Crappies

[Sam]

On a side note: Do you all paint your own jigheads? I have been doing the powder paint thing for many years.

You know, I used to. They sure look prettier when I paint them.

But I think we're back to the "lures are manufactured to catch fishermen, not fish" thing. I finally decided that it didn't make a bit of difference to the fish whether I painted the jig heads or not - so I leave them unpainted now.

I kinda wish the fish did like 'em better that way, because I was making some real pretty jigheads with attractive colors, little painted eyeballs, etc. They were nice to show off to other fishermen, but I just couldn't find a crappie that cared.

[doroger]

Guys:

This is great info!! Question for those of you who are using braided line: are you using any leader, or tying directly to the jigs? Concerned about the fish seeing the line especially in the clear cold water of winter. Keep the tips coming!!

Don Rogers

[Sam]

I always tie the line directly to the jig. It's just my opinion, but I don't think crappies care if they see the line or not - and this line is only 3 lb. mono diameter, I can hardly see it.

Lots of crappie fishermen use bright yellow Mr. Crappie line, and that seems to work OK. I even saw a video where they were catching crappie between pilings of a dock by reeling the jig clear up to the rod tip and sticking the rod underwater. Crappie were biting the jig even when it was attached to the end of a rod. So, unlike with trout and some other species, I don't think line visibility matters much.

[crappiefisherman]

Sam I believe your right.I use the chartruse fireline .lb size 6 lb strength.I dont think it makes a diff to the crappie and I also believe it helps catching, because you can actually see the hits.On an earlier post someone was saying fish were faster then his reflexes.Maybe they are just not visible to the angler fast enough.Many fish are caught on visual hits, not just feeling a tap .

\

[Sam]

Here's a theory. The times I've been able to see crappies take a lure or minnow, it's been one of two ways. Rarely, I've seen a crappie come up from below at full speed, slam a lure from any direction, and go right back down - just like a bass. I've only seen that a few times.

Mostly, while sight fishing I've seen 'em bite as I described above. They follow a lure from a little behind and below it, then speed up and suck it in from behind, then turn to go back down. I think that's nearly always the way crappies bite.

That means they're not in position to even see the line or the jighead, they're looking at the tail of the lure or minnow from behind and a little below it. That may be why line visibility and whether a jighead is painted doesn't matter much.

[CrappieMagnet]

Sorry guys...was gone for the weekend winterizing my RV camper up in NW Wisconsin.

I get a lot of my jig tying material,jigs and hooks from various places around Minnesota and the net.I'll share that with you all and see if

you can also materialize more in your tackle box from it.

For calf tail hair I get it from both Gander Mountain,Cabelas,and Joe's Sporting Goods around the Twin Cities here.For jigs and hooks I tend to either go to

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/ and Stamina Tackle at http://lurepartsonline.com/cart.html and http://www.tackleunderground.com/

and here are my other resources of where I inquire at for different kinds of tackle.

Apex Tackle Corp

120W 8th Street

Depart.CRP

South Sioux City,NE 68776

(402) 494-3009

Bait Rigs

P.O.Box 44153

Depart.CRP

Madison,Wisc 53744

(608) 256-3232

Bass Pro Shops

1935 S. Campbell

Depart. CRP

Springfield,MO 65898-0123

1-800-BASS PRO

Betts Tackle

P.O.Box 57,HWY 42 West

Depart. CRP

Fuquay Varina,NC 27526

(919) 552-2226

Blakemore Sales

P.O.Box 1149

Depart.CRP

Branson,MO 65616

(417) 334-5340

Blue Fox Tackle

645 N. Emerson

Depart CRP

Cambridge,MN 55008

(612) 689-3402

Cabela's

20200 Rogers Drive

Rogers Mn 55374

763-493-8600

Charlie Brewer's Slider Co.

