sure they were crappie and the wind was not good for the other spot.
The 8 we caught were good fish (11 to 13") and hit the same as the others.

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

If you were using the type of slip cork where the line runs through the body of the float, I would expect you to miss bites. Those floats work best when you're vertical jigging and the float is directly under the rod tip. If you cast a float like that, you get much more resistance on the strike because the line forms a right angle as it comes out of the top of the float. This also causes the float to drag sideways on the strike, so some of the energy of your hook set is applied against the water instead of the fish.

A better option is the waggler float. Because it is attached at the bottom only, it "folds over" on the strike. This results in a straight line between you and the fish and a very solid hook set.

That's the only slip float I use, learned a few years back about them. In my book they are the best for seeing all bites.

[deathb4disco]

That's the only slip float I use, learned a few years back about them. In my book they are the best for seeing all bites.

Then I'm not sure what to tell you.

I agree with this:

I think you werent dealing with crappie

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

Are there a way to double hook a minnow so it looks right?? We tried a few ways but none looked right to us.

Also thinking some more, I should have taken some other lures and stuff we when pretty much set just to minnow fish.
Thinking about it a small deep running crank may have worked. We were fishing 12 to 15 ft deep in about 35 FOW.
Going to have to start taking more gear I guess.

[CrappiePappy]

Sounds like the Crappie weren't hungry ... but, just couldn't resist grabbing the minners, anyway.

I think I'd have tried the following :

small minnow on a 1/32oz jighead (or smaller) ... cast & countdown/slow retrieve or cast & let jig/minner swing back on tight line.
OR
gotten closer to "where they were" (so as not to have to cast to them) and used the smallest float/hook/minner I had.

Sometimes Crappie just like to "play with their food" ... and sometimes it's just Bluegill grabbing the minner & swimming off with it. Best way to tell if it's Bluegill, is to pull the minner away from the bite .... then check it for missing fins, eyes, tail fin, & even a ripped open or missing stomach. IF there's no other fish around, Bluegill will peck a minnow to death before trying to eat it ... but, if there are other fish around, they like to grab a minnow & swim away with it (so as not to have to share).

... cp