Felt the thump.

[LazyKB]

I feel like I have been working pretty hard learning to fish. I come here everyday, watch videos, and go to my little home lake, 140 acres, at least three times a week. Up until recently I was having a time getting crappie to bite. I have been trying different techniques with no success, I couldn't even get them to hit a minnow. I could see them in 12 -14 feet of water but could not entice them to bite. Now I admit I am not very patient. I won't let anything sit very long. Also I am pretty stubborn, I don't change colors as often as I should and I will stick with one locations if I know there are fish there. Last week I began to catch a few on minnows under a float in thick shallow brush. Still could not get the ones off shore to hit. I am a catch and cook fisherman right now. I don't catch enough to hurt them and I have a self imposed 10 inch limit, VA will let you keep 9 inchers, but I like to eat them. If I catch them on minnows under a float once then that's how I am going to fish next time. Yesterday I got on the water between 6:30 and 7:00, my usual time. I started my milk run, I pretty much know which downed trees will be holding fish by now, been at it since late Feb. I start out by trying to stay off the tree and casting to it's edge. By the time I leave I am sitting on top of it threading a minnow straight down through a tangle of branches. I caught three at my fist stop, things slowed and I moved on. I caught a couple at my second stop and moved on. This kept up most of the day. I used up all of my minnows and had kept six fish. I had brought some worms to see if the BG would bite, and tipped a Crappie Magnet with one. I got a few bites and managed to catch one. While watching the float I pulled out a jig and cast next to a downed tree. I got a tap. I kept casting until I got another, then I hooked a small crappie. I put the worms away and started working likely places with the jig. I would get tiny taps and think I had brushed a branch. I got ticked off and started jerking the rod. The next tap I got I caught a good sized BG. I went back over to my favorite stop and started getting taps there as well. Before I left I had pulled three nice crapping from the 12 foot water. The last really hit hard, my first thump. Do you remember your first time? I left for home at 6:00 PM, a long day for sure but felt like the haze was beginning to lift on this game.

[BobC]

Great photos and story. Enjoyed the ride along.
Bob

[DockShootinJack]

Congrats on the thump. It is very addictive. Great photos

[Fishnwiz]

Looks like a good day. I dock fish all winter, Sometimes I feel accomplished more on a slow day when I figure them out and catch a few more than the other guys then the days they hit anything you drop on them.


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[6poundtest]

Yea, you're hooked now for sure! They'll come a bit more frequently now, I'll bet, since you've gotten a feel for the hit on the jig and the minnow setup. The smile in the last pic says a bunch!

[catchNgrease]

Great report

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[BuckeyeCrappie]

[Ketchn]

one solid thump often seals the deal , nothing quite like a crappie taking it like they mean it .
congrats on your ketch and thanks for the read and images , good stuff for sure
KABOOM is the word my friend

[tackleboat]

Try to be a “Line Watcher”. You’ll be surprised how many Thumps you don’t feel because they knock slack in the line.


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[CrappiePappy]

Try to be a “Line Watcher”. You’ll be surprised how many Thumps you don’t feel because they knock slack in the line.


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True dat !! Experienced just that very thing this past Thur. Early morning fish were biting kinda timid, but later on in the day they were choking it. Several fish I caught did not "thump" , but the line went a little slack on the retrieve, prompting a hookset. But, yeah .... I've been a "line watcher" since I started casting jigs, several decades ago. That's what prompted me to go to hi-vis line as I got "older".