Vertical Jiggin

[Cmj]

I love Crappie fishing, period. I spiderrig when I feel the urge, I have even been known to pull out the casting rig and toss a bobber at the bank. But vertical jigging brush is by far my favorite method for putting slabs in the boat. I love that thump at the end of about ten ft of line! Give er a tug and that big ole sow slowly comes to the surface, and after a little bit of thrashing, lays on her side, beautiful!! This method works well for me because I can keep moving, maybe i'm a little ADD!! When I find some brush that is holding fish, I toss out a buoy and drop my lines and work the brush over real good, trying different depths as I move in, over and around the brush. If I dont catch any in a few minutes, I am outta there and on to the next one. If I catch one, I will stick around until it slows down, then im gone!! I have seen people sit on the same top all day and it seems to produce well for them. So, I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. So I want to hear from the guys that share the same affection for this style of fishing. How do you do it, any tips or tricks that you have learned over the years that has worked well for you? I am always looking to improve my skills!!

[river scum]

you got that rite brother! no funner way to catch them.

basic tips would be- be silent, use sent, jig slow on the up swing so you dont snag, if you get snagged dont set the hook! lol (if you dont bury the hook most times a gentile shaking will free it), you pretty much covered the move move move, be willing to change color and jig size, find depth zone and stay in it, learn to read the weather, dont fish your best spots when others are around. lol

no way to tell it all. jigging brush is a learned feel. every spring i have to get back into the groove. it takes concentration to feel around in a snagy pile without getting hung and ruining the bite there. i too share the love of the jig CMJ. FISH ON BRO FISH ON!

[Locator79]

You do it, just like I do, but I'm a little less patient. My trolling motor is always turning unles I find the mother load. I took me a while to get the knack for vertical jigging, but now I have a jig pole in the boat every time I leave the house.

[Lonestar Proud]

I too love vertical jigging better than any other technique, so much so that I'd rather catch one slab from a brush pile or submerged timber 20'-30' deep than five fish up shallow. I'll pitch jigs to shallow cover, use a slip bobber, shoot docks, dip weed beds, and spider rig also, but deep vertical jiggin is my favorite way to catch them hands down! I'm the opposite of Locator79, I'll stay longer than I should when I know fish are under me (downscan/sidescan), I'll switch colors and depths with each color just trying to make em bite. I know I should stay moving when the fish aren't actively hitting but I just keep thinking "five more minutes and they'll turn on" LOL!! Another thing is to have spots to fish no matter what the wind is doing so you always have options of places to go. My favorite spots are areas where I have cover from 12' deep out to 25-30' deep in a very short distance. This way the fish don't have to leave the area, they just need to move a few yards to deeper water and stay in the same cover.

[genec]

Lonestar,I fish somewhat like you do ,however if I fish where Cmj was fishing I would hit each thee quick and move so how one fish should be determine by each lake he fish, I fish mostly BP but I first cast to it before I jig over it

[Cmj]

I do fish Lake Conway a lot, which has thousands of Cypress trees. That is a tricky technique to learn as well. I was mainly referring to jigging brush piles in open water, but the methods are sort of interchangeable.

[Bronson]

I love tightlining too and have to admit my biggest fault is staying in one spot too long. However, I usually wind up scratching one up if I stay with it. Funny thing is I know it would be more productive to move and I'm always excited to see what the next brushpile has too offer. Many times, I will find one that has more fish than the other brushpiles.

I like usng crappie nibbles anytime I'm tightlining. I lay several up front so the air can dry them out a little. This helps them stay on the hook longer. Use a plug knocker (sinker) to knock jigs that get hung up. Also use a heavy enough jig that you can feel it when it bumps into a limb. I've had hits on light jigs that were a few feet behind me, draped over a limb when I thought they were directly under me.

I love casting for them too but if it's deep enough, I'm going to follow it up by tightlining. Try the fluorocarbon knot (can be found on youtube) and pull the line towards the point of the hook. This way the jig stays horizontal. I've found in most cases short graphite rods of 5 1/2 feet work better than the longer graphite rods. I love fluorcarbon line (I used Seaguar's CarbonPro until they quit making it.) Now I'm almost out and haven't found anything I like as well.

[skeetbum]

Fishawk showed me a good way to fish like this and I'm now hooked on it as well. For me it's a winter or colder weather pattern. Butt on the front seat, eye's on the electronics, foot on the tm, and an 8' BnM bgjp with braid and flouro in each hand. As the brush hits the screen you lift the foot off the tm, the wind slows you down and the 1/8oz jigs come under you into the pile and the rod goes "THUMP" with authority!!. Lift the rod and the fish doesn't come up. Set the other rod in the hi-tek and start liftin the pig. Such great fun!! I still fish other methods but that has my heart. The braid has such contact that the rod jumps in your hand, and light bites don't often get past me. The rods are light and balance well so it's no effort to hold them for hours. I lived in FL over 30 yrs and chased all kinds of fish but this has got to be up there with the best.

[Cmj]

I like the idea of the sensitivity that braid would give me, but I rely on the stretch that I get from mono on the hookset. Did you have to train yourself to hold back while using braid, or do you set the hook the same? I try to cross their eyes when they bite!!!

[Lonestar Proud]

I use braid exclusively on all my jiggin poles because of the sensitivity it provides, if the water is real clear I will add a floro leader about 4' long. When a jig is at a 25' or deeper depth, I believe the increased sensitivity has allowed me to put more fish in the livewell than when I used mono. I use Fireline HiViz 10# test / 4# diameter. The added benifit of braid is that I don't lose very many jigs. The braid will straighten the sickle hook and I just keep bending them back to original shape till they finally just break the hook shank. I'm sold on braid and will probably never switch away from it unless something with even more sensitivity is developed.

I've never seen the need to "rip lips" sitting the hook on crappie, especially with braid, sickle hooks are very,very sharp and the majority of the hooksets with sickle hooks are through the top of the mouth/nose area and are solid hookups, at least in my experiance anyway. The motion I use on hooksets probably resembles the speed/quickness in which I'd pick up a ringing telephone, it works for me.