Thread: Conway in Summertime

One hast to remember it is a Black Crappie game for the most part on Conway Now. As the weather warms the white crappie spread out far and wide across the lake and become very difficult to catch until the end Sept, not to say you wont catch whites but they are for the most part spread out far N wide now in the timber. So thus the game is now turned to Black crappie, which take over the trees in the summer. Now is the time to downsize on Conway with Midsouth tubes or Lil Hustler tubes and tip with a nibble. Fish the trees the same way you do in the spring for whites and also pay attention to big logs and lay down's which are at an angle in the water. If traditional vertical jigging isn't working, Pitch your jig along side the lay downs or shady pockets in the trees and let it pen-dale back towards the boat. A 1/32 head is deadly on Conway doing this because the slow fall is what they like in the typical 5-8 feet of water. Every now and then a 1/8th oz head can catch them but this is not the norm in the summer. Remember crappie on Conway become very picky with the colors you throw at them, so change often and if you find a color that catches you a few fish very rapidly, stick with it for a good while and chances are you will catch them elsewhere with that color. The best advice I can give you is do what I call Stick and Move in the trees, until you find a spot where they are biting then slow down and work the area. Remember to try and down size your jig head. Lastly always remember the game is for the most part played just a foot or less off the bottom no matter what depth your fishing, If that Pedal bite is working, even then... make sure your jig is arching close to the bottom and extend the pitch by slowly moving your rod tip laterally when it bottoms out.Good Luck To Ya and God's Speed.

Thanks for the heads up Russ. None of that ever entered my mind. I have been using a 1/8 plain lead jig head with a 2" electric chicken or black/chartreuse joker. Next time out, I will try the techniques suggested. Paul.

1/32 or 1/16 Pink fire pink head with with Black N white eyes, Chartreuse head with black eyes n pink ring around eye

Originally Posted by CrappiePro

1/32 or 1/16 Pink fire pink head with with Black N white eyes, Chartreuse head with black eyes n pink ring around eye

Good stuff Russ! I just happen to have those jig colors.

Originally Posted by CrappiePro

One hast to remember it is a Black Crappie game for the most part on Conway Now. As the weather warms the white crappie spread out far and wide across the lake and become very difficult to catch until the end Sept, not to say you wont catch whites but they are for the most part spread out far N wide now in the timber. So thus the game is now turned to Black crappie, which take over the trees in the summer. Now is the time to downsize on Conway with Midsouth tubes or Lil Hustler tubes and tip with a nibble. Fish the trees the same way you do in the spring for whites and also pay attention to big logs and lay down's which are at an angle in the water. If traditional vertical jigging isn't working, Pitch your jig along side the lay downs or shady pockets in the trees and let it pen-dale back towards the boat. A 1/32 head is deadly on Conway doing this because the slow fall is what they like in the typical 5-8 feet of water. Every now and then a 1/8th oz head can catch them but this is not the norm in the summer. Remember crappie on Conway become very picky with the colors you throw at them, so change often and if you find a color that catches you a few fish very rapidly, stick with it for a good while and chances are you will catch them elsewhere with that color. The best advice I can give you is do what I call Stick and Move in the trees, until you find a spot where they are biting then slow down and work the area. Remember to try and down size your jig head. Lastly always remember the game is for the most part played just a foot or less off the bottom no matter what depth your fishing, If that Pedal bite is working, even then... make sure your jig is arching close to the bottom and extend the pitch by slowly moving your rod tip laterally when it bottoms out.Good Luck To Ya and God's Speed.

Great info, thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by ibmack

where do you buy those colors? bates, bps, ??

The round head is the head of choice on Conway, I have bought many different heads at many different places over the years, they all seem to work at one time or another. The important thing... is to LOOK for 16th and 32nd heads with painted multi colored painted eyes in the colors I mentioned earlier along with orange or pink, I like the eyes painted on the jig to be a little large in comparison to the jig head and the hook to be a slightly larger hook as compared to the weight of the head. Summer Conway Crappie love Multi colored painted eyes, and Crappiepro style trimmed tube tails of two to four strands left on each side of the hook. It is important to always keep the number of strands equal and length even on both sides of the hook to make the bait look as natural as possible, or your strike rate will suffer. I always tip with a nibble when fishing the summer trees of Conway. Conway Crappie are very picky critters in the summer, and that is what I love about them. It is the chess match they represent on any given day. Unlock the secret detailed bait they want on any given day... and you can put some great catches in the boat. Just when you think you figure it out..... it may last a trip or two but you can be sure it will change and you find yourself on the hunt for them again. I most always use a quality 8 lb test floro or mono clear or camo line.