Paddletails

[markkstanley]

Tonka Boy just sticks a small slipshot below his slip bobber setup to make it a fixed float FYI. Cheap and effective too. Me? I always opt for the high tech solution I suppose I could argue my line is stressed less by not piching a slipshot on it and I can adjust my depth a micro second faster than TB but he still catches more fish than me. Maybe he is using scent releasing slipshots.

[Note from admin-

The collarless jigs with slightly oversized - super sharp VMC hooks are now available at:

TackleCity.com - Click Here ]

[CrappieJohn]

Let me help a bit here with why the fixed floats like the Mini-Stealth from Thill.

I've done this plastics stuff for quite a few years now and have always been on the lookout for thins that make this fishing more productive. The Thill mini-stealth is the only float that I have come across that will simply lay down on the water from an otherwise vertical nature on an upward hit. Some may move somewhat or turn, but these simply lay right over.

I would bet that 90% of the casual fishermen today miss more fish due to unbalanced equipment than any other reason. This is one reason that I refer to much of the information being read about and heard as nothing more than a generality. To be successful at panfish you need to step away from the general information and begin to get very specific.

Trust me, I am in no way a rep or agent for Thill, so my reference here is coming from knowledge and experience. I have tried so many different floats over the year that I could fill a garbage can with them even if I put just one of each in it. This one particular float is absolutely the best one I have tried. A second option is one that, with just the weight of the bait and no other splits or anything on the line, will stand up higher in the water at an upward hit. BUT, when properly rigged, these interfere with casting performance. These are long and thin with a stick at each end. Wave action can give you a ton of "false" signals using these too. The Mini-Stealth is absolutely the best float to use while fishing shallow plastics.

I am so reluctant to use a slip float while fishing plastics deep that I will forego the float completely and opt for feel to tell me when I have a hit.

This float issue is one that WILL cost people fish if they are using inferior products and is most likely one of the biggest reasons why people get frustrated while fishing plastic. I have had skilled anglers in my boat, rigged as per my instruction, and have had to tell them when they had a hit. The upward strike concept is very difficult to grasp unless you start out with something that gets your attention when this happens.

[Shorelunch]

Thanks for the information guys. I went to a "Wayzata bait shop" before I could read your replies. They recommended a fixed bobber that is weighted on the bottom. You wrap your line around the bottom and the top. It worked pretty well last night on Tonka compared to my slip bobber. Could of been the lures I offered, but I like the setup.

One question. CT, you said you like using fixed over slips when fishing deep. My guess is that you can only get a fixed 6' deep. If the crappies are at say 12', will they come up 6' and take the lure?

Thanks again.

[CrappieJohn]

Shore.....I have had crappies marked in 15 feet of water and fished at 3 feet and still had them come up to hit! Deep fish are not always that way because of weather conditions or water temps. And deep fish are not always neutral or negative in mood.

Active fish will travel a long way to a bait at times, often uphill. Deitz made a comment once that it was a contrast issue when fish were targeting a bait high in the water column and he was right. Many instances it is a simple matter of the fish being able to target the bait from further down where light refraction has broken down a bit and they have a clearer picture to target.

Yes...crappies will often come up from very deep water to hit at something near the surface.

[markkstanley]

Crappie Tom is absolutely dead right about upward hits. I would guess about 75% of the hits this year have been upward with the paddletails. I bet another 20% have been what I would sideways where the fish didn't have to come up. They would grab the tail and slowly swim away with it. My Stealth seldom goes down like most people would expect. It took my son a very frustrating 1/2 hour the other night to catch onto it. I was nailing fish and he was wondering what was wrong. You have to watch the float and get a feel for what the "normal" hanging position is. You see anything different set the hook. The Sleaths are very sensitive and lay flat on a upward hit so that isn't tough to tell. But I had some fish last night that just slurped the paddletail and sat there. Only way I could tell I had a fish on was the float wasn't moving with the wave action. The float was tipping slightly in the waves instead of bobbing.

[Shorelunch]

Thanks for the info guys. I liked using the fixed bobber last night just wasn't sure about fishing it in deeprer water.

[tonyjor]

I usually cruise aroud a lake at a slower speed (4-7 mph) to try to find suspended crappies. Usually all I end up finding are walleyes and northerns on my graph. This is only an assumption, but I figured that's what they are because they come up as "big fish" on the graph. Do crappies get spooked easily by a boat? I've been out a few times and I have my graph set up all right so it shows almost any fish but I can't seem to find these suspended crappies that everyone else is talking about seeing on their units. I have a Humminbird 67 with the quad ducer so it reads in a 90 degree angle off the transom. Any hints on what to look for when I'm looking at the screen?

