Very new to crappie fishing

I'm relatively new to crappie fishing, I have access to a private crappie house where I've caught everything except for crappie while a few people are pulling them out left and right. I've mainly used minnows, but I picked up some pink tube jigs, crappie nibbles, a dental syringe to inject the crappie nibbles into the jigs, and inherited my grandpas crappie setup(Abu Mitchell 308 from the late 50's/early 60's I believe, still works like a charm!)

I'm gonna try again this weekend, fishing after a cold front unfortunately, but I'm still a bit unclear on how to work the jig. I've never been real good with artificials. I read crappie Pappy's article on vertical casting, but is there anything else I need to know?

Let me first say welcome to the family. Secondly what color is the water where you are at "Visibility" wise? Also how deep are you fishing, are you fishing around structures, ect ?

Drop me a pm with your address in it and I will send you a few different plastics to try.


Bobo

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CatfishDave

I'm relatively new to crappie fishing, I have access to a private crappie house where I've caught everything except for crappie while a few people are pulling them out left and right. I've mainly used minnows, but I picked up some pink tube jigs, crappie nibbles, a dental syringe to inject the crappie nibbles into the jigs, and inherited my grandpas crappie setup(Abu Mitchell 308 from the late 50's/early 60's I believe, still works like a charm!)

I'm gonna try again this weekend, fishing after a cold front unfortunately, but I'm still a bit unclear on how to work the jig. I've never been real good with artificials. I read crappie Pappy's article on vertical casting, but is there anything else I need to know?

---

Dave ... if others are catching Crappie from this "house", then they were obviously there for some reason .... likely it was cover. Crappie love cover ... for the shade (ambush potential), for their own protection from predators, and because baitfish love it for the same reasons. These "others" may have been fishing over/around the cover, or a portion of the cover that the fish were using at the time ... while you may have been fishing where there was little to no cover, or a portion of the cover that wasn't being used at the time.
If you can, move around the house as much as possible ... trying the Vertical Casting method. The post cold front conditions will likely put the fish deeper than normal, and may cause the fish to be a bit sluggish/light biting ... but, that's not always the case. That's the beauty of the Vertical Casting method, in that you cover the entire water column and present a slow moving offering.
Bare in mind that the 308 will probably take up quite a bit of line per turn of the handle, so reel it as slow and steady as your nerves will allow ... probably at least a 5 second count per revolution of the handle. But, play with that ... changing now & then to a 3 second count or 6 second count.
If the water is over 20ft deep .... you may want to add a splitshot sinker about 8-10" up the line from the jig. This will not only help you get the jig down deeper/faster, it will help keep the line taut, as well as help transmit light bites to the rod tip. The downside to using the added sinker is that it will not help with "lift bites" (which I described in the article as "sudden slack line").

"Most" of the time, a Crappie bite on a jig is a single "tap, tic, or thump" ... so set the hook as soon as you feel it. Don't take time to consider whether or not it was a "bite", or second guess yourself.

... luck2ya

... cp :kewl

Thanks for the advice so far! The water is very clear, so I use a 4lb fluorocarbon leader. I've fished the areas where I've seen crappie being caught, but I'll definitely reel a lot slower. The reel I'm using is a very small spool spinning reel with 150 yards of 10 lb braid on it. I have no idea if there's structure like submerged trees,as it's very deep, along a drop off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CatfishDave

Thanks for the advice so far! The water is very clear, so I use a 4lb fluorocarbon leader. I've fished the areas where I've seen crappie being caught, but I'll definitely reel a lot slower. The reel I'm using is a very small spool spinning reel with 150 yards of 10 lb braid on it. I have no idea if there's structure like submerged trees,as it's very deep, along a drop off.

---

Dave ... I have one outfit with braid. When I use it to Vertical Cast, or vertical jig with, I have a #4 splitshot sinker on the line ... about 8" above the jig. Now, I'm not fishing "clear" water, by any means ... so your fluoro leader may be a necessity for you. In any case .... braid seems to be "lighter" than mono (it wants to float, rather than sink), and the sinker helps drag it down & keep it tight. It can also help free a hung-up jig, by bouncing/shaking the rod tip so that the sinker drops below the jig ... and the weight of the sinker pulls the jig loose.

