Impatient

[LazyKB]

I just read a post by Grainraiser about bass fishermen and how fast they move. I don't fish for bass but am extremely impatient with my crappie fishing. I am new, second year targeting crappie, and pretty much stick to minnows under a float. When I pull up to a tree or brush I make a cast. If nothing hits in say 30 seconds, I will cast to the other side. I do this three or four times and move on. Lots of times when I move I go over the area I was fishing and see fish on the fish finder. Moving too fast? How long do you sit? By the way when you see fish, at lets say eight feet, how deep do you fish. Crappie feed up right? How close do you try to get? Thanks will appreciate all answers and criticisms.

[DockShootinJack]

I believe most of the time crappie are skiddish fish. I like to sit a spell and let things settle down. I also slow down my retrieve. Finesse seems to work best for crappie.

[CentKyPaddler]

Until they are on the banks around structure I generally ride around watching graph for shad, crappie and structure. When I see what looks like crappie stacked up I try to drop the jig down just over their head. I have the best luck when I search until I find those three things as opposed to hitting previous spots or visible spots. Once I feel like I see a pattern I try to repeat.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[Grainraiser]

If your inpatient you may want to switch to jigs or plastics. You can work them much faster than a minnow. Regardless were I fish at start at two cranks from the bottom and move up two cranks every minute. If I get no bite I drop in a different area and repeat the process. I would rather fish a little faster than too slow.

[Kevind62]

That's a wide open subject to address. Fishing minnows really depends on where and when you are fishing. You can get away with fishing minnows of any size in deeper water during the summer and fall. If you're fishing springtime pre-spawn and during the spawn you need to make sure you're not using minnows over 2" long. I never used to believe this until I tested it myself many many years ago. Thought it was just an old fisherman's adage. I mean, after all, is the fish "that" selective when a meal comes in range???? The answer is yes. When I first started crappie fishing 25+ years ago, I too was a "minnows only" guy. I'd grab one out of the bait well and hook it up. I'd fish several spots and never get a bite and move on. After watching someone come in behind me and catch fish, I decided to see if there "was" any truth to the myth. I fished a tree top for about 20 minutes all throughout the top with a minnow between 2 & 1/2" and 3" long with not even a slight nibble. Pulled it off the hook, searched around for the smallest minnow I could find in the well and hooked it up. When it hit the water the float never stopped. It literally went down instantly. Nowadays, I buy minnows 100 at a time. Most all shops are not going to let you select the smallest ones out to purchase. The few that do will charge a premium, which is totally understandable and acceptable. After all, they get stuck with a bunch pf large minnows the bulk of their customers don't want. Anyway, I purchase 100 at a time. I cull through them and literally throw anything over 2" overboard, or if I see someone fishing at the launch I'll offer the culls to them. They make good catfish bait. This helps two ways, it catches more fish and saves the oxygen in the water. It may seem like a waste, but at the end of the day, you'll be throwing the bigger ones away anyway once you figure this out. I usually only have to cull out about a third of my minnows give or take.

Another crazy thing with crappie is their choice of food for the day. I try different baits everyday to see what works best. Ironically now, I always start with jigs. I'll only use minnows if I'm catching lots of fish on jigs and see that the larger fish are hitting the small minnows. I always try to have at least 25 - 50 minnows in the well every day I fish, whether I use them or not, so as not to limit myself on options. The irony is, I've had days I never caught a fish using minnows, but I have never had a day I couldn't catch fish on jigs. No explanation ever given by any fisherman I've ever heard to explain (lots of "theories" but nothing concrete) why a fish would rather feed on a piece of tasteless soft rubber, or hair, fake bait over a piece of real, live, natural bait. That would be like me going to my favorite burger joint and ordering a "vegan" burger. Makes absolutely no sense.

[Powerbait]

Oddly enough, I caught a couple of crappie on eurotackle popper.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[chaunc]

I just read a post by Grainraiser about bass fishermen and how fast they move. I don't fish for bass but am extremely impatient with my crappie fishing. I am new, second year targeting crappie, and pretty much stick to minnows under a float. When I pull up to a tree or brush I make a cast. If nothing hits in say 30 seconds, I will cast to the other side. I do this three or four times and move on. Lots of times when I move I go over the area I was fishing and see fish on the fish finder. Moving too fast? How long do you sit? By the way when you see fish, at lets say eight feet, how deep do you fish. Crappie feed up right? How close do you try to get? Thanks will appreciate all answers and criticisms.

Are you changing depths on your casts? That shallow, I use a bobber. Start high and work my way deeper before I give up on a spot. You might think the fish are 8ft but your transducer may be a foot or two under the water already. Move that bobber up or down until you find the right depth. Sometimes a 3” adjustment is all it takes to get biting.

[wannabe fisherman]

and Crappie feed up, not always, sometimes they feed down sometimes sideways.
truth is they will feed where the food is if it's close enough, especially if they're hungry.

[DockShootinJack]

The crappie started that feed up line to throw the baitfish think it was safe to swim underneath them

[Ketchn]

I don't "fish" fast much these days , patience if often the key element missing in the equation .
fish thoroughly and if it aint meant to be its time to try plan b
most spots get at least 10 minutes and that is to exhaust whatever scenarios tend to be productive before I sky out .