Best Crappie Lure

[raporter]

Cool. I about had another heart attack when I thought you were saying that you spent 70 bucks on the crappie nibbles. But then I read your post again and figured out what you were saying. LOL

I went fishing today for a couple of hours and learned a good lesson. Always change the line on your reel before fishing for the first time of the year.

I lost four spinners due to the line breaking as I was casting them. I saw the lure sail off about 100 yards and splash into the lake after it broke free of my line.

I was using 2 lb test and it's not that strong in the first place. But it was at least two years old.

I did manage to catch a crappie on my first and second casts and then lost the first lure. By the time I retied on a new lure I had drifted about 300 yards off my spot. I trolled back to the spot and caught a couple more fish and lost one good big crappie before I lost another lure. As I caught the last fish I turned on the live well pump and that made enough noise to scare the fish out of the shallow water flats I was fishing. I released four 9" crappie at the end of the day. I did have fun though. Never got to use my minnows that I bought last week. I'll use them on Tuesday when I go again.

Fireline my friend.

[Moveon]

Fireline my friend.

How does the fire line cast on an ultra light outfit. Pleuger Reel and ST Croix rod 5' UL ?

What size fire line do you use on an ultra light that compares to the casting ability of 2 lb test stren regular fishing line (monofilament). The 2 lb stren can flight a light weight 1/16oz jig a mile without a lot of line twist.

I can't find any new 2lb stren to replace the old stuff right now. The Boonville Walmart use to carry it but I guess they stopped carrying it these days.

[roadrunner]

You've got my attention. I'm thinking about buying this product and trying it out next time I hit the lake. I'm a sucker for any "miracle fish attractant" product.

(No, I never bought the "Banjo Minnow" or "Helicopter lure")

Tyme if you ever want to borrow my Banjo or Helicopter lure just let me know.

[Moveon]

Tyme if you ever want to borrow my Banjo or Helicopter lure just let me know.

It was suggested to me that P-Line might work well on an ultra light outfit for casting small 1/16 oz jigs.

Anyone else have any comments on how the P-Line works with small ultra light rods and small jigs?

I'm going to try to cast small jigs on a longer whipping type St Croix rod. I'll try to report on how well that works.

[Colbyt]

I picked up two jars of nibbles today. I'll give my honest report on their effectiveness after I use them.

Those two jars cost me over $77.00 !! I made the stupid mistake of asking my wife if she wanted to go to the big box store with me.

I did not take Mama along and I got out of Walmart for a hair over $4.

Based on this thread I bought some nibbles. After the boat would not float off the trailer we used them from the dock with slip bobbers and hooks.

I have to say I was impressed with the results. We caught about as many fish (16) as we would have with live minnows. Had I been in the mood to filet little crappies about half of those were worth cleaning.

Now I noticed another brand there with a larger jar and bigger pellets (forgot the name); has anyone used those?

[Tyme2fish]

After the boat would not float off the trailer we used them from the dock with slip bobbers and hooks.

I

The stern straps,my man, unhook the stern straps!!

[Fisherjoe]

1/16 oz chartreuse Road Runner head with 2" BPS grub black/blue with chart. tail.

[Keith Bobbitt]

How does the fire line cast on an ultra light outfit. Pleuger Reel and ST Croix rod 5' UL ?

What size fire line do you use on an ultra light that compares to the casting ability of 2 lb test stren regular fishing line (monofilament). The 2 lb stren can flight a light weight 1/16oz jig a mile without a lot of line twist.

I can't find any new 2lb stren to replace the old stuff right now. The Boonville Walmart use to carry it but I guess they stopped carrying it these days.

I found some 2 pound Stren online at this address: Stren Original Fishing Line, 330 yd Filler Spool: Fishing & Marine : Walmart.com

Don't know if the local Walmarts carry it or not.

[Colbyt]

The stern straps,my man, unhook the stern straps!!

I wish it were that simple. I hope I finally figured it all out. This trailer math is killing me. My tongue got shorter when I went from a 12 to a 14. That increased the tongue weight. That caused the truck to sag down just a bit more and boats don't float uphill.

So I am going to use a hinge kit to extend the tongue and I bought a ball mount with a bigger rise. We shall try again next pretty day.

Do you think it safe to take the wife to the metal store?

[Keith Bobbitt]

Anyone have suggestions on the best crappie lures? I myself prefer a chartreuse curly tail with 1/8 or 1/16 oz. white jig head?

The last 5 years or so I've had some pretty good luck with Slurpies.
Northland Fishing Tackle: SLURPIES® SMALL FRY

[Moveon]

I've seen those larger nibbles but have not tried them. The small ones work so good that I'm reluctant to change.

One trick to make the Nibbles stay on the hook longer. I have an extra lid from an old empty crappie nibble jar. I keep that extra lid in my pocket of my life vest so I have access to it at all times I'm out in the boat fishing. I take a few nibbles out of the jar and set them into the extra lid and set that out in the sun on the deck of the boat for a while. This allows the nibbles to dry out and harden up a bit. Just leave them out long enough for the outer skin of the nibble to harden up so it will stay on the hook better.

And if the nibbles get too dry you can put them back inside the jar and add a few drops of water to the jar and nibbles. They will reasorb the water vapor and get soft again.

The nibbles don't stay on the hook forever but the good thing is that they dissolve in the water where you are fishing and add their scent to the water where the fish are.

I use to use DR. JUICE a long time ago. They still sell it at Gander Mountain. I found that a drop of Dr. Juice added to my plastic worm and allowed to dry onto the worm helped me catch more Largemouth bass. At least it seemed that way to me. I hard a hard time learning to fish plastic worms in deep water. I never could tell what was a bite and what was a rock or stump. At least not until I really stayed with fishing plastic worms for a while and got a few bites. Once I figured out what the bite felt like it was on like Donkey Kong. Then I started to add some Dr. Juice to the baits and fishing got even better. In my mind I though it worked and it gave me more confidence and I fished harder and longer. Thus I seemed to catch more fish.

This was the very beginning of people selling and using scents for bass fishing and such. Now the catfishing crowd used smelly baits long before that. If you look at a fish's brain you will notice that a large part of the brain is devoted to SMELL. That told me something. Remember Salmon can smell their way back to where their egg hatched in a stream from the Open Ocean. The fact that they can detect the chemical smell of that particular stream is amazing to me.

I did not take Mama along and I got out of Walmart for a hair over $4.

Based on this thread I bought some nibbles. After the boat would not float off the trailer we used them from the dock with slip bobbers and hooks.

I have to say I was impressed with the results. We caught about as many fish (16) as we would have with live minnows. Had I been in the mood to filet little crappies about half of those were worth cleaning.

Now I noticed another brand there with a larger jar and bigger pellets (forgot the name); has anyone used those?

[Keith Bobbitt]

Ever open that old tackle box and found that a lot of lures, tools, etc. have rusted? There's a plastic that emits vapors that helps prevent rust. I found a tackle box online a week or two ago that is made of this plastic. They claim it works great. I've lost the Internet address of this product but thought maybe somebody on here might know about it.