Crappie fishing for 20+ years, Never caught a Crappie. Why?

[dustinscottt]

I can sit next to a buddy using same rig, same jig, same line, same hat, same glasses and He will catch his limit and I sit and watch. This has happened for 20+ years. XXXl I live 20 miles from Weiss Lake In Alabama and I cant catch a XXXX crappie to save my life. I was in the Coast Guard and had a small Tracker boat and I never caught a fish off it in Alabama, I can sit on a dock or I can get in a canoe and paddle to middle of a pond and I will never catch a fish. Now Here is the strange part, I can go to North Carolina and catch a record Brook Trout on the first cast or I can go to Florida and catch a 70" Sailfish for the first saltwater fish I ever catch But I cannot Catch a XXXX Crappie to save myself. What gives?

[Dlogfish]

Maybe fishing just ain't your thing.

[Mr. S]

Catching Crappie, detecting the bite is at times the hardest thing to master. I'm no master believe me, but I'm learning all over again after being away from fishing for 25 years. I was able to take a couple trips with a local fellow fisherman that is known for his crappie fishing prowess and the one thing I relearned, remembered is, watch your line if it does anything funny in anyway lift and reel!

[wolfhnd]

I would say your case is extreme but recently it has become clear to me that the people that always catch Crappie do not understand how hard it can be for others. It reminds me of trying to help my wife with college math. I thought she was purposely being dense and she thought I was a condescending jerk. A better example may be learning to ride a bike. Once you learn how to subtlety shift your weight it is hard to believe that riding a bike isn't as natural as walking.

When a slow retrieval or drifting will catch Crappie I catch as many as anyone else but I just can't get the hang of vertical jigging. I'm almost to the point of going back to live bait which I haven't used in forty years.

Like everything else in life people have different skill sets and some of it is not teachable because just like any other sport not everyone is equal. We can all play baseball but we cannot all play equally well. Once you get over comparing yourself to others your going to have a more enjoyable life.

You can catch Crappie just relax and get into your own groove.

[Crestliner08]

Sorry to hear about your situation. Every once in a while my partner & I will each, in turn, have what we call the "hot rod". That guy will catch and catch and catch.....while you sit there not getting anything. It happens. If you really want to learn to catch crappie, ignore the times when you are not successful and focus on your partner is doing. Duplicate what he is doing and sooner or later you will have the "hot rod".

[shipahoy41]

Welcome from Alabama. I am in Fairfield Alabama and used to have the same problem. The main things to have in your tackle box are to have confidence in the lure that you are using and then patience to fish the lure slow. When you think you are fishing slow you should slow it down some more.

99% of the time I will use a slip float rig with a 1/16th jig on a hook snap. Chartreuse or Pink are great choices for the jig head. If you are using soft plastic try a two inch combination color minnow stinger type lure. Black and Chartreuse, Chartreuse and White, Monkey Milk or Chartreuse and Pink would be excellent choices. If the bite is slow I change to a #4 hook and live minnow presentation under the slip float.

[BAMA S]

I can sit next to a buddy using same rig, same jig, same line, same hat, same glasses and He will catch his limit and I sit and watch. This has happened for 20+ years. XXXl I live 20 miles from Weiss Lake In Alabama and I cant catch a XXXX crappie to save my life. I was in the Coast Guard and had a small Tracker boat and I never caught a fish off it in Alabama, I can sit on a dock or I can get in a canoe and paddle to middle of a pond and I will never catch a fish. Now Here is the strange part, I can go to North Carolina and catch a record Brook Trout on the first cast or I can go to Florida and catch a 70" Sailfish for the first saltwater fish I ever catch But I cannot Catch a XXXX Crappie to save myself. What gives?

Come join us at neeley Henry for camp Thursday thru Saturday. There will be some good fishermen that might could help

[algenco]

I'm the other guy, I have fished with people like you that couldn't buy a bite.
In every case if I baited their hook they caught fish

When Berkley first released Fish Formula spray they claimed it neutralized L-Serine, an amino acid that fish hate.
Some people have very high levels. Fish can detect it at 1 part in 10 billion

Try some the fish attractant sprays

[try'n hard]

.....or just get algenco to bait your hook!

[Cane Pole]

Marie Laveau can fix your luck.