Crappie Experts...HELP!

[knees]

Okay, here's the deal. Last week I was really catching a bunch of crappie on this small lake. Now they've moved up to the banks. I've found 2 different spots where I see dozens of males on beds in about 12"-18" of water (it looks just like a redear bed!). THEY WON'T BITE! Oh, I'll catch 1 every now and then, but it's very slow--especially when I can see so many fish! The water's very clear & I've tried everything except minnows and night fishing. Any suggestions?

[bwillaub]

how bout minnows or night fishing? just kidding, knees. i would try fishing out from the bank around the first break. the big females may just be sitting there waiting.
you might want to try a jig under a clear casting float. cast out from the bank and work it slowly back. vary your retrieve until you find what they want.
good luck and let us know how you do.

bob

[Kit Papermouth]

Gotta put a minnow on their nose and irritate the hell out of them.
If they see you, you're screwed.

Cast down the bank and work a small minnow across the beds under a float.
Be sure to cast past them.

Sometimes they'll stay tight lipped, but if they see you, it's over.

[bugman]

I fish a lake like that and they are tough to catch i have had the best luck using a 12' rod with a slider and aggrevating them into biting,just keep the sun in your face so the fish cant see you as well use polarized sunglasses so you can see better and dangle a jig in their face it usually takes a while but if you aggrevate him long enough he will bite eventually.Last year i saw a big one and it took about an hour but i finally caught him he was 15" and 2 lbs so it was worth it.

[Crappieknocker]

Bugman,check your pm. How about that Izzy. Had to turn off the game

[cschottfish]

bugman,try a 3 1/2" rapala minnow nice and slow

[bugman]

Will do.

[fishin562]

cschott you should not be on here you just got married you should be doing..... other things!

[TampaJim]

I get them with a fly rod - a small popper with an even smaller wet fly teaser, gets em everytime.

[knees]

Been turkey hunting in KS the last several days--with good luck! I'm going back after them this evening. I'm going to try the fly rod, but I'm also going to wait until dusk and see if that helps.