Neutral Crappie with empty bellies

[funfishers]

I'm not so sure it's always "neutral mood" Crappie that have empty stomachs. From my observations during cleaning, I'm estimating that over 80% of the time the fish's stomach was empty ... regardless of season, or the mood of the fish caught.
And yes, I have caught them with full stomachs ... most with Shad remains, but a few with "minnow" remains (and I may or may not have been using minnows at the time).

I am sure you are correct but it makes me wonder why? Do they just not eat at certain times, sometimes?
You are the expert on catching these critters, what is your advise?
Alan

[silverside]

Like everything else... blame it on covid

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[CrappiePappy]

I am sure you are correct but it makes me wonder why? Do they just not eat at certain times, sometimes?
You are the expert on catching these critters, what is your advise?
Alan

LOL !! ..... Alan, I'm FAR from being an "expert on catching these critters", so my only advise is keep going & keep experimenting.

As far as the "why" about empty stomachs ... probably due to what a lot of our members have already said : water temps, digestion speed, weather/water conditions, etc.

[NIMROD]

How do those lethargic fish take the bait? Soft subtle almost undetectable bite or do they hammer it. Did they travel any distance to hit it? Shooting docks on some days they hammer the bait. Feels lile a jolt of lightening running through the rod. Other days no detectable bite. The bait just doesn't feel quite right falling or you lost the feel of the bait falling. Sweep the rod up and fish on.

I had a friend , older professional fisherman call me last night . He has done lots of work for some of the big touraments and lure companies . He referred to watching fish in those protable tanks . Some times high pressure or whatever sit on or near the bottom . Like they are sleeping but they have no eye lids . They won't chase a bait but if presented right in their face will bite sometimes . Friday we had to hold the jig dead still right in the Crappie's face and then bite was light . Most just lip hooked not inhaled like when really feeding . I have read years ago about fish being in different moods and they called it a neutral mood .

[DockShootinJack]

I had a friend , older professional fisherman call me last night . He has done lots of work for some of the big touraments and lure companies . He referred to watching fish in those protable tanks . Some times high pressure or whatever sit on or near the bottom . Like they are sleeping but they have no eye lids . They won't chase a bait but if presented right in their face will bite sometimes . Friday we had to hold the jig dead still right in the Crappie's face and then bite was light . Most just lip hooked not inhaled like when really feeding . I have read years ago about fish being in different moods and they called it a neutral mood .

They are certainly a mystery. Finding the fish is only half of the equation. You still have tl convince them to bite

[BuckeyeCrappie]

I conserve my energy and calories consumed every fall , watching football a bit off the couch on Sunday afternoon and gorging on whatever food item comes close to my face as well ....

Me too buddy. Can I blame my girth on you food posts please?

BTW...going to do skirt steak and shrimp fajitas with pico and diced jalapeño this weekend thanks to you. Sound familiar?

[DockShootinJack]

Me too buddy. Can I blame my girth on you food posts please?

BTW...going to do skirt steak and shrimp fajitas with pico and diced jalapeño this weekend thanks to you. Sound familiar?

We appreciate photos in the food section

[Micanopy]

Kind of silly- me asking. Like some sort of scroll would be revealed, and after which we could all dependably avoid fishing on those bad days. Some of my best days fishing were when signs pointed towards staying home. Moon phases, barometers, anemometers and gyroscopes cannot know these things, so they cannot then describe fish behavior reliably. Hocus Pocus.

Everytime I go fishing I full well intend to catch fish, and if the planetary dynamic disagrees …. so be it. I’m not likely to credit such things for any success either. But thanks for the attempt to help me understand the subject. I am going to start keeping a captain’s log. I could imagine that to be useful.

Any ideas of what should be recorded in a captain’s log ?

[DockShootinJack]

I would want water temp, depth of fish caught. Current conditions, ( cloudless, blue skies and sunny. Average size of fish caught. Water clarity or the lack of. Those are a few of the things I would start with

[hdhntr]

most of the fish I clean I check their stomachs and most of the time they are empty. as they are supposed to be active at night when I ketch them in the morning always wonder why but then there are many things about our quarry that we won't ever understand or just guess at.