Drifting the flats

[CrappieCop]

I was on Wappapello yesterday and tried my hand at spider rigging. I drifted minnows and jigs on the flats and had no luck. I saw some guys catching some and started drifting in the same area they were and still no luck. I know I was fishing the same depth they were because the wind was blowing and I could hear them talking about how deep they were fishing, but I still couldn't catch the fish they were catching. We were drifting over the same water! Is there any special trick to drifting on the flats and catching the slabs at Wappapello??


Any help is appreciated because I'm about to pull my hair out.


thanks

[ShortStorie]

Be glad you have hair! (No help with the crappie but I couldn't resist )

[Kit Papermouth]

Speed is very important with low water temperature. If going too slow, light hits will barely be detected. If the rod isn't in your hands, you'll miss the light biters. Going about 1 mpg will get more natural hooks sets. But with the cool water, the Crappie sometimes aren't in an aggressive mood and don't chase.

Live Bait gets the fish to hold on a little longer.

Direction matters too. I have had situtations where going North through a school did not yield bites and going south tore 'em up. I usually go with the wind to start with. Even if blowing up stream on a river.

Recommendation is to hang over them when you see them on the depth finder. Always have one rod in your hand. The one that gets the most ticks you should hold.

Another thing you can do is slow troll the jigs by getting them out away from the boat using your spider rig holders.

Hope this helps.

[CrappieCop]

Kit papermouth,

Thanks for the advice. the guys I was watching were drifting with the wind and were using spider rigs. The funny thing is I never saw any fish on my fish finder. However, my transducer is in the back of the boat and the water is only about 7 feet deep where they were catching them. I did have my rods in the holders and I use a combination of 10 and 12 foot rods.

[adamr]

crappie cop, from my experiences fishing the flats on wapp., your graph is more important for knowing changes in depth than it is finding fish. some of my best days were when "no" fish were showing up on the graph. find a sudden change in depth or a bend from 8 to 13 ft and odds are fish are holding there. as far as catching slabs go, most days you'll filter through 10 to 15 dinks for every keeper. good luck.

just curious, what part of the lake were you fishing?

[deerman4567]

hey i fish the lake alot and i have been having to hold both my poles and when fishing the wind try throwing a short piece of chain out the back and just keep lettin chain out until you get slow enough .it really helps.when you float across as far as you fire up the big motor and go back up wind....hope that helps ...if not i will shut up.

[CrappieCop]

ADAMR

I tried fishing the big flat that is out from the Old Rockwood Boat Ramp and I also was fishing the small flat that is near the old lake bed accross from Lost Creek. Everyone else was tearing them up on the flat across from Lost Creek, but I just didn't have any luck. Going to try again this afternoon. :D