First Crappie Trip

[KYfishing]

I went out to the Snake river in Oregon about a month ago and caught 101 Crappie (plus 10 smallies) , didn't get any slabs, most of them were between eight and ten inches. It was my first multi-day trip and I had a blast! They were hitting on small jigs, white and chartreuse in water between five and twenty feet.

A link for a video of the trip is at the bottom.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCSj39NEIvk

[Swampseed]

Nice job!!! Now your hooked!!!!

[Crestliner08]

Excellent job. Some dandy specs.

[LowePro]

Awesome job buddy! It doesnt get any better than that! Another one falls o the temptation of the illusive crappie!

[CrappiePappy]

Good job !! You used to be able to do that at Taylorsville Lake, but nowadays you'll catch less but bigger ones.

I do have a question, though .... was it just the camera, or were you actually jigging your rod one to two feet while retrieving your jig ?? And if so, why ?? I don't know as you'd get near as much action (bites) doing that on waters here in KY, as they seem to prefer a much more subtle retrieve (slow & steady) and only on occasion does a tiny jiggling of the rod tip help produce more strikes.

... cp

[KYfishing]

Good job !! You used to be able to do that at Taylorsville Lake, but nowadays you'll catch less but bigger ones.

I do have a question, though .... was it just the camera, or were you actually jigging your rod one to two feet while retrieving your jig ?? And if so, why ?? I don't know as you'd get near as much action (bites) doing that on waters here in KY, as they seem to prefer a much more subtle retrieve (slow & steady) and only on occasion does a tiny jiggling of the rod tip help produce more strikes.

... cp

You are correct. My retrieve was very aggressive.
I fished for two days, I didn't catch anything the first 2-3 hours of the first day. I stopped my slow retrieve with occasional twitching, in favor of a more aggressive retrieve, like in the video. I started catching fish. I fished along with another guy, who recommended that I slow my retrieve. I weighed my options. Do what this experienced fisherman told me (who had caught a few fish) or do what had been working for me. I stuck with the fast, aggressive retrieve and ended up catching 41 that day. Twice as many crappie as he did.

As we drove back to our motel, I shared with him, who was from oregon, that back in Kentucky, I wouldn't have done, but it seemed to work there.

He was still unsure about my technique, but after out fishing him 20-3 to start the next day, he conceded defeat and started to fish aggressively.

I ended up catching 61 that day in half the amount of the previous day.

[CrappiePappy]

Ahhh ..... Grasshopper has become the teacher, rather than the student !! Well done

That water does look pretty clear in the video, so perhaps the slow retrieve gave the fish too much time to "look over" your offering ... and the more aggressive retrieve (rip/drop) imitated an injured or fleeing baitfish, that sparked a reaction bite.

... cp

[warmouth]

I've read a lot of opinions on retrieves on this forum, most recommend a slow steady retrieve for crappie, but before I knew that I was doing it wrong I jigged my rod and gave a lot of action to my jigs and caught a lot of crappie that way for years.