Quote Originally Posted by crappie1971 View Post
Pappi, thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback, its greatly appreciated! I do have some jigs, rooster tails, plastic worms and spinner baits. I also never know what weight to apply to my line or when i should have weight. When i cast, i never know how deep i am going. Its the little things that i dont know.
If you have a rod/reel that will cast a Rooster Tail .... something like a 6-7' spinning outfit & 6lb line ... then you're good to go for casting small jigs & the RT's. I generally use 1/16oz jig heads with 1.5" - 2" plastic bodies for casting purposes, and the 1/16oz marabou Roadrunners.
While Crappie will at times hit Bass size baits, like 1/2oz Spinnerbaits or 4" craws & even some crankbaits, chances are that you will catch a lot more Crappie by using the small stuff ..... 1/16 - 1/8oz jigs, 1/16oz Roadrunners, Rooster Tails, and of course the old standby of a hook/sinker/float/minnow setup (and the float is optional).

The only time I add a weight to my line, when casting jigs, is when I'm fishing deeper than 20ft or the wind is blowing my line so bad that my jig isn't sinking. (or when I'm using a plain hook with a minnow on it & drifting around cover)

When I'm casting ... I'm using a 1/16oz weedless jig head & a plastic body (tube, stinger shad, or minnow shaped body) .... 6lb test mono ... on a 6'6" spinning outfit. I'm not trying to "feel" a bite, as much as I'm looking to "see" the bite. I'm a line watcher, and I use hi-vis line so that I can see any movement in the line. Any little jump or twitch in the line and I set the hook. If I know for sure that my jig is not on the bottom, and my line all of a sudden goes slack ... I set the hook. I cast out and sloooowwwlly reel the jig back in ... holding the rod tip at about a 45deg angle ... and my attention is on the line, just above where it comes out of the water. All I want to see (or feel) is one single little "tic" in the line !! Most of the time that's all a Crappie will do ... just make the line jump ONCE (as they **** the jig into their mouth). The "sudden slack line" bite occurs when the fish keeps moving forward a little, after inhaling the bait.

Crappie don't tend to chase a bait, so slow presentations are usually the smart choice. They also tend to "look up" to feed, so you want to keep your bait about a foot or so above the depth they're holding. Catching Crappie isn't usually the hard part of Crappie fishing .... it's FINDING them that can be a challenge. But, for the most part, they're going to be around some type of wood cover like a standing tree - blowdown tree - brush pile - stakebed - etc.

... pappy