Lure Selection

Lure Selection: “Swim Baits or Jigs”
Most people make this out to be a complicated process…its not. The most common lure for crappie that most people select is the one that they have caught fish on. They won't change …they won't change …they won't change for nothing, and it’s all because they got confidence in that bait. Well the one thing that seems consistent is, if they have ever caught a fish on a certain lure, that’s the "Lure of Choice","the best crappie lure". And, if they had a good day, it's like pulling teeth to get them to try a different lure. Ok, lets talk about the lures I use and why.
My favorite crappie lures for casting are swimming grubs or twister tail type baits. These baits work great when shooting under docks, which is one of my favorite techniques for Smith Mountain Lake. Generally, I