CRAPPIE GETTING BIGGER

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I got up earlier this morning and hit the city park lake at 5:30 am. Went straight back to the dock to do some further testing with the 1/24 boolie jigs and tied the same one that I caught most of the fish a couple days ago. It took about five casts before the first crappie hit,a little four incher. They kept getting bigger after that and had several in the 10-12 inch range and then the big one bit. Didn't have a tape to measure the fish but from the tip of my middle finger to almost where my forearm is,is 16 inches and this fish was just short. Another good morning,the red #6 sickle is now gold.View attachment 7View attachment 8View attachment 9View attachment 1

 

[Fatman]

NICE!!!!!!!! Wish I had a place like that close to me!!!!

 

[Jig Man]

Dang it JJ, quit it......

 

[Hawnjigs]

Whoah, on a public pier! That pond might have some slab havens.

 

[quivira kid]

Heck yeah! Looks like I need to find some 1/16-oz darts soon.... those are too cool.

 

[fisherb]

Nice looking fish. I just got some 1/64 shad dart heads, but doubt I'll be catching anything as nice as your fish.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Hey JJ1, you're getting close to the Boolie designer's preferred unpainted heads.

 

[StumpHunter]

Very nice white! A report on a new jig couldn't get any better than those pics. Nice....
I ordered the JD-7-A mold yesterday when I made the order for the props. Looking forward to trying those jigs!

 

[jiggerjohn]

JJ1 , Congrats on another great day! VERY nice crappie, and I'm continuin' to love your in-the-mouth photos of those SF Blend Boolies! Talk about added psyche to what you& I are experiencing with this new style tail! Tho this morning I ALMOST had one that woulda outdid ya - as my "Ghost Boo" was comin in,near completion of the retreive, a massive carp came after it, but saw me (or heard the instant stream of wetness dripping out of my shorts!!) at the last minute and scooted away! I've caught enough of these on tiny jigs that am confident he woulda topped 20# and given me a 40 minute fight! Brings up another thought on this SF material - some years back I was taking a bunch of carp on a similar FEELING material ;that is, this SF stuff has a scaly texture which I believe fish(and fussy carp ,especially) will mouth longer, determining they are chewing on a fresh caught minnow! Another very famous fisherman, who popularized that old other hair (can't recall its name just now) was a huge believer and proponent of this naturally scaly feel in a jig. Hmm, a serious carp session may be in order in the morning!

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

As soon as I grabbed the big ones lower jaw it gave a shake and the hook popped out. All fish were released to grow a little more. I might give it another try in the am. I tied another dozen tonight even though I havn't lost one yet. Went by Feathercraft and bought a pack of the orange flash blend and a couple more packs of small nickle props and beads. Went on ebay and bought 200 x-small coneheads. I think I'm stocked up for now. Probably stop tying these when I get 100 or so.When something works this well at a heavily fished city park lake what will it be like at a place where the fish don't see many baits. I can't wait to find out. I showed my daughter the pics of the crappie and now she wants to go,even bought her own license today. Still havn't caught a gill on one yet,but I'm not complaining. Easy bait to fish,just cast and start reeling slowly. I'm sure sooner or later a carp or catfish is going to hit. Hawn, that dart jig has three colors of paint on it,just hard to see in the pic. The 1/24 dart with only flashblend tied on in three colors has outfished everything including ducks and that's saying something.

 

[CrappieHappy]

Nice....

 

[Hawnjigs]

Is that 3 different FlashBlend colors on the same jig?

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Yes Hawn, I use olive for the top,mackeral in the middle and gray on bottom. I bought orange yesterday and tied some with four colors using just a few strands of each color. My first dart had a lot more strands and it's caught the majority including the bigger ones. We'll see how this plays out but I'm thinking more for murky to muddy water and less for clear. Most of what I've tied so far is using the flashblends and nothing else except for a thread strand that when I first wrap my thread on the hook I leave the tag end trailing out the back with the flashblend. It's not much but just might make a difference.

 

[Shoemoo]

That's a nice fish right there. Going to have to see if the local fly shop carries that blend stuff. The packaging looked vaguely familiar.

 

[redear]

so just to be sure jj1 are you using the smallest props wapsi makes? yeah yur killin me with the open mouth crappie pics too. good photos for sure.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

The fish I've been catching have been on the smallest size wapsi makes. They are 3/8 inch long,mediums are 1/2 inch. I've tied some with those but since the prop doesn't spin as easy I havn't been using them yet. If the little one's are working I'll keep throwing them.

 

[hookup]

Some nice chunks!

That boolie jigs looks like a shad dart modified w/ a prop.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

It is a shad dart with a prop. I have a couple shad dart molds and the older do-it mold 1/32 is actually a 1/24. This mold isn't tapered like the new version leaving more room to work with. I throw the darts more than any other style including ballheads. These are killer on light line.