I've been livescoping Gaston lake the last couple of weeks. The bite is tough. I catch plenty but considering I'm putting the bait so close to the school that some fish get snagged i should be catching more fish. I never realized crappie were this finicky.
Jim
US Navy Gunner's mate 1984-1990
PPOWEL, I've also found that a great way to catch bass on Gaston is to go crappie fishing. In fact, some of the largest bass I have ever seen were right beside my boat pulling a struggling Crappie off a small jig.
I can tell you this... I am in the same boat (what a pun!). I have fished Harris for Crappie for a couple of years now, sometimes a couple of times a week, and cant buy a bite.
I have decent electronics, and can find em, but cant catch em. I even went to the dock at Holleman's, dropped a camera in the water, and watched the crappie stare at my jigs. I tried everything to get them to bite, but they would not. They would hover around it, and stare at it, but they would not bite it. I suspect that's what is happening out on the lake. I was surprised to see as many, and different types of fish right at the fishing dock in 6 feet of water.
BigDawgg LIKED above post
Sometimes I can catch'em on every cast so they don't have lock-jaw all the time. Late spring, early summer seems the best time for me at least, caught so many one time my son was asking to go home because he's "tired of catching fish" I thought I would never hear those words uttered. Rest of the year it's like playing the lottery.
clodhopper LIKED above post
As a livescope user I can relate to fish that gather around the bait but do not commit to a bite. One thing I do is vigorously twitch my jig up and out of the school for about maybe 5 vertical feet then let it free fall back down. Since I can see the fish, it actually starts to pull the fish out of a ball and into a more vertically oriented school that now your bait falls through. Competition takes over from there and fish will start to feed.
Thanks for this reply! This is the kind of info I need! I believe presentation, especially with jigs, is more important than color or style, and I think that's the part I am failing on.
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Mbsbeek thanked you for this post
Dynamite work great! Crappie will make you work hard for them. Maybe you need ugly jigs!
I'll also add this, if you have never tried the 2.5" gulp minnows that come in the sealed package then give them a try. Around $5 at Walmart. I try traditional jig bodies almost every time I fish but I usually end up fishing Gulps instead of regular jigs. They are very tender on the hook but they catch fish even when a live minnow won't.