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Reply With QuoteI usually cast out and either slow steady retrieve or lift my rod tip, let it swing towards me, reel up the slack and repeat. Rarely if ever do I "jig" it, maybe a slight twitch once in a while.
Slabmaster II
Jig fishing?
I've caught lots of crappie on jigs under a bobber but find I like covering more water faster. What are some techniques that I should try when casting jigs? I've fished them like a spinner but haven't had any luck.
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Crappie Wall Hanger
I usually cast out and either slow steady retrieve or lift my rod tip, let it swing towards me, reel up the slack and repeat. Rarely if ever do I "jig" it, maybe a slight twitch once in a while.
Crappie Wall Hanger II
Heavier jig covers more water.
When I find them I pickup rod with smaller jig weight and smaller cork.
Go to hardware and get cork stoppers and make your small corks
Crappie.com Legend
All you need to know is right here:Originally Posted by bigtattoo79
Charlie Brewer's Slider Company - ******* Weedless Crappie Slider "Why&How"
The method works with any jig, not just sliders. The technique is what's important, not the bait.
Slabmaster
I am new to the forum, each day I go to the lake I find more and more people. Even on weekdays the parking lots fill up and you get to deal with boat traffic and boat waves.
I am older now, and time to pass on some knowledge. Learn to shoot boat docks and you will catch lots of crappie and brim and some of those trash fish called bass too. I catch so many crappie I never keep them. It would not be fair to the fish to keep a limit each time I go. But it is great fun to catch them. Yes learn to shoot docks and learn to get that jig up under there in the shade. Try a 1/32 weight to start, easier to cast, when you get good downsize to half that weight.
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I will second on dock shooting being very productive. As far as covering a lot of water one of the multi pole trolling methods will cover a lot of area in search of fish.
The love for fishing is one of the best gifts you can pass along
Slabmaster
Greetings Jack: Yep a large dock, water is high and there is a two inch gap between the water and the dock, part of the challenge is scooting that jig all the way to the back of the dock. Keeps things interesting and challenging, and lots of fun to go exploring different docks. I will long line troll if I take someone fishing and want them to catch lots of fish, otherwise I tend to just shoot docks. I like to run a rooster tail sometimes also next to docks, but do not shoot them they are too expensive to lose all the time. But that does work very well on cloudy days. I suppose it is safe to teach folks how to dock shoot as I rarely see anyone else doing this. It is the most productive method I know of and the challenge to hit the small target keeps it fun. Kit
Slabmaster
I have never been sucessfull fishing with jigs. It may be just the lack of effort on my part. I have mostly caught fish with minnows on a slip cork or a Roadrunner. Have some night fishing experience with a tight line and a light. Any particular setup and/or types of jigs? Please give me any tips you want to share....Michael
Crappie.com Legend
Slabmaster
Well that roadrunner or a small rooster tail can be very good when the fish are shallow and spawning. Crappie tend to rise up to feed or hit a bait so you are generally above them with those lures. A jig under a bobber will work quite well during the spawn also depending on the lake, its cover and if there are thousands of boat docks or not. An open lake without man made cover such as docks a jig such as a marabou 1/16th or lighter with a bobber around visible shallow cover will work well.
The rest of the time with jigs random casting is not very productive you either need to locate open water fish and troll through them or concentrate on precise presentations over brush piles or learn to shoot docks. What kind of jig to use, curl tail, or straight tail like a garland baby shad, marabou or hair......you kinda have to let the fish tell you that. Generally they like it on a slow fall with a light jig, but there are days when a curl tail slow retrieve will work better. I use plastics mostly in water that is warmer and hair or marabou in cold water. I will try different ones around a good dock and see what the fish want. Open water brush like brush piles that people have planted , I like to find the brush pile and throw out a marker upwind of the brush pile then position the boat nose into the wind over the brush and fish just above the brush as the fish will come up to nail the jig. Sometimes they are suspended up quite a ways so you have to fish a bit, take a turn on the reel, fish a bit, turn another time until you find the magic depth. With jigs you have to be fairly precise, as random casting usually is not real productive. You can cast jigs around docks all day and not see a fish, but shoot it under the dock into the shade and you will limit out. Hope this helps a bit, I have not used minnows for so many years I forget when. .............just hooked up the boat, gonna be up with the sun and off to the lake in the morning. Good Luck. Kit Oh if you are stuck on the bank, I would find some roads that cross creeks that feed the lake and fish a jig around the bridge posts, use the count down method, till you find what depth they are holding and sometimes you can catch them that way. Kinda hard fishing from the bank as nowadays it is limited due to lack of access. Some private ponds have crappie also, and a light jig under a bobber is deadly in ponds, but you have to move it, let it fall, move it and let it fall .
