Last week my fishing buddy got a tip from one of the camp hosts at our local reservoir. He said the crappies were showing up at a campground that's normally only good in the spring. The water is only 6'-10' deep, with no dropoffs or natural structure. I've heard people place brush piles, but have no clue if it's true or where they are if it is.
We went on Friday but only managed about 15 or so, and most were only around 6" - 7". We decided to give it one more shot on Tuesday night, and if the fish weren't there or were too small we would move to another spot to fish for smallmouth.
Things didn't look good when we got there around 7:30. A guy was just packing up and all he had was a bluegill around 8". A nice bluegill, but just a single. He left before we could get our lines in the water.
I could see lots of activity on the surface. There were swirls, splashes and rises everywhere. First cast I caught a 10" crappie. Second cast I caught a 10" crappie. Third cast I missed two bites. My friend finally got his line out with one of my jigs and he started catching crappies. We were the only ones there, and we were hauling them in right and left.
We stayed until around 1 AM and I can count on one hand how many casts I made where I didn't at least get a bite. I usually use Megastrike and Crappie Nibbles, but that night I only used one nibble, because it fell off after the third cast and they didn't seem to care. I just rubbed the Megastrike gel on the head and chenille every 50 casts or so.
We didn't catch any giants (the largest was about 11") but we sure had a good time. It was a perfect clear night. Temps in the 60s with no wind and no one else fishing. My buddy was using one of my sparkly black jigs and I was using a pink and white with bubblegum chenille and white calf tail. Both jigs are still fishable, and we'll be using them again when we go back later in the week.
The color may not have been important since they were obviously hungry, but durability was definitely a factor in our success. We both used the same jig all night and were able to spend more time fishing than re-rigging like you have to with plastics. A well-tied hair or feather jig will outlast any plastic body.
I tied some more of the winning jigs, so here is a pic just out of the vise:
We went on Friday but only managed about 15 or so, and most were only around 6" - 7". We decided to give it one more shot on Tuesday night, and if the fish weren't there or were too small we would move to another spot to fish for smallmouth.
Things didn't look good when we got there around 7:30. A guy was just packing up and all he had was a bluegill around 8". A nice bluegill, but just a single. He left before we could get our lines in the water.
I could see lots of activity on the surface. There were swirls, splashes and rises everywhere. First cast I caught a 10" crappie. Second cast I caught a 10" crappie. Third cast I missed two bites. My friend finally got his line out with one of my jigs and he started catching crappies. We were the only ones there, and we were hauling them in right and left.
We stayed until around 1 AM and I can count on one hand how many casts I made where I didn't at least get a bite. I usually use Megastrike and Crappie Nibbles, but that night I only used one nibble, because it fell off after the third cast and they didn't seem to care. I just rubbed the Megastrike gel on the head and chenille every 50 casts or so.
We didn't catch any giants (the largest was about 11") but we sure had a good time. It was a perfect clear night. Temps in the 60s with no wind and no one else fishing. My buddy was using one of my sparkly black jigs and I was using a pink and white with bubblegum chenille and white calf tail. Both jigs are still fishable, and we'll be using them again when we go back later in the week.
The color may not have been important since they were obviously hungry, but durability was definitely a factor in our success. We both used the same jig all night and were able to spend more time fishing than re-rigging like you have to with plastics. A well-tied hair or feather jig will outlast any plastic body.
I tied some more of the winning jigs, so here is a pic just out of the vise:
