tinkering with jigs

[Spoonminnow]

up here where i fish in PA, i have yet to really know if the jig is going to make much difference, cause if i catch 4 or 5 that is a good day, rarely over 9 inches, but will keep trying, gonna head south after the holidays and see if we catch some good ones,

It's hard to believe that any water near you has no fish over 9" regardless the species. There's got to be many small lakes you can fish for crappie and everything else that bites light jigs with various bodies. JMHO but you should consider using much lighter jig heads and lures less than 2" long. Thin diameter lines such as 8#test/4# diameter braid can make all the difference how the lure moves with rod tip twitches/ pauses. Even a 4# test fluorocarbon leader can do the trick using 1/32, 1/24 or 1/16 oz ball head jigs.

Change waters, slow the retrieve and cast all over the place. 1/8 oz makes the above technique fish-uncatchable - especially when fish slow way down due to lowering water temperatures in fall. You'd even have a better chance using a float and light jig/small bait (hair or plastic). Fishing from a boat ups your chances 1000 %.

[chetc]

It's hard to believe that any water near you has no fish over 9" regardless the species. There's got to be many small lakes you can fish for crappie and everything else that bites light jigs with various bodies. JMHO but you should consider using much lighter jig heads and lures less than 2" long. Thin diameter lines such as 8#test/4# diameter braid can make all the difference how the lure moves with rod tip twitches/ pauses. Even a 4# test fluorocarbon leader can do the trick using 1/32, 1/24 or 1/16 oz ball head jigs.

Change waters, slow the retrieve and cast all over the place. 1/8 oz makes the above technique fish-uncatchable - especially when fish slow way down due to lowering water temperatures in fall. You'd even have a better chance using a float and light jig/small bait (hair or plastic). Fishing from a boat ups your chances 1000 %.

there are fish well over 9 inches, fish commission stunned some area's a few yrs ago, large bass are in there and a few musky over 65" one was 72", maybe these guys are controlling the crappie size. when i said 9" on the average, i was referring to crappie only, now we went out yesterday and actually had a good day, between my wife and I we probably caught 30 to 40 crappie and none were over 8", and yes we were using 4 lb mr crappie hi viz line, 1/8oz and some lighter jigs, baits were the typical 1.5 inch small body white baits, i believe were the Bob"s jigs Baby mini shed in white, or we had small minnow gulp in a silver color.

chet

[Spoonminnow]

Glad to hear you got numbers even if the size was limited. I rarely use 1/8 oz no matter the water especially if the areas usually fished are less than 12' deep.
Slower unsteady retrieves gets numbers and especially now with water temps getting lower. Low viz line might make a difference especially if using braid. Any other line types I've used just don't do it for me but may do it for others. Glad you got the numbers. Now it's time to fish different waters for quality fish even though I doubt the other predator species limited that quality.

[Bert]

why! well as i said i was tinkering, i made a simple drill jig, laid jig on it and drilled both sides to the same depth, i am going to use them when i feel a 1/4oz is a bit heavy, and also did the 1/8oz too, made a simple jig holder out of lexan to hold the jig to add layer or 2 or 40 lb braid for the plastic baits.

chet

See a tool maker at work. Retired this year, started machine work when I was 15 years old.

[chetc]

ahh, i see you are in the same boat,LOL, i retired in 09 at 63, been doing machinist work and printing press mods and designing for the majority of the time, love machining on lathes, bridgeports ect. i also tinkered with 2 stroke motorcycle and quad engines, i actually had a yamaha 350 banshee win the title in motocross in 1987, porting 2 stroke engines was one of my favorite hobbys, now it's all 4 strokes. then i got into bass tournaments and when i got my new job in 82 it required weekend work so that was it for tournaments, but still fished for bass, got bored then into archery with the family, when kids grew up archery was about done, the into shooting rifles at williamsport pa 1000yd competition for about 10yrs, now back into fishing, started early again this year for bass, caught some nice ones, now wife and i fish mostly and the crappie bug has bitten us. have made numerous tools and fixtures for custom rifle building and chambering.it's fun and especially when you get to shoot at targets and get groups that make ya smile. i probably said enough to bore most, but crappie is very challenging. and fun

chet

[chetc]

Glad to hear you got numbers even if the size was limited. I rarely use 1/8 oz no matter the water especially if the areas usually fished are less than 12' deep.
Slower unsteady retrieves gets numbers and especially now with water temps getting lower. Low viz line might make a difference especially if using braid. Any other line types I've used just don't do it for me but may do it for others. Glad you got the numbers. Now it's time to fish different waters for quality fish even though I doubt the other predator species limited that quality.

hi spoon minnow, you mentioned you rarely use 1/8oz are you saying go lighter or heavier, learning crappie fishing by the day LOL

chet

[CrappiePappy]

hi spoon minnow, you mentioned you rarely use 1/8oz are you saying go lighter or heavier, learning crappie fishing by the day LOL

chet

Lighter !! Most often used jighead weight is 1/16oz (for casting purposes).

[Alphahawk]

For casting...which is the only way I fish, I use 1.5 gram max and more often than not a 1 gram, and if not over 10 feet deep and zero wind I will go to a 1/2 gram. The 1.5 gram brought 108 crappie to the net this week for 3 days of fishing in 21 feet of water.


Regards

[Spoonminnow]

Hi Chet. There is a lot of different things you can do with a range of jig sizes and various plastic designs. Just a difference of 1/32 oz vs 1/16 oz can make or break a day depending on the day, seaon, etc. (BTW Ebay is a good source of ball head jigs as well as another I just discovered.) The whole point of using lures is finding what fish will attack based on lure speed, size, profile and action. Granted sometimes a trolled curl tail or Beetle Spin type lure works, but how and why a lure is used is crucial such as vertical jigging off bottom, float fishing or parallel to the bottom retrieves.

The amount of time in a fish's sphere of attack is crucial followed by how often a lure irritates fish to strike. 1/32, 1/24, 1/16 oz ball head jigs get it done for using most lure shapes, actions and sizes, but the combination of jig head to plastic lure design is the somewhat tricky as is hook size. Find those combinations and you always have on board lures that in my experience outproduce jig heads lighter or heavier than the above.

JMHO and one of many pieces of advice that catch fish
Frank

PS. there is no such thing as a crappie lure. Most lures catch most species if they're any good.

[chetc]

i will have to try lighter jigs, yesterday's fishing was windy, small white caps on the water, i had one heck of a time casting 1/8oz with 4lb mono, had to use both my anchors, season is just about over here in PA, i can count on one hand this season when water was calm where we fish, as i mentioned in one of my post the crappie in this lake are mostly in the 7 to 9 inch range, with a one time 16 or 17 inch crappie, but next season will bring me to get to lakes where there are larger crappie, going to go somewhere around the end of feb travel around 600 miles or so heading south, hope to find some places where we can catch some nice crappie, my wife is so far a cancer survivor, she really enjoys herself on the boat, she has a ways to go,but glad to have her along, her first 3 month check was last week and so far everything is clean, she had an hysterectomy last feb, 5 chemo treatments and 3 radiation treatments, it was tough for her, hair loss ect, but she is stronger than i thought to fight thru this. she is constantly looking on the web for different baits, she is having fun.

chet