I've been shut out this winter with all the high muddy water
I have been fishing crappie for about 6 years, but i have done terrible in the winter months when the Crappie are deep in open water.
Just wanted to see if anybody had any advice or tips?
Thanks in advance! JD
Slow down or even dead stick. I use minnows in the winter to make them stay at it because it is often a very soft bite. Lots of time I just see the line jump or move sideways. I catch them on jigs, and fish jigs only spring, summer, and fall, but like that little extra help during winter. Be a line watcher!
Tony the Tiger, mijsivad LIKED above post
Well there can be no doubt they will be deep. At least in the rivers I fish they will be near a steep drop off of some kind, with access to shallow water. Also, against what I always thought, plain straight body jigs seem to do better then bait or curly tails. There are days like this past sunday when they were ready to chase a jig but many times they want the jig sitting totally still, just hanging with a couple of hops here and there. I fish all winter in Maryland and have seen more times than not that minnows are out fished by artificials almost always. Whenever a boat slows to ask how I'm doing Im never surprised when their " we got nuthin" reply is followed by " we are using minnows".
Zippy im not far away...im in PA 5 miles from MD border. So you know the weather we have had up here.
Thoughts After reading the replies. I do use jigs and I have SI and DI on my fish finder ... maybe I need to just slow down...
shortdraw LIKED above post
Let me ask how do you guys set up on the deep fish... ?
Vertical or cast and retrieve?
mijsivad LIKED above post
Bobby Garland Baby Shad Blue Thunder, Monkey Milk, and Patriot colors will do the trick for you. Drop it to the bottom reel up one SLOW SLOW turn at a time until you connect with fish, most of the time they will be around some type of structure so a depth finder will prove to be a useful tool. Oh I forgot Junebug /Chart tubes with nibbles in them. Hope this helps.
mijsivad LIKED above post
We call it dead sticking to! Cold water, below 40, I verticle most of the time, deeper than 10 feet I fish verticle. Thats not to say they can't be caught on a cast but its easier to drop it straight down and just hold it there. I watch the fishfinder most of the time since I love watching the reaction of the fish to my offering. Usually I will pull up to a spot I know always holds fish and drop my jig vertically. I will watch the fishfinder to see how they react. If they come up look then swim away I know Im in for a tough day. If they come up fast, look, then bite I know they are active and will start casting a little more. This past Sunday they were taking it both ways almost equally.
When casting jigs retrieval speed is key. Cast it out and let it sink, watch your line as its dropping, any twitch or side ways movement is a fish so set the hook. If you havent gotten a bite on the drop, start your retrieve by lifting your rod tip and letting the bait swing towards you. At the end of the swing (when the jig is most likely back on the bottom) real in the slack and do the same thing again. If they arent right on the bottom you can do a painfully slow reel as you lift the rod tip, that will get the jig up a little more. I saw some guys this weekend reeling at what would be a normal retrieve speed any other time of the year and knew they were gonna be skunked, their jigs were probably a foot unter the surface 90% of the cast.