Jigging technique

[BLACKJACK]

What technique do you use when jigging crappies, especially when you see your hook/bait merging with a rising crappie on your Vex? I'll try to set the hook right away when the lines meet and get nothing. Seems like I have better luck if I wait to feel the tap, then actually lower the rod tip 1 inch, and then set the hook. But its still a 50/50 proposition. Or lots of times you don't feel any tap, even when the red lines merge. What technique do you use?

[This message has been edited by BLACKJACK (edited 01-12-2004).]

[CrappieJohn]

When you see the fish approach your bait, try raising your lure about five/six inches real slowly and then slowly jig it down to the fish and watch that line. The slightest of belly in it , set the hook.

------------------
Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]

[united jigsticker]

I do the keep away thing as Tom described, although I might pull it away as many as 2 feet in order to get the Crappies to "give chase".

This will account for a more aggresive hit.

Watching your line is about as sensitive a method of detecting a bite as you'll get, just so long as there isn't too much wind bowing it, or you have any kinks or curls in your line somewhere down the hole.

The timing hook-set can be effective as well. Try a thousand-one or a onethousand-two count once the signals line up before setting the hook.

------------------
Good fishing,
UJ
[email protected]

[CrappieJohn]

Another consideration here is the line itself. I find that you do not need heavy line, nor the super braids, to catch craps and sunnies. My ice fishing pannie rigs are threaded up with #2 flourocarbon...period. This line is inherently stronger than the listed strength, my two pound being more like a 5 pound line and I do not experience coiling or looping as in some of the monos-even the so called ice lines. Flouro sinks and will assist in getting smaller jigs down quicker. The amount of "feel" is uncanny and stretch is also limited and much less that the equivilent size mono. Flouro does not transmit light to the lure either...it is only as apparent as the water you are fishing in- it disappears.

------------------
Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]

[BLACKJACK]

CrappieTom, I tried two pound once, had a hard time with it, tying, breaking, etc, so I normally go with 4 pound, sometimes 6 if I'm also going to be walleye fishing. Guess I could get some of that 2 pound flourocarbon and try again. Flourocarbon is the key, huh? Gearing up for Red later in the week, is it strong enough for them too?

[CrappieJohn]

Blackjack... If you think about everything you want in your mono, but find it lacking in an area or two from what the maker boasts, then flouro is the answer. I am assuming that you have reliable tackle...namely your reels. Be sure that the drags are effective. Two pound Vanish is what I spool up with for winter crappie and sunnies and at least two of the long rods for spring use have flouro on them. Yes it is a dog to try and tie and yes it is hard to see in low light, but the benfits of using it by far outweigh the demerits. One word of warning if you think of using this line in the warmer weather on long poles...do not try and bobber fish with it. This line sinks and the loop between your rod and the bobber will sink to the bottom making hooksets darned near impossible. If you are tossing jigs, ok...nada for the floats. For ice fishing, when everything seems to have a critical aire to it, flouro is hard to beat.

------------------
Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]

[7 grand kids]

Just another vote for Crappie Tom's method. I would guess that 80% of my crappies are caught with light jigs, euro, no bobber, and a slow drop down watching for the kink or loop in the line. The line is the bobber. Will give the Vanish a try, the 3 lb micro ice seems to work ok for me.

Good fishin.

[Matt Johnson]

Tough question, I guess it all depends on the way a fish approaches and mood or the type of presentation I'm using.

I typically like to work in a jiggle-pause sequence when targeting crappies and gills. Sometimes a constant kick is needed to catch fish as well. And then there are those days where no movement at all takes all the fish.

When working a horizontal jig I like to get that back end "kicking", where only the back end moves slightly up and down. When using a piece of finesse plastic that is dynamite and the action is awesome, that little tail/slice wiggles just perfect.

Vertical jigs get more of a pounding action and you are trying to immitate plankton/shrimp/etc that are "hopping" through the water column.

Working a spoon can be different and fished more aggressive for crappies. When fishing minnows I like to let the minnow do most of the work, so jigging is minimal.

With so many jigs and styles to choose from the options are endless, and so many different jigs call for different actions. And not mention the mood of the fish. Aggressive fish get an aggressive approach, and negative fish get a slow approach, etc.

Sometimes off the wall methods catch a lot of fish, methods that are made up by you while out on the ice.

If you get a chance to sight fish through the ice in shallow water take the opportunity. You will learn a lot and it will make you a better fisherman after you soak in all the things you "see". Little things that you never thought made a difference make all the difference in the world. Paying attention to tiny details can mean more and bigger fish when the times are tough, and even sometimes when the fish are swimming around in kamikaze mode.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

------------------
First Choice Guide Service

[email protected]
Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[BLACKJACK]

Thanks Crappie Tom, I will spool one of my rods with that flourocarbon and try it, the first place I stopped to look didn't have it in 2#, just 6. Always fun to try something different besides drowning a minnow.

And thanks guys for the other tips on jigging.

[CrappieJohn]

Blackjack...Another little trick to help you stay on fish once you find them at a certain depth is to put one of those small football shaped bobber stops on your line. Use the lead sounder to find bottom quickly and set the stop right at the water line with the weight all the way down. Reel in, bait up and drop to the marker. As you fish your way thru the water column, adjust that stop to show where you are at...if you raise up two feet to fish different water, raise the stop two feet. When you get into fish you can re-bait and get right back to that general depth quickly. These little stops are as light as air and will be of little influence on your ability to see the hits by watching your line. Once you become accustomed to fishing in this manner, you will toss bobbers out the window for ice fishing and you can fish any sort of lure without having to do much with the line. Try it, you'll like it!

------------------
Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]

[BLACKJACK]

Crappie Tom, what are those football shaped ones made out of? rubber? I was looking for string bobber stops yesterday, they didn't have any, so I was looking at other types but I didn't see any football shaped...

I'm trying to learn to fish without a bobber, I've always tried to keep my bobber barely floating, now with the vex and learning to jig for walleyes, I'm trying the same technique with crappies. Nowadays when I crappie fish I keep one with a bobber and one without, jigging. It gets frustrating when you can see fish on the vex, but can't get them to bite. But seeing them and being able to try different things is better than not seeing them at all!!!

[CrappieJohn]

Blackjack....You are doing things as you should...one line with a float and one without. The fish will let you know which one will yield. You can use string stops as well, but when they get wet they get heavy and can end up messing with your ability to read a hit. The ones I am referreing to are rubber. I've seen them in natural color and black and red. The size you want to use are just little bits of things...maybe the size of a pinhead. Snoop around, they are quite popular.If no luck, Cabelas has them but they are shaped a bit different and will work as well.

------------------
Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]