[CrappieJohn]

Tony....

From the top down, crappies offer a very narrow target when traveling at any speed. And consider that when ice fishing you can be using the best electronics , be catching crappies like crazy, and never see them on the flasher or screen.

Suspended waldos and crappies will appear much the same on some units, but if you can convert the marks to arches you will be better able to distinguish the walleyes from the crappies.

I suspect that some of what you are seeing are likely crappies.

[tonyjor]

Wow, thanks for the fast reply, Crappie Tom! Are there any pictures I could use to be able to learn the differences in arch patterns before I hit the water tomorrow? Or, is it trial and error and I have to check out what every arch is before I eventually learn. Don't get me wrong, I love to learn new things myself and I'm pretty good at researching heavily before I go out. I guess I really never noticed much difference in the arches on the graph besides the size of them. If only fish ID+ was that exactly and every arch that popped up said "Walleye" or Crappie", etc. under it. Naw, making it too easy then. I'll find them eventually. I plan on heading out for my first afternoon jaunt of the year tomorrow with a friend of mine. Though it seems like every time I bring someone with me, the fish are tight-lipped. Again, thanks for any other info anyone may have.

[CrappieJohn]

I think this is one of those"pay attention" type of things. Large crappies may arch like small walleyes in certain cases. The bad part about locators is that they will tell you fish are present, just not which kind. After seeing crappies caught while seeing a specific arch will help you alot in the future, but like anything else it takes time to learn this.

Different locators will respond to signals differently too. Read the manual to find out how to address the amount of gain or sensitivity to use when attempting to sort thru the returns.

I find that simply paying attention to what I see at the hook in relation to what I saw on the screen becomes a tool that sticks with you for quite a time, but when you are fishing it is often tough to concentrate on this aspect. It'll come, give it time.

[CALVINIST]

Well, I got the jigheads, I bit off 1/4" of the paddletail to shorten up the profile, and worked it under a float, and tonight, I had fantastic results! I was really connecting with the crappies. There were a couple boats fishing close by, but I was the only one really catching anything. Paddletails rock. And what a difference those little details make when it comes to short strikers. Thanks Tom and Mark.

[Note from admin-

The collarless jigs with slightly oversized - super sharp VMC hooks are now available at:

TackleCity.com - Click Here ]

[CrappieJohn]

Great!

Now remeber....the fish will let you know what they want, but it is your imagination that delivers it to them. Little details, yes. Attention? Without a doubt!

[delmuts]

you guys are so right about paying attention to your float and how it acts, and having a balanced set up! it's hard to make people understand just how important knowing/watching how the float acts normally to detect a bite, til you get some one out and they see for themselves.

[markkstanley]

Regarding finding crappies on a locator if they are sitting on the bottom probably not crappies. If they are riding high ie down 5 to 10ft over 20ft of water probably crappies. I never have the fish ID on. Just learn what the lines/arches mean by trial and error. For example, when my screen shows a thick line from 10ft to 5ft depths I assume I just found a school of panfish - might be sunnies or sunnies and crappies mixed. Stopping and fishing is the only way to be sure. Crappie Tom made my life a lot easier because paddletails have proved to be a far better search lure than jig and minnow. Easy to tell the difference between a sunnie and a crappie bite and you can fling away with abandon - no worries about a minnow falling off. If I don't get any action in about 10 minutes I fire up the engine and start searching some more. Final comment is the new color graphs are great - when I hit a mess of fish the colors can clue me in as to what type of fish they are. Just like the Vexilar flashers bigger fish have a different color.

[CALVINIST]

I have been using the #4 mini-stealth by Thill...what a great float. It was fun last night in the waves discerning bites. Looking for little cues, abnornalities in the way is floats, that a fish might be messin' with the other end of things. Just like Del said.

[tonyjor]

Markkstanley and Crappie Tom -

Thanks for the help! It worked out great today. My friend and I caught several crappies by looking for suspended fish on the graph and casting paddletail and shrimpo type jigs under bobbers. Granted most of the action was sunnies(we caught well over a hundred), we caught a fair amount of crappies also. Thanks again for the great tips!

[Note from admin-

The collarless crappie jigs with slightly oversized - super sharp VMC hooks are now available at:

TackleCity.com - Click Here in 1/32nd & 1/16th oz sizes. ]