Tips and Tactics - Catching Crappie in Illinois
Crappie Fishing is a great way to teach beginners how to fish.
Here are a few of Capitol Outdoors' tips that will help you catch more crappie this year.
Jigs/Plastics
- Jigs are basically a hook incorporated with lead, tungsten or other metal material. There are a lot of variations of jigs out there. It's best to keep a bunch in your tackle box.
- Jig weight can be another factor. Our recommendation is to use any 1/16 oz jig. You should use nothing heavier than 1/8 oz. and nothing lighter than 1/32 oz. The important thing is, making sure you can feel your jig. It doesn't matter if you are fishing shallow water or deep waters, you should always be able to feel the movement in your jig.
- Another useful tool when crappie fishing are plastics. You've heard that no two snowflakes are alike? That goes for plastics too, there are hundreds of colors, sizes and different styles. They are also a cheap way to get a wide range of colors and different looks in front of the fish. Many anglers use the color chartreuse but, I've found a white body with a pink head works best.
- When it comes to live bait you have a variety to choose from ranging from, insects, reptiles, invertebrates, amphibians and of course the obvious one: other fish.
- Always buy a couple dozen minnows. Jigs and plastics can become too flashy and push the fish to a new area. Crappies can't resist a simple setup of a splitshot, simply a jighead and a minnow.
- Tip: We love to fish a Grub Jigs tipped with a minnow. Color we tend to use is pink and white. What do you use?
- Jigging
- Jigging is the way you make the jig move to make the fish bite.
- After you cast, during the moment when your jig is free falling through the water, watch out. Fish usually bite on the drop. There are a variety of ways to jigging. Of course, there's vertical jigging. Vertical jigging is when you are moving your lure up and down next to the boat or dock. Besides vertical jigging, we use these other two methods. They are called the Jagged Mountain and Rolling Plains. Jagged Mountains is just what it sounds like. Take your rod twitch, jig, pull, do whatever you can to get action out of it. Don't over do it. But, you are dragging your jig across a jagged mountain. Make sure you also let it sink a little too. Rolling Plains - keeping contact with your jig the entire time, keep your rod pointed up and move you're rod up and down slowly. This is more of a slow, rise and fall movement to the jig.
- Bobbers
- Using a slip bobber is convenient allowing you to adjust ones depth as you fish. Slip bobbers slip up and down the line allowing you to fish deep water and not endanger yourself or others while casting. Bobbers are also handy when you're fishing branches because it allows for vertical jigging.
- To go Crappie fishing you don't need the 10 foot poles crappie tournament anglers use. Get yourself an ultra-light weight rod and put some 6lb test line on it. These fish can be very aggressive or very soft. Having the right gear puts more fish in your boat.
- Pay attention to your fish finder. Crappie, are schooling fish, they move from the shallow bays to deep weed-lines all times of the year. Work different types of structures, docks, drop offs and the best fallen or submerged trees. Start counting once your line hits the water. This will help you zero in on their depth.
- And don't be afraid to adjust your slip bobber to a different depth.
- Patience! Something our society has forgotten. It's fishing! There will be times that you catch them as soon as you put your line in the water and there will be others times, you fish all day and not even get a bite. When fishing a jig, there is a lot of action and once you get it, the enjoyment of catching the fish is great!
Capitol Outdoors hopes that these easy to remember tips will make you more successful the next time you are on the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment