# Found the Crappie now how can I get them to bite?



## astro (Nov 11, 2008)

Ok so I found a stack of crappie today in 13ft of water holding at about 11ft, tried a few bucktail jigs and some live minnows. But no luck. Any suggestions?


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## BuckCarraway (Jan 5, 2010)

not trying to be a smart ***** but if you werent able to catch them how do you know it was crappie?


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## iCdeez (Jan 24, 2010)

OK as far as crappie go to me it's all about presentation. If you can hook your minnow to get the most movement out of em for the best vibration in the water. Crappie like alot of other fish hone in on bait that seems like it's dieing. Their instincts kick in and they go in for the kill. There are alot of different fish attractants you can get as well. Wal-mart has a few but your best ones are at Gander Mtn or Academy. Not saying it outright because thats my secret but you happen to come across it and try it and it works for you then more power to ya lol. I like usin a roadrunner for that extra vibration or those H & H circle tail jigs that almost look like a spinner bait. The best thing you can do though is put your jig/minnow right in front of there face so they know it is there. GL to ya and tight lines.


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## waterspout (May 21, 2004)

castent!


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## waterspout (May 21, 2004)

seriously,, when the bite is slow,, get the speed lure out!


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## astro (Nov 11, 2008)

Buck I know they are crappie from reports they hold in the same spot this time of year.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Getting them to bite when they are being stubborn takes a lot of different tricks.
First be sure you are fishing at the depth that they are hanging out, within 6" or less.
I have a few tricks that work at times, like after determining the right depth, leave that amount of line out and do not reel in, draw your line with your other hand and lift the rod tip. Swing the bait out away from the boat and let it do a pendulum swing back, crappie like that a lot, but it only works if you are not in heavy brush. 
I do at times kill the minnow and crush it up some to get the juices flowing, sometimes after doing that a couple of times it excites them and they will bite better. 
Watch other people(if there are some around) who are catching crappie and mimic what they do, sometimes very small details will make all of the difference between catching fish or not. Just a couple of tips.
After a while you will develop a bag of tricks of your own.


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

All of you have Great Points that are true. I try to keep my minnow or jig a few inches shallower than where I see the fish on my depth finder. Reason for this is I am a firm believer that Crappie almost always look up, towards the surface of the water. I too sometimes use a couple of different types of scent but you do not find them in sporting goods department of stores nor at Gander Mountian, Cabela's or Bass Pro. I make my own scents from various things....of course, I keep this info to myself.

SS, not many people know about that crushed minnow tactic. You have released a pretty well kept secret. Learned that trick accidently about 35 years ago. I dropped my last live minnow in the bottem of the boat and stepped on it accidently. Uesd it anyway and still caught a crappie. Next trip, purposely crushed one and it worked.


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## iCdeez (Jan 24, 2010)

IDK LE I have tried on many different occasions using my secret juice and not using it and using it weilded better catch than not. I have sat in a hole with me and a buddy and let him use it and me not and he would catch 3 to 1 more fish til I start using and I'll catch up with him in a few minutes.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

LE, my dad used to take me in Lake Arlington when I was very young, and we fished close to the dam in a deep hole at night with a lantern over the side with tin foil on the back to keep from blinding you.
At some point every night the crappie would go on a bite, sometimes right after dark and sometimes much later. 
They would be at different depths at different times of the year in that 30' hole. 
At times you could see them just under the surface eating shad, sometimes you would let down to the bottom and reel up x amount of cranks.
My dad, a neighbor, and me would fish at different depths until some one hit paydirt, then we would wear them out until they changed depth and we had to try different levels in the water column, or they quit biting.
On very slow bites dad would use the crushed minnow trick, and sometimes we would continue to use crushed minnows or half of a minnow the rest of the night. Sometimes it would stimulate them into a hard bite and we would switch to live ones.


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## 5STAR (Jan 14, 2010)

I agree with the pendulum action....if you use jigs put a Crappie bite on it and dip it in garlic sent from Academy.


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

shadslinger said:


> LE, my dad used to take me in Lake Arlington when I was very young, and we fished close to the dam in a deep hole at night with a lantern over the side with tin foil on the back to keep from blinding you.
> At some point every night the crappie would go on a bite, sometimes right after dark and sometimes much later.
> They would be at different depths at different times of the year in that 30' hole.
> At times you could see them just under the surface eating shad, sometimes you would let down to the bottom and reel up x amount of cranks.
> ...


I agree with you fully on this. During a day of fishing, I have had to change depths several times as they do move up and down in their depths. However, I still feel that Crappie always look up and it's easier to have your bait right above them than beliw them on even in the middle of them.

I have watched fishermen fishing 7 to 9 feet with minnows catching a few fish. I go to a jig and catch them 6-7 feet deep and usually catch at least as many if not more.

If you will recall the reports I have submitted on this site, I always put depthsofr 7 to 10 feet or 8 to 12 feet. The reason is that they do move around and change depths. A high Pressure for example sends them deeper.


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## Lone Eagle (Aug 20, 2009)

iCdeez said:


> IDK LE I have tried on many different occasions using my secret juice and not using it and using it weilded better catch than not. I have sat in a hole with me and a buddy and let him use it and me not and he would catch 3 to 1 more fish til I start using and I'll catch up with him in a few minutes.


I do not doubt this in the least. I have used garlic and know it is a super attractant. I just prefer to make my own stuff as it is a challenge to to this. It's much easier to go buy something that someone else has made. I think it is more challenging to make your own atractants.

We all have our own technics that we keep to ourselves. Then some things, we share with the world. Over many years of fishing, I have learned that everyone has certain things that they feel confident in. If you are confident in something, you tend to do better when using it.


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## Bozo (Jun 16, 2004)

This time of year, the shad are larger so, a lot of times a jig tipped with a minnow will work when the two individually won't. Also, instead of "jigging" the jig, hold it as still as possible. Also remember that crappie ambush from below so, usually fish about a foot above where you think they are holding so that they can hit up on the bait. That also means that the bite may be just a little tick that the line goes a bit slack instead of a thump and pull on the line.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

LE, you are right, and I do try to get my bait slightly above them, the same with stripers and white bass, they will move up to get a bait, but do not usually move down. There eyes are made for looking up.
A lot of good ticks mentioned here, going to add the attraction juice to my bag, I have never tried it before.


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## iCdeez (Jan 24, 2010)

shadslinger said:


> LE, you are right, and I do try to get my bait slightly above them, the same with stripers and white bass, they will move up to get a bait, but do not usually move down. There eyes are made for looking up.
> A lot of good ticks mentioned here, going to add the attraction juice to my bag, I have never tried it before.


 Loy give me a shout and Ill let you know my secret juice that really works for me.


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## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

iCdeez said:


> OK as far as crappie go to me it's all about presentation. If you can hook your minnow to get the most movement out of em for the best vibration in the water. Crappie like alot of other fish hone in on bait that seems like it's dieing. Their instincts kick in and they go in for the kill. There are alot of different fish attractants you can get as well. Wal-mart has a few but your best ones are at Gander Mtn or Academy. Not saying it outright because thats my secret but you happen to come across it and try it and it works for you then more power to ya lol. I like usin a roadrunner for that extra vibration or those H & H circle tail jigs that almost look like a spinner bait. The best thing you can do though is put your jig/minnow right in front of there face so they know it is there. GL to ya and tight lines.


Best scent I've ever come across is nature-made. When you catch your first fish, take your jig and rub it on their side and coat it in slime. Seems to always have worked out well for me.


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## CaptainMorgan (Feb 2, 2010)

iCdeez said:


> Loy give me a shout and Ill let you know my secret juice that really works for me.


you swear by that stuff... im still not totally convinced.... but my opinion for the thread, if the fish arent biting, they arent biting.... several thing can set them off including temperature and barometric pressure changes. but you can try what worked for me a couple times over old 190 after some cold fronts when the whites wouldnt bite, just drop a heavy slab down there full speed and maybe you will hook one on top of the head :spineyes:


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

CaptainMorgan said:


> .... but my opinion for the thread, if the fish arent biting, they arent biting.... several thing can set them off including temperature and barometric pressure changes...


Add water visibility to the list and I'm with you.


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## iCdeez (Jan 24, 2010)

Well when the water is a bit murky and the fish arent really biting everyone has there secret techiniques. Not saying one is better than the other but it's all about confidence. If you think your attractant is the best then it is the best, if you think slime on the jig is the way to go then hell its the way to go. It is all about how you feel. Sometimes you cant get em to bite. Until there is a Crappie Whisperer who can express their feelings we will just have to pull out all the stops to snag a few of em.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

I have rubbed my lures on the fish the same as HGX fisherman. I think it works. When at the dam several weeks ago with Shadslinger, I was rubbing slime everytime I used a new plastic crappie bait. I have also used it many times for specs and red on saltwater trips. I think the reason one person starts catching and other don't is because the first fish to hit the lure put scent on it. The more fish he catches the more scent. Hard for others in the boat to keep up.

In Kickapoo creek with Matt in December there were two gentleman using jigging poles and they dipped their crappie baits in store bought scent every time the cast out. They were catching crappie one after another. I sure went to school that day. I had never seen someone use 2- 12ft jigging poles or scent. They were using (2) poles at a time and sometimes had (2) crappie at a time.


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## Jigger (Feb 12, 2009)

My old trick is to use 4 or 5 poles. Each at a different depth, untill they started biting one. Then set all poles to that depth. I got busy one day.

BBR


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## brazman (Aug 22, 2006)

Get some 1 1/2" tube jigs and some Berkeley Crappie Nibbles Or the Eagle Claw equivalent, both work well. Insert a jighead into the tube jig and shove a few nibbles into the cavity. I actually use a large syringe made for giving babies medicine for this, put the nibbles into the syringe, pump the tube jigs full. Tie on a few jigs to the same line, a foot apart or so. Set them in the water just above where you think the fish should be, and rest the pole on the side of the boat. Seriously. The boat and the current under the water will give the jigs enough action. But, stay glued to the line tip and the line coming out of the water, the bites can be super subtle. IF this doesn't work, move the jigs up 6". After moving the line up a few times with no luck, go find some other structure. Either they're there or they're not, but don't wait them out all day. Good luck!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Good tip brazman, thanks I will try that one. I looked at Academy the other day to see for sure what size hook I like for crappie an Eagle Claw Aberdeen 3/0 or 4/0. All of the posts about different sizes had me 2nd guessing myself. I do better hooking the larger crappie with those than smaller ones.


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## SKs Crappie Fishing (Mar 24, 2008)

all the comments i've read about the depth of the crappie are all good tips but there's one thing that i haven't seen anyone talk about & thats the actual depth reading your getting from your finder. if your transducer is mounted on your troll motor you will need to add the depth of you troll motor to your reading. this has helped me a lot with getting withing there zone. as someone else has post it doesn't take alot of movement, a slight tap with your finger on top of your rod will usually do the trick. depth, structure & low current is some of the keys to catchn crappie


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## fishytx (Jan 22, 2010)

silentkilla said:


> if your transducer is mounted on your troll motor you will need to add the depth of you troll motor to your reading.


I can set my graph up front on the trolling motor transducer to allow for the difference in the depth the transducer is setting in the water. In other words, I can zero it out.


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## fishytx (Jan 22, 2010)

One thing that I’ve read on here, I highly believe in. And that would be the scent from a fish caught. The first thing I do when I catch my first fish is to rub both hands on the fish, release the fish and then rub my hands together till they dry. I’ve done this all my life. Does it really work? I don’t know for sure, but I sure do catch a lot of fish when I do, so I do it on every fishing trip. 
I’m not much of a crappie fisherman, but I like to us small tube jigs when fishing brush piles in the lake, or still water. I keep the bait just above the fish and I move my pole about a foot and I let the jig catch up to the pole. I also give it a very light jigging action from time to time. Or I might just pull up on the bait about six to twelve inches and then lower the pole back slowly. You have to play around with these fish till you figure out what it takes to get them to hit it. I change up all the time. I even move around a brush pile or a hole where they are staged. They get sick of looking at the same thing over and over again, so you have to mix it up some. I may have one pole rigged with just one jig, and that will work for a little while. When that stops working, then I’ll drop the pole with three jigs on it, and the bite is back on for a little while. Even a change of color or style of jig can make a difference, but you have to be willing to change up. That’s been my experience anyways. 
Live bait, never heard of it. Long time a go, I us to use live bait every now and then, but today I feel like I can catch three fish on a jig faster than a person can catch one fish on a minnow. Not only that, but I hate getting my hands cold while hooking those suckers on the hook. Plus you have to chase them around in a bucket, or grab a net to get one, then get it turned just right in your hand so you can hook it. It seems like to much trouble to me. While a person is doing all of that, heck I’m catching a few more fish.


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## SKs Crappie Fishing (Mar 24, 2008)

fishytx said:


> I can set my graph up front on the trolling motor transducer to allow for the difference in the depth the transducer is setting in the water. In other words, I can zero it out.


what finder are you using? 
i've heard of this feature before but haven't seen any units that has it.


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## fishytx (Jan 22, 2010)

Garmin

I really can’t remember where it’s at on mine, but I think it’s under the settings where I can set the speed of my graph. If I scroll down in this setting then it gives me the option to add or subtract the difference by feet.


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