If you have 150yds of nothing but braid on your reel ... you're wasting your braid. Generally speaking, most people put on 2/3 capacity of reel in "old" mono ... then finish filling with the braid. This keeps the slick braid from spinning around on the arbor of the reel spool, by giving the braid something to dig into. You also have more braid to fill other reels, or replace the braid you're using. And, if you're using hi-vis braid, its color will eventually fade ... or it may become somewhat frayed. If either of those presents a problem, you simply walk off the braid ... cut it loose from the mono backing ... walk to the faded/frayed end & retie it to the mono backing ... & reel it back on. Now you have "brand new" braid on the business end of your outfit !! And you're not lessening the amount of line retrieved per handle turn, like you would be if you simply cut off the length of affected braid.

One thing you might also consider, when fishing the "house", and considering that the water is very clear .... is Sun position. Crappie will seek shade, whether it's from obstacles above or below the surface ... or simply depth. Try and figure out the angle of the shade, in relation to the drop off or the underside of the "house" ... then pick your fishing spot in accordance with where the water column &/or bottom will be shaded the most.

I'm assuming this "fishing house" is floating ... so water levels of the lake may change, and if they do, so will the position of the drop off. If you're a frequent customer of this place, you might want to ask if cover could be added (either by you or the business owner). A concrete block tied to a dead cedar tree trunk ... then a rope tied to the top 1/3 of the tree & tied off & hung along the inside supports ... gives you some cheap & easily made cover, that will draw baitfish, which will in turn draw predator fish ... like Crappie !! It would also up the odds of fish being drawn to the "house" ... which would increase the profits of the business owner, by drawing in more customers (once they hear of increased catches). That's assuming, of course, that the owner charges to fish there.

... cp :kewl

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by crappiepappy

Dave ... I have one outfit with braid. When I use it to Vertical Cast, or vertical jig with, I have a #4 splitshot sinker on the line ... about 8" above the jig. Now, I'm not fishing "clear" water, by any means ... so your fluoro leader may be a necessity for you. In any case .... braid seems to be "lighter" than mono (it wants to float, rather than sink), and the sinker helps drag it down & keep it tight. It can also help free a hung-up jig, by bouncing/shaking the rod tip so that the sinker drops below the jig ... and the weight of the sinker pulls the jig loose.

If you have 150yds of nothing but braid on your reel ... you're wasting your braid. Generally speaking, most people put on 2/3 capacity of reel in "old" mono ... then finish filling with the braid. This keeps the slick braid from spinning around on the arbor of the reel spool, by giving the braid something to dig into. You also have more braid to fill other reels, or replace the braid you're using. And, if you're using hi-vis braid, its color will eventually fade ... or it may become somewhat frayed. If either of those presents a problem, you simply walk off the braid ... cut it loose from the mono backing ... walk to the faded/frayed end & retie it to the mono backing ... & reel it back on. Now you have "brand new" braid on the business end of your outfit !! And you're not lessening the amount of line retrieved per handle turn, like you would be if you simply cut off the length of affected braid.

One thing you might also consider, when fishing the "house", and considering that the water is very clear .... is Sun position. Crappie will seek shade, whether it's from obstacles above or below the surface ... or simply depth. Try and figure out the angle of the shade, in relation to the drop off or the underside of the "house" ... then pick your fishing spot in accordance with where the water column &/or bottom will be shaded the most.

I'm assuming this "fishing house" is floating ... so water levels of the lake may change, and if they do, so will the position of the drop off. If you're a frequent customer of this place, you might want to ask if cover could be added (either by you or the business owner). A concrete block tied to a dead cedar tree trunk ... then a rope tied to the top 1/3 of the tree & tied off & hung along the inside supports ... gives you some cheap & easily made cover, that will draw baitfish, which will in turn draw predator fish ... like Crappie !! It would also up the odds of fish being drawn to the "house" ... which would increase the profits of the business owner, by drawing in more customers (once they hear of increased catches). That's assuming, of course, that the owner charges to fish there.

... cp :kewl

---

Thanks again for the added advice! I've got about 5-8 yards of mono backing underneath the braid so it should't spin around the spool. I just put it all on because I only have one crappie set up, plus it was 8$ due to a sale. I majority of my fishing has been done for cats/carp/saltwater fish, so I only have the one light rod, for now... And yes, its a floating house, but its managed by the property owners association, so I'd probably need to go through them. That's a very good tip about the shade, looks like it'll be cloudy for the next few days, but I'll take that into account for sure when the skies clear.