What are these?

[fisherdog19]

I've gotten into the crappies pretty good on a lake near my home and upon cleaning some of them I have checked their stomach contents. They all seem to be gorging on some sort of small, red worm that is about 3/4" long and barely thicker than a paper clip, and am wondering what they are. They have been hitting all size crappie minnows ferociously and think its because they are sick of eating all those worms, any thoughts? Once again, thanks for the input. By the way, I am fishing over a very, very, soft bottom in 22' that only shows an orange band on my LX3. Will sand show that soft or is it muck?

Fisherdog

[united jigsticker]

Sounds like blood worms.

Sand or gravel will show as a double signal. You are correct, you are over mud or muck witht he signal you describe.

I am betting when the sun goes down that the locator screen lightsup like a Christmas Tree and is barely usable.

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[FI Guide]

UJ: I never heard of these blood worms before this might be a good post to talk about email me and tell me about these worms

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Dan Ament
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[fisherdog19]

It lights up pretty good, but not as good as you describe. I had a hard time fishing two rods last night though. I'm not sure about the double signal, as I did not know to look for it, what would it look like.

Fisherdog

[BLACKJACK]

UJ, I saw that this weekend where my FL18 lit up like a christmas tree, I ended up turning it to the Normal mode so I was able to just see my bait above the column of flashes and sometimes I was able to get one to rise. What do you do when that situation arises?

[CrappieJohn]

They do sound like bloodworms. They are governed pretty much by available light...they will not come out to play until light levels are very low or dark. The crappies mentioned that really hammered minnows sound as though they are larger fish(?). Larger craps are opportunists and want dinner potions served up in larger portions if possible. They will feed on what is available, but if a minnow comes into view and appears to be struggling, they will change dinner venues very quickly. Doing minnows during this activity is perhaps the smartest ploy you could use, but I would opt to use smaller minnows which are still much larger than the worms.As daylight approaches, these critters retreat back into the mud and muck on the bottom.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[united jigsticker]

What is happening when the locator turns green and orange is a vertical plankton movement.

This happens at twighlight and dark in muddy areas, as the plankton comes up from the muck, or mud.

I usually do the same...Turn the gain down as low as I can but where I can still see my lure and the fish. Sometimes it gets a bit difficult, but on the right lakes at the right time, a slab Crappie bite is when the locator is almost un-readable.

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Good fishing,
UJ
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