Reel weeds and crappies?

[Carp-fisher]

Next weekend I'm going to be fishing a small weedless and structureless sandpit. The crappies in there race around and they are really difficult to stay on top of. Plus I'm only going to be able to use my hand auger, so I'm not too keen on drilling a gazzilion holes. I've thought about picking of some reel weeds and setting up a 4 or 5 string "weedbed".

Any predictions...will the crappies hang around the reel weeds? Anyone here had any experience with something like this?

[Matt Johnson]

This type of situation is where the Reel Weeds shine in my opinion. Fish that move through only allowing you to catch one or two out of the school before they move on... perfect time to drop down a set of Reel Weeds. You're not necessarily looking to keep the entire school beneath you for the entire day (although that would be cool ) but rather you're looking for a few extra chances out of each pass. The Reel Weeds will keep the cruising school underneath you longer, at least long enough for you to get a few more swings at the ball...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Like Matt said.. this is what the Reel Weed product was designed for. Fish in these type lakes tend to just roam around in schools.. In normal conditions you will catch maybe 1-3 fish from a school before they move on. With the Reel Weeds, you can catch quite a few more.

I have had situations where I know I caught more fish because of the weeds.

[Carp-fisher]

Hey guys thanks for the input. I might pick some up this week and try er out.

Ben

[thehawk]

the reel weeds are definatly cool, but pretty spendy. if a guy found an old xmas tree(fake) and zip tied a bunch of the branches to a smaller rope and afixed a small weight to the bottom, a guy could make his own reel weeds if you follow my simple idea. they are like $70 for 5 4' strands. tell me we couldn't come up with something that would work just as good. any other ideas for making your own, let me know.

[AceintheHole]

Funny we were just talking about making our own reel weeds at the house on sunday. I'll give it a try and report back.

[thehawk]

how hard could it be really? I think a guy could make a very nice set for way less than the 70 bucks. I will also be doing some experimenting and will post the results.

[sonoranhope]

Here are some pics of my version of the reel weeds. I used an aluminum printing blanket bars as the base, and stitching wire ran thru some 2' chain Garland i picked up from "Franks Nursury and Crafts" looped thru with a sponge foam to keep the Garland upright. I connected a 45' multi braided waterproof string to the end. It seems to work well. I give credit to a co-worker who browses here often. (His name has something to do with an old purple hat)

These were shot with my cell phone, so the quality may be below average.

[thehawk]

sweet design. have you used them at all? have they held the fish for you? that is the idea anyways, hold them crappies by your hole. now getting them to actually bite, thats a topic for a different post. good luck with your weeds.

[Neiko]

I was at Micheal's this weekend watching my wife shop and I saw they had strands of plastic icy on sale for $3 just like the ones in the pictures so I bought one for my camera cable. I didn't secure the top of the weed thinking it would just float up but I think it will definitely work. My main goal was to camouflage the camera cable a little.

[harvey lee]

I tried to make my own a few years back and after several times of using them, they stunk and also didnt hold together very well. I now use the Reel Weeds and have had next to no issues with them. I wish I had not even spent the money I did on making my own.

Another serious concern one needs to be concerned about is the chemicals in the weeds one is buying. LaDredge has done their homework to make a product that is very safe for our waters.

[kruger]

The only problem I have had with homemade reel weeds is that you have to take them out of the hole 15-20min before leaving and let them warm up in the house or else they will frezze and snap.

[harvey lee]

That was a huge problem for me. I would pull them up, go home and then my weeds were all broken in spots. They couldnt take the freezing temps.

[TroyMcClure]

The Reel Weeds have had years of research and testing to fix those problems. You would be best served to purchase a set. I have heard of several people making their own and not getting the kind of performance or fish attraction/retention that people using the Reel Weeds have.

They really only seem to work well if you drop them down in areas that have no discernable structure, but has roaming schools of fish. If you have structure already in the area, they seem to block out finicky fish. That is just my opinion.