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Thread: Help...... with Fall Pattern

  1. #1
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    Default Help...... with Fall Pattern


    Although I was a competitive Bass fisherman for 20 + years, I am relatively new to crappie fishing. Today, 11/24/15, I went to a local reservoir here in central Ohio. Water temp. was about 50 and air temp was about the same. Nights have been pretty cold here for the past several days, low 30s. I located a good herd of crappie on my sonar in 20-23 feet of water and the fish were all in water between 13 and 15 feet on top of rock structure. We caught a few with jig and minnow but that's it, a few. The fish were there for a couple of hours we just couldn't get them to bite. Also tried roadrunner and Bobby Garland trailer, again nothing. Any suggestions as to what I could have tried ?
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    First of all ... to Crappie.com !!

    As to your question :

    A couple of things I can think of would be ... downsizing your bait, moving off the school for 15-30mins & then coming back, using my Vertical Casting method ( Crappie Pappy Article ), or vertical jigging with slight pops of the rod tip or jerking the rod tip up a foot or more or deadsticking (holding the jig as still as possible and at the same depth.
    If none of those methods worked ... I'd be scouting for another spot with similar conditions.

    ... cp
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    Welcome to the site! Could be lots of things...maybe you were over a school of shad, and the crappies you caught were hanging around the edges feeding. Could be smaller baits would help, but could also be that they would bite a great big honkin' bait, too. Maybe they only wanted minnows that day.....I've got all kinds of excuses as to why I "didn't" catch fish. Just keep at it. Catch a few and move...come back later.

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    Their is no end to what you could try. But a small tube jig tipped with a small minnow is a good finesse bait for suspended fish in a neutral or negative mood. Sometimes when I have got all hung up on fishing some clown color jig (thats what I call a bright color jig like chart and purple ) I switch to a natural color like grey and clear or black and clear (that's black with clear skirt) makes a difference sometimes. Also sometimes you can go with a hook and no jig. I have some real small neon green rubber beads that will slip on a hook ( Cabelas). I have had pretty good luck with a long shank smaller size crappie hook with like two or three of these bead attractors and a small minnow,maybe even nibble minnow combo.Sometimes using a slip float where you can flip it out away from the boat a little and it can set real still helps,you can make small adjustments to depth to zero in on them.

    Sometimes you can't catch them.Fish will go into a total negative mood. The other thing is sometimes those fish can be caught only a short period or two during the day.If you aren't in that window your hauling water.

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    Sometimes Crappie stack up and other times you run and gun just like Bass fishing .
    Moderator of Beginners n Mentoring forum
    Takeum Jigs


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    Thanks for the suggestions, I will certainly be trying some of them. One thing I forgot to mention, and actually probably a pretty important thing, The fish I found were in a channel that cut right up next to the rock bank and also ran in front of a small cove........... In any case thanks again for the help.

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    Another thing you can try is looking at the Ohio forum and find your lake. Some lakes will have reports, and others will have lots of guys who fish that area and will help with some advice

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    Im going with jig weight. Had a similar experience last week, over fish on a sunkin log, one or two then nothing. Tried different colors, differnt styles etc but no luck. Then it occured to me, maybe it was the weight of my jig head? Havent been crappie fishing for months and just grabbed a jig at 1/8th ounce and tied it on. I remembered that my best luck has always been on 1/16 - 1/32 ounce jigs. Switched to a 1/16 dropped it down and bam, I got one, then another and another. Why would the jig weight matter so much I thought, then paying attention to my jig on the fishfinder answered my question. The jig was falling at less than have the speed and the reaction of the fish to that change was dramatic. On the heavier jig they would come up and look but turn away. With the lighter jig they would come up and look, pause than suck it in. Im finding its better to use a lighter jig even if you need a split shot 12 inches above to get it down there.

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    Ok, I'm no expert but I will tell you what I've found this fall. The lighter the jig the better the bite, I use a 1/16 or 1/32. I have been marking fish for two months in large groups just stacked but they are only biting for 1-2 hr periods . I usually catch them right at daybreak best.we even tried the lights with better success.

    Find the fish, then what time they are biting and then work on your presentation. Good luck with your ventures.

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    Great information on this thread, crappie newbie myself. I'm really glad I took the time to read all the posts. Anytime I use a 1/8 or 1/16oz jig for perch it's usually on a dropshot type rig to get to the bottom quickly. Allowing a 1/16oz jig to sink on it's own is something I would have never tried...the presentation makes complete sense after reading the article posted above.

    I am heading out Sunday strictly targeting crappie which is a first for me. I am lucky enough to have intel the crappie are hugging docks and piers in 5-10 FOW. Is vertical casting still recommended should I try and shoot a float with minnow/jig in the shadows? Thanks for your time

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