excellent when I can catch fish midday in different areas

[Spoonminnow]

I waited to go fishing until the clouds moved in around 12pm. These areas held fish:
1. shallow flat with rocks or weed clumps
2. deeper water off the flat
3. under shady branches where the shore dropped fast into deeper water or was at least 3' deep
4. shallow cove (4' deep) shoreline

Crucial was a light wind. Once it became still - few to no bites.

Even got to try out a marabou jig I tied that morning:


(The Joker tail hybrid wasn't used)

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

There's just something special about catchn crappie on a jig you make yourself.....
Sound like you figured then out.....

[Spoonminnow]

What has become the norm is catching all species in ALL sizes and it shocks me still !!! Now if I can only catch them on surface lures.....
Any suggestions?

[skeetbum]

Tiny pop-r. About an inch and a half, color is a local factor. Not expensive so buy a few. Work best for me with the smallest duo lock snap you can find. If it fouls a lot during casting, dump the snap. Some lines work better than others.

Nice hand tie there spoon, and the fish clearly like it. Might try a chartreuse head on it.

[Spoonminnow]

Thanks, but never a believer in painted jig heads - too much of a distraction from the lure if not a perceived change in lure size. Every fish & lure photo posted on crappie.com shows an unpainted jig.

[Crestliner08]

Excellent fishing!

[franklin fisher]

That sounds like great fishing. Nice looking jig.

[Ketchn]

back when I saw crappie taking grasshoppers off the surface in the late summer months a few times .
it might be worth while to give a small bug imitation a try ?
looks like a fun day congrats

[Spoonminnow]

What a big shutdown as compared to that day !
Now the lake is near the end of the sunfish spawn,
the surface water temp is 78 degrees and getting warmer,
schools of small fish were mid-depth in over +15' of water,
only one location pattern worked (in the shade under overhanging branches requiring lures to be skipped)
few lure types working with downsizing both lures and jig weight necessary for the slowest presentation
bright, sunny cloudless sky with almost no wind
yucky vegetation species fish don't hang near in the shallows

Here's what the lake looked like:


18 fish are all I could manage: sunfish, bass, rock bass from 9am-2pm - no crappie

Now, if I had started fishing after 2 pm as a severe front was moving in (thunder and heavy downpour), it might have been different. But at least I confirmed that certain lure designs caught fish under the toughest bite yet on this lake:


marabou jig:


clear stubby tail:


The spike tail caught the most fish rigged on a 1/32 oz jighead:

[catchNgrease]

Is this a pumpkin seed/shell cracker hybrid?

Sent from my E6810 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app