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How to time ,tip of the week
One thing for certain when you fish for crappie that I have found to be true over and over is it is not a random and easy fish to catch unless you are able to repeat whatever you did the time before .
So often times the exact same presentation as in cadence , depth and speed are critical to get bit again in the same spot at the same time . Now of course their are times when not much matters and if you can just get in the general area with a hook in the water and it is possible you might catch more than one .
But more often than not ,these fish want something and or everything just so so . Try to simulate whatever you did on your most recent bite over and over and pay attention to all the little details . The fall rate , the speed you are moving it and the addition or lack of twitches to cause erratic or not so erratic movement .
During the warmer months these fish seem to like a jig that has got a fair amount of twitches involved . Little tiny twitches seem best to me and often while you raise or lower the bait VERY slowly . Now in some cases a curly tail bait will take care of the movement in this general area and quite often its the ticket on the fall more than the rise from what I have seen . I notice on feather jigs and straight tails it seem to be on the rise with tiny twitches this time of year for whatever reason .
Fast forward to yesterday , I roll up on a really shallow boat ramp courtesy dock , 3 people fishing it at 1pm and its blistering hot outside . They have 4 bluegill in a bucket and say everyone since sun up says the fish are not biting and that's the only fish anyone has caught there today .
Number one thought in my mind is good ,that means all the fish are still down there.
Number two thought in my mind is they will leave soon as its beat down hot there .
So I just chatted a bit and sure enough within 5 minutes they packed up and left .
I still had my mask on when it started and the bite was really good !
The first few were real small and I thought there is likely larger fish in this mix . Sure enough as the bite grew better so did the fish size .
Here is the tricky part . All the fish were tight to one small area and the bait had to move past them at just the right speed and depth with just the right amount of tiny twitches as it went bye that area or you would NOT get a bite !
I managed to land 19 in 45 minutes and lost at least 2 that had that big ole slab feel and missed or had minor hook ups on lots more fish . I started to pour sweat close to leave time and got a light headache and knew I was done even thought the fish were not .
Why did I lose or miss or lightly hook so many I don't know for sure ,but I do know when I made a cast if I simulated what was working to the mirror degree it got bit EVERY time.
So in closing this read ,the tip of the week is imitate the last bite presentation and pay attention to all the small details . It could mean ALL the difference between they are not biting and a bunch of fish !
Stay tuned and KABOOM :cheers2
p.s. yes I tried my new straw hat and yes the fish were all released
