Crappie Status

[Springer Man]

I will being coming up to Red Thursday-Saturday. I was wondering which presentations have been working for crappies lately, especially during a finiky bite?

[fisherdog19]

I have had luck in the past with a glow red teardrop in size 10 or 12 with a single waxworm when they have been finicky at night.

[Borch]

This weekend most of our crappies came on plastics. The 2" glow power minnow continued to be the hot bait. Also set up a dead stick with a minnow on a glowing demon and your in business.

Keep moving until you find a school of active fish. If you're catching a few you're likely close to a bigger school. Keep drilling and looking.

[hanson]

I'll second the plastics approach. No bait necessary.

That Power Minnow has been deadly on anything that swims under the ice up there. Walleyes, Pike, Perch, and Crappies will all willing hit it, and hit it with authority.

The trick with plastics is you are trying to find the aggressive fish, so plastics work really great when hole hopping. 9 times out of 10, a fish will hit within 30 seconds of fishing a new hole. These are the aggressive fish that notice your bait and run in for the kill.

If you don't believe me, ask my dad who was begging me for power minnows every time he got snapped off.

[Springer Man]

Thanks guys, sounds like I need to go buy more fishing tackle.

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

So what exactly is a power minnow?

[hanson]

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So what exactly is a power minnow?

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Its a plastic made by Berkley. Quite a simple, ugly looking plastic but it works very well.

Are you familiar with the Mimic Minnow by Northland Tackle? Its very similar to that except that tail is not a paddletail.

We fish these plastics with no bait at all, just jighead & plastic. I jig them very similar to how I would work a jigging spoon. The odd thing is, I've had both crappies & walleyes eat this thing when I set my rod down. I'm not even jigging it and they still come up and eat.

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

I see. So do you use a plain hook? Or do you use a jigging spoon?

[iland99]

If I had to guess, I'd say he's using them on a jighead.

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We fish these plastics with no bait at all, just jighead & plastic.

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[hanson]

LOL! Yeah, just a jighead.

A 1/32oz Collarless Jighead is the ticket. You could go a little heavier but your lure will sink much faster as well. The 1/32oz provides a slow fall.

If you can't find appropriate sized jigheads, buy some Custom Jigs & Spins Ratsos in the largest size, take the Ratso plastic off and thread the Power Minnow on. The lure may be a wee bit light but you are only fishing in 13-14' of water. And who knows, that slow fall right might be the ticket.

[Borch]

I've been usin them with a #6 Little Atom Optic Jig. They are more like a 1/16 oz jig which I like for running and gunning as I'm able to drive them through any slush left in the hole without needing to take the time to skim the slush out of the hole first.

If you find a 1/32 or 1/16oz collarless jig it will work just fine. There are 1/16 oz jigs like this here.

FM Store

The faster fall rate hasn't hurt me thus far so the benefits of driving it through the slush while hole hopping was a primary consideration. Also you'll find them in most stores in the prepackaged jig set. It'll have two jig heads and 10 bodies. The glow color worked best for me up on URL. But to be fair it's the one I had tied one most often so it should catch me more.

[Rebels75]

Who makes the glowing demon?

[The Donk]

Demon jigs are made by a few companies now, but the original was custom jigs and spins I believe. They are a great all fish lure. I can catch walleyes on bigger ones and even sunfish on smalleys

[Borch]

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Who makes the glowing demon?

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Custom Jigs & Spin makes them. Just about anyone will have them especially as you get closer to URL. My wife's favorite is the glow white with a diagonal red stripe. I've also done well with the glow white with a red dot and others really like the glow red.

[Dubleaa]

If you find a 1/32 or 1/16oz collarless jig it will work just fine. There are 1/16 oz jigs like this here.

FM Store

$5.95 for shipping??? Why so expensive? The jigs themselves run $4.99...why double the price to get them delivered and into the tackle box? The site states "We would like you to use them and show your friends how well they work so we will keep them priced low here." Is there a promotion code to eliminate the shipping cost?

[Slabby]

You're right- that's ridiculous

[Borch]

Ridiculous is a strong word. It's just the way it is when you make a small order online or through the mail.

