Can you "Jump Start" feeding activity?

[Ranger690]

Wondering on the way home. If you had a location....say a brush pile, dock, hump or whatever that you knew crappie were there but would not bite. And assuming that the cover was not too deep......what would happen if you tossed a handful or two of minnows out into/on/around the cover?

Has anyone ever tried it? Would the crappie feed? Could it jumpstart the school to eat...and you follow up with minnows under corks or such?

What are your thoughts?

thanks,
Dayton

[deathb4disco]

Saltwater guys chum like this all the time. Chumming absolutely works. I've never done it specifically for crappie, but I've caught crappie while chumming for bluegills. I've heard of one guy in particular who chummed with small shad for bass and was very successful.

Chumming is an art, not a science, though. Most people chum WAY too much and mess it up.

I mostly chum for bluegill and carp, and it's deadly. The difference between chumming and not chumming is like night and day. You really have to see it to believe it.

[guest01]

yes it can work, I sometimes use cottonseed cakes, I will get on the brush or tree and if I know they are there but wont bite I take the cake and scrape it with a knife over the water. The bait that is there or near by will start a feeding frenzy and that will start the crappie to bite most of the time. you can get them from many places but I get mine from http://www.mealcake.com/id71.html

[crappielimits]

Save your crappie scales next time you clean fish in a mason jar with water. Scales are some the best chum for crappie.

[Jason Piper]

Save your crappie scales next time you clean fish in a mason jar with water. Scales are some the best chum for crappie.

I have seen this method work. I clean my fish at a dock where I have a lot of brush sunk around and I know fish are there all the time. After I clean fish and throw away the pieces parts fish usualy bite!

[chaunc]

After i put my boat away and i start shore fishing, i use freeze dried bait cubes. I believe the site is www.kastaway.com They're kodiak baits and they bring the fish in, in less than an hour on most days. I use them icefishing too. His pastes in the tubes work great in cold water.
http://kastaway.netstorekeeper.com/

[willfish4food]

Don't tell nobody but drop a sack of meal with small holes in the bag on your brush pile. SHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[pstone]

Or dog/cat food. Same principle, and it works

Don't tell nobody but drop a sack of meal with small holes in the bag on your brush pile. SHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[SweetHomeAlabama]

I've heard you can put some minnows in a mason jar and lower down in the water to bring the fish. I've never tried it though.

[jstlovtofish]

I've heard you can put some minnows in a mason jar and lower down in the water to bring the fish. I've never tried it though.

I've heard the same thing from several different folks. I have yet to try it either. Figured the crappie would give themselves a bloody nose from continuously running into that jar. Who wants to eat a crappie with a banged up face?:D