Nolin??

[JimDi]

Probably going to try Red Rock and Conoloway on Friday to start out with. How do you work the crappie jig? I am a complete novice on crappie and only catch them by accident while fishing for bass. I have been going to Nolin since I was 2 years old, I am 45 now, and haven't caught more than 15 crappie, but haven't ever fished for them.

[Ranger492]

Probably going to try Red Rock and Conoloway on Friday to start out with. How do you work the crappie jig? I am a complete novice on crappie and only catch them by accident while fishing for bass. I have been going to Nolin since I was 2 years old, I am 45 now, and haven't caught more than 15 crappie, but haven't ever fished for them.

There are as many answers to that as there are different types of crappie jigs ;-) But personally, I like to search out any wood cover (preferably brush piles or stump fields and then laydowns). I will fish them as shallow as a foot or as deep as 8-12 feet depending on the fish (I have a friend who still fishes them in summer as deep as 15-20). Sometimes you might find brush in 8 ft of water that reaches all the way to the surface...the fish may hold a foot off bottom or be as shallow as a foot or two in/around that tree. They'll tell you what they want. Throw the jig past the cover and count it down to different depths and see what they want. WIND IT SLOW and then SLOW DOWN SOME MORE. Keep your rod tip high with a slight bow in line so you can feel the "tick" when they hit it. Gently set the hook and reel simultaneously (they are not a bass and are called papermouths for a reason). I prefer 1/16 oz horsehead jigs with a small spinner blade but many will say only a plain-round head. I also prefer curly tail grubs 1.5-2 inches long in chartreuse pearl or white pearl (again many prefer tube jigs instead of curly tail...I think all that matters is what you have confidence in).

Besides the method above there is also spider rigging where you cover a lot of ground with as many as 12 rods and pull jigs with trolling motor along shoreline contours or creek channel contours, etc. Many people prefer this method but am neither set up to do it nor inclined to fish that way (just not my preference). It works really well though, especially early before spawn and late after spawn.

Some also fish a jig vertically on a single rod around cover like brushpiles or standing timber and drop it right into or next to the cover.

Again, I prefer to cast to wood and work every angle of a piece of cover several times, catch what I can from it (or not) and move on). It's a bass fisherman's approach to crappie fishing as I call it. Of course, it works best when they are shallower and spawning or preparing to spawn....however, once I catch a few limits in March/April and stock the freezer, I move on to bass fishing anyway.