511 E. Gaines St.

Depart CRP

Lawrenceburg,TN 38464

(615) 762-4700

Gammills Fishing Tackle

P.O.Box 136

Depart CRP

Oak Grove,LA 71263

(318) 428-4431

JWA Fishing Marine( formerly Johnson)

222 Main St.

Depart CRP

Racine,WI 56001

1-800-227-6432

Manns Baits

604 State Docks Rd.

Depart CRP

Eufala,AL 36027

(205) 687-5716

Mister Twister

P.O.Box Drawer 1152

Depart CRP

Minden,LA 71058-1152

(318) 377-8818

Northland Fishing Tackle

3209 Mill St. NE

Depart CRP

Bemidji,MN 56601

(218) 751-6723

Southern Pro Lures

P.O. Box 358

Depart CRP

Brookland,Ark 72417

(501) 972-1378

The only plastics I buy to tip plain jigs are http://www.Lobybaits.com and http://www.gandermountain.com/

There are other places I buy material from to paint the jigs from...but YES I do use powdered paint and heat to paint my jig heads.I also either paint on the eye or use a sticker type eye.

Hope this helps some of you.

[Sam]

I guess you can catch 'em with high-tech or low-tech.

When I was in my early 20's and newly married, my wife would sometimes get mad at me when she did the laundry. Back then, I'd go fishing with just what tackle I could carry in a shirt pocket (don't know why it takes a whole boat-load of stuff now), and sometimes I'd encounter crappie and not have any lures for them. So - I'd cut a little strip of cloth off the tail of my white t-shirt and move that slowly on a bare hook about a foot below a split shot sinker. It works, and I guess that sort of thing is still my philosophy now.

My camera won't take clear close-ups, so this picture is fuzzy but you get the idea. This is the sort of homemade, ugly thing I often catch crappie on - and it's NOT for catching fishermen, 'cause nobody would buy it.

I take a piece of nylon mason's twine and double it over, then run that through a cheap plastic WalMart bead (I've got those in all colors). Run a jig hook through the bead, put a drop of super glue on the back of the lead head, run the string and bead up to the jighead and let the glue dry. Then I frizz out the nylon twine with a comb.

The cost is: Hook, 6 cents; Jighead, free - I've got 100 lbs of free wheel weights in my shop; Bead, too cheap to figure; Twine, too cheap to figure. Assembly time: Very little. I've even put these together in the boat when I need a color I don't have.

The advantages are: Wide hook gap because there's no lure body, super-live action and durability from the nylon fuzz, and it's quick and easy to make in any color or combination of colors, using lure dye.

The disadvantage: Anybody but a crappie would think it's ugly.

Here's a 1/8 oz. one on a 1/0 hook in off-white with a blue bead. Again, sorry for the fuzzy picture.

[Martin]

I'll testify to this......Sam's home poured 1/8 oz. jig head (with the bigger than usual hook) is the best tip he ever gave me. Well, except for taking me out and showing me, first hand, his slow jig trolling method. Absolutely deadly !

It's not the year round answer, but at the right time, it's the real deal.

Thanks again Sam !!

[Sam]

Thanks for the attaboy, Martin, I appreciate it. That's almost as good as those morels you've given me.

Oh, I forgot one other big advantage of using frayed-out nylon twine for tail material. Unlike maribou, it holds water like a wet mop. You can cast even a 1/32 oz. jig real well. Then once it hits the water it becomes weightless again.

[CrappieMagnet]

I also use Fireline charcoal colors for Minnesota and Wisconsin waters and for ultra clear waters I use Power Pro.I rarely use more than 4 lb. test except when

I am fishing in heavy weed or heavy brush, and stump covered shorelines...than I will bump it up to 6 lb. test.

For my dock shooting rods I use http://www.fishinfreaks.com custom rods in the 6 1/2 foot rod using a St.Croix rod blank.I also use a 5'3

Fenwick HMX S53ML Spinning Rod for shooting docks,bottom jigging,and slow retrieves presentation.