When do you jerk?

[eyepatrol]

Just wondering what others do when you get a crappie to bite. For me, if I'm fishing with a jig & waxie, when I see the hit on the bobber, I'm jerking. I just figure that with the small lure and small waxie on there, when they bite they've pretty much got it in their mouths. Super finicky fish this might not be the case, but 9 times out of 10 I'm jerking when I see the bobber move.

As for fishing with a minnow, whether it be on a plain hook or a glow jig & minnow combo, many times I'll see the initial "pop" of the bobber when they hit, but I'll wait until they start to take the bobber down about 6" or so before I'll jerk.

What do you do?

[harvey lee]

Basscatcher:

When im fishing with a spring bobber and jig,I always set the hook when the spring bobber has tension on it,or it is getting pulled down.

When im fishing with a minnow and a Ice Buster bobber,Ill usually wait for the second move or will take it when its just under the ice.If you dont have any Ice Buster bobbers,get some as you can trim them so they sit at water level or just about ready to go under.Any fish that just taps the minnow will pull the bobber down as there is no tension for the fish to feel.Sometimes the bobber will come up and lay flat,and then you can set the hook as the fish hit it and came up.

[CrappieJohn]

Minnows and I are not good company so a traditional float for me is an open water float for use with plastics.

If I need to float up when doing a jig/waxie, I reach for the Ice Buster trimmed to be almost neutrally bouyant. I want that foam top to JUST clear the surface tension of the water. Sometimes that float will be trimmed so that it will allow the jig to sink at a rate of about an inch every thirty seconds....yep, that slow.

Most of my fishing is done by spring bobber or line watching while jigging heavier baits like Jigging Eyes, Jigging Demons and Go Devils. The spring bobber gets the bulk of the workout though. When the jig loads the line and I see that spring relax or lift slightly at the very end, I set the hook. If I see even the slightest movement that is out of the norm, I set the hook.

One of my favorite crappie tactics is to drill two holes about 18 inches apart. Locator and a jig/waxie goes in one, a jigging bait/waxie goes in the other. I use the spoon bait, worked fairly vigorously, to get fish into the picture. If they hit that spoon, fine. If not within a couple minutes, I set that rod down and get that other bait up to where the fish is marked. When I get to that point I jig from slightly under the fish to a point a foot or so over it and will hold the jig at that point jigging it ever so gently for another minute. If nothing happens, I slowly jig the bait down again only this time I'll stop it right on the fish's nose and not move it for all of a minute....just let it sit right there in front of that fish. Then I drop it below the fish and start the whole senario over again. I seldom have to jig the jig down to the fish the first time. Regardless of what direction I am going with this jig/spring bobber set-up, the spring gives the hit away immediately and the hookset is equally as immediate.

[Worst Kid]

Good info there Tom! I just started ice fishing and when i was out with my brother the other day i seemed to be attracting the fish with my jiggin lure and he was catching them with a little glow jig and a minnow. Good to hear this works for other people and I wasnt just believing I was attracting the fish over.

[Jigginfireman]

I am resurecting this post to share some information I have just learned over this hard water season. I don't use bobbers all that much so this is more for the spring bobber or tightliners. If the fish are just coming up and taking your presentation and not fully commiting themselves to take it, I will let them take the presentation a few seconds longer. So when I see the initial strike and I go to set the hook, if the fish isn't there I will then try to coax the fish into striking again. If they do commit again I will let the bobber move at least three times until I set the hook. This seems to have worked well for me and I have iced more fish because of it.

One more point I would like to add. When I describe "setting the hook" I really am not very aggresive with this. I use a lifting technique and not an aggresive hook set. This seems to work well for me with the Paper Mouth's of the Crappies.

Just a few things I have learned. Any other thoughts????