When you make a small order anywhere you'll get nailed on shipping. I just doubled check two other sources of this type of jighead and found very simuliar rates. I always try to wait until I need several things and by them together to make the shipping costs lower. If you're just looking for one set if jigs then you may want to call around to see if the local stores have any in stock. If you drive around looking for them you'll quickly eat up any potential savings.

Best of Luck!

[MIKE IN lINO III]

Looks like standard UPS rates. I'm not defending them but it is for Shipping & Handling.

Mike

[hanson]

The problem with those collarless jigheads is that they are very, very hard to find in any stores.

Scenic Tackle makes some nice ones which are the ones mentioned above.

ISG (Innovative Sports Group) makes some 1/32oz collarless jigheads for their plankton series plastics. I've found these in 1 store and that was Reel Fishing & Tackle in Madison Lake (southern MN). I believe I cleaned them out.

Little Atom makes the Optic Jig, which is a collarless jighead but the jig head itself is more of an oblong shape rather than round. You can order straight from Little Atom and expect a really fast turnaround on delivery. The LA Optic has a longer hook shank than comparable jigs which I think helps with the longer shape of the power minnow plastic.

Custom Jigs & Spins also has a collarless jighead on their Ratso lures. Ditch the ratso plastic and put on the power minnow. These are probably going to be the easiest collarless jigheads to find.

Why collarless? It allows you to slide the plastic all the way up to the jighead without the "keeper" (found on traditional jigs) interfering with the plastic. Its a small detail, I think it helps.

[Mike L]

I cast my own. My wife teaches art here and does stained glass on the side.

All the little tag ends from her lead came go into a coffee can until I decide to 'em melt down into ingots. Then two or three times a year I make a production run of slip sinkers and jigs.

Gonna have to start experimenting with other metals, though, 'cause it's just a matter of when (not if) lead is banned outright.

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

Have you ever used a jgging spoon with the power minnow? I always prefer to have a treble hook on whenever possible. What do you guys mean by a collarless jig?

[Slabby]

The word ridiculous was meant for the buyer. If somebody buys a $4 lure for $10, I don't know how else to describe it?

A seller probably can't pull inventory,package and send for less than $5.95.

you're right borch- if you order say $100 worth of stuff,$5.95 isn't so bad

[Borch]

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Have you ever used a jgging spoon with the power minnow? I always prefer to have a treble hook on whenever possible. What do you guys mean by a collarless jig?

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These are an example of an collarless jig.

You could definitely run these on spoons. However, it's my experience that part the apeal is the horizontal presentation. You want to adjust the knot so that jig hangs horizontally which means you adjust it after most fish that you catch.

I do like the single hook for running and gunning. That means I have two less hooks to get myself, clothing or gear with as I walk from hole to hole. Maybe it's a problem that I only have.

Don't forget the Rastos by custom Jigs & Spins. Theye work very well also. They are a bit smaller and lighter but the crappies there hammer them just as hard.

[BLACKJACK]

What kind of a tail do you put on these? A Mr. Twister tail? How big? I could see where these would be good to run and gun and pound down thru the slush and freezing holes. If the fish bite on it without bait, it would certainly save time when all of a sudden your flasher lights up with lots of fish!!!

[hanson]

We typically use the Berkley 2" Power Minnows.

There are a lot of other plastics out there that would work equally well too. Southern Pro makes a big variety of crappie plastics, tubes, etc. I think the Northland Mimic Minnow would work well. The Exude Micro Shad would work well. There really is a big variety out there, just need to experiment and find something that works. All of these plastics are not typically marketed for ice fishing so you'll have to go into the open water panfish sections of the local sports store to find them.

[Borch]

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If the fish bite on it without bait, it would certainly save time when all of a sudden your flasher lights up with lots of fish!!!

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No bait reqiured. That's the beauty for running and gunning. The first time I used them on URL Hanson asked me if I was going to use bait. I figured I'd pop an aggressive fish or two and then have to slow down and work them with a minnow. So it was truely a search lure in my head at the time. What we found out is that they worked very well on aggressive to neutral fish. So the need to switch of live bait was need even less than we though.

In addition tot he plastics that Hanson mentioned. The powerbait Nymphs and troutworms may be good baits as well. I just don't have the time into them yet like I do with the 2" power minnows.