Crappie/Bluegill Bite Question

[BigWadeS]

Hello Everyone,

I am generally a walleye and pike guy, but do enjoy crappie action when you can find it. I was out on a smaller lake yesterday with a buddy we managed to keep a few Crappies. We would get bite, after bite, after bite, is there a pattern to the madness with crappie and gills? They wouldn't just take the bait and run or tap it and sit, it was usually 2-3 taps and then it would stop. Just curious if this is just a "light" bit non aggressive behavior due to water temps or if this is normal.

[juggs]

A tapping strike is more indicative of bluegills and they are found along with crappies so that's what you might have experienced. If a crappie strikes I set the hook immediately and get a hook set most of the time. If I don't it's probably a smaller panfish.

[ASMOLEY]

Could be your using too big or a float or jig. Try a smaller set up and see what happens. If its smaller fish youll at least hook into them.

[eyepatrol]

The crappies I've experienced this summer have all come in deeper water trolling with a deep diving #5 or #7 Shadrap from 2.5mph - 3.2mph. So I'd agree that these would likely be the 'gills and probably smaller ones....the crappies seem to really smack up on the baits this time of year from what I've seen.

[lotsofish]

I've had crappies that acted like that before mostly when trying a vertical jigging technique. You didn't mention what you were using. I'm not sure I would necessarily say that 2-3 quick taps is indicative of bluegills and by this time of the year the crappies and bluegills probably aren't in the same spots like they would be in May and June. Vertical jigging does work, but a lot of the times you get those 2-3 quick little taps and you have to set the hook right then. Crappies usually prefer bait that's moving, whether casting, slow retrieved under a bobber or drifting, so if you're only getting those little taps try putting some movement into your presentation.

[jaydog]

i troll with beetle spins or jigs with minnows or mister twister or some kind of tube lure in 7-15 ft depends on lake and weather

[Corey Bechtold]

There are a lot of variables when it comes to detecting the bites. This time of year the fish can be mixed. Knowing what you are actually having hit your bait is difficult. What I can tell you is that lately the Bluegills have been the agressors and the Crappies are just mixed in with them and they hit a lot different. The small Gills will tap the bait a lot while the Crappies typically take the weight off the jig. If you want to target the Crappies you could try upsizing the bait. When I have done this I notice that the Gills will continue tapping but when they get bored it gives the Crappies a chance to come and get it.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Kyle Sandberg]

Jaydog, when you troll with beetle spins, how fast do you go to keep the blade spinning and how much weight do you have on (jig head)?

Thanks

K Dawg

[Sandmannd]

I was actually with Wade. I've hit this lake many times and they usually tear right into the bait. We were using real small jigs with a tiny tail and either gulp maggots or a minnow, even a plain jig was getting hits. I don't know that they were all gills because the ones we managed were hitting the same, just got them in time to set the hook and they were crappies. We were actually trolling at about 1/2 mph or a little faster. The bites were pretty constant. I used a mimmic minnow for a while and had bite after bite on that and same thing. This is the way I've always fished this lake and always had good luck. Sunday water temp was 80 or higher so I don't know if that played a part. We fished anywhere from 5 to 20 feet of water and same action everywhere. We weren't the only ones with that luck though.