rigging up lures

[ivegottabite]

this may seem like a dumb post but help me out. i am just getting into this crappie business and have run into a couple problems. looking for some input. how close do you guys run your split shots on the really light lures. i had trouble getting a demon down the hole the other day with a couple split shots on it. also how do you adjust your ice buster bobbers, i was having trouble getting them to work with the light lures also. any help to get the lure and bait down the hole faster would be appreciated.

[CrappieJohn]

Ive....Some lures are simply not designed to drop fast and lose their effectiveness if they are forced to by using shot. You can weight up other lures without a problem but I would spread the shots out a bit some they do not appear to be a dark mass descending into the haunts of the fish. If the fish have the feedbag on it may not matter much but if they are neutral/negative, it will.

Floats are a balancing act. Assuming that the line weight and lure are fairly well matched, I try to get the float to sit so that only a tinnnnny bit of it sets above the waterline. Balanced in this manner the fish will feel little, if any, resistance and will be far less likely to drop the bait.

The ice buster float, found in the "Sponsors" link here are great tools for winter fishing. They can be trimmed to fit the need and really are not that expensive. Yet floats are like anything else....everyone has their pet.It would be my recommendation to use a float that you are familiar with, comfortable with, and successfull with even if it is a summer float.

Oftentimes it is not the jig that needs extra weighting, but rather downsizing the float itself will achieve the balance you are looking for. I fish with a Thill mini-shybite all year long, but when I need to float up during the winter I go to the smallest one available and downsize the jig to fit the balance needs.

If you are using old or too heavy of line, line that has a lot of memory, you will find that it is the cause of many of your woes. Fish the absolute lightest line that you can on your equipment.

As I stated, fishing a float is a balancing act and the float itself is the heart and soul of this act, but many other factors can be an influence that will throw things way out of wack.

[ivegottabite]

thanks tom. the info on here is always appreciated