Summertime crappie fisherman, I'm not..

[Kylersk]

People all around me were catching crappies left and right. My son and I couldnt catch one. All we caught was one sunny each.

Not sure what we were doing wrong. Slip bobber, with a flu-flu (tried minnows and grubs) about 18" below bobber. Tried all kinds of retrieves, but couldnt catch a thing.

[fisherman-andy]

Hmmm strange. How shallow? What were the other Anglers bait & presentation? I find it hard to see that them Crappies didn't even hit your minnows? Sometimes it could be a specific spot or area they congregate in. If your just off a little you could end up catching nothing. But if people are all around you are catching them then I really don't have a solution for you and don't understand why?

[Worst Kid]

just use a plain jig head with a mini tube style bait. Tip it with a crappie minnow and you should be good. Just wondering were you on lake Waconia?????

[BoxMN]

Yep, a minni salty tube (the Lindy ones I really like) in red/white or pink/white on the lightest jig you can find. I have some 1/64th and 1/48th, and when they are biting good maybe 1/32nd. Watch the bobber for slights little "ticks" and if you aren't nooking them, then take off the bobber and cast - but hard to cast such light jigs. Keep the bobbers moving, just slightly and slowly, they seem to like moving bait in spring for me.

Good luck!

[RonZ]

A plain #6 longshank with a lively minnow is a good bet also.

[Corey Bechtold]

Just wait for the Ice fishing season!

Come to the Crappies/Sunfish forum and we'll be sure to help you out.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[chickeywing]

#1 trick: Make sure the jig is hanging horizontal, not vertical. Twist the know towards the shank as far as it will go. You will have to re-adjust, or at least check, the knot after each fish/bite.

[MuleShack]

KEEP EXPERIMENTING!!

Deeper water, shallower water, fish 5' down in 8' of water, then try 3' down. gotta keep trying different stuff, different ways with different baits and colors until your on something, and then figure out what you did and then hone in on it.

I was out Friday evening and tried small plastics, Wax worm and then went to a 2" plastic minnow. Tried 4' then out to 9' and found the fish in 7' and only there...finally after 1.5 hours of looking, i got into about 35 sunnies and crappies.

[chris63]

Shush,don't let the secret out!c

[brittman]

I freely admit I am not the best fisherman and spend more time hunting than fishing, but agree that moving baits up and down is the answer.

Last year my family boated 80 crappises - 20 over 10" one evening. Lures / hooks at 5' over 10'. People around caught nothing. It looked like they were fishing 1 - 3' off the bottom. Strange they did not even pick one up as the lure moved through the feed zone. The fish were very aggressive that evening.

With four or five in the boat - we usually through out at various depths and then key down to the right depth as the fish begin to tell us where they are.