Noob at Crappie chasin’
Found a sweet little Crappie spot while out scouting around in the Kayak for places to ambush Sandies and Hybrids. Stopped back by this spot this morning to investigate a little closer.
I did great at dropping down a minnow on a #1 wire hook with a 3/8 ounce drop shot weight about a foot below the hook. Couldn’t hardly get the bail closed on the spinning reel before I was setting a hook and bringing one up. Liking this sort of action…I broke out the Ultra Light rig with 4 lbs test and begin to probe the waters with a 1/8 ounce jig with a silver body and deer hair/Maylar strands for a tail tied at the end of the line. Got a few this way but I missed a butt load of fish. I think I probably hooked about 1 fish for ever 10-15 bites I detected. (Never did this poorly on Bass of Sandies…) This was the first time I have used a jig for Crappie and actually caught some.
What can I do to increase the numbers of fish that I catch this way (jigging)? Do I need to rig differently? Do I need a larger or smaller Jig? Do I just keep at it or what?
The bites were light taps. In fact with minnows or a Jig you had to be a line watcher as this was the biggest indicator of a bite more often than not. The water is pretty murky and the fish are holding at 14ft deep. There appears to be minimal brush cover that’s only about 2ft off the bottom on a drop off. There is no weed bed and the bottom is a muck bottom. These fish appear to be on the small side compared to what I normally get during the spring spawn. They were running between 9-12 inches in length.
I would greatly appreciate some “spiritual enrichment” on the finer points of jigging for Crappie from anyone who has some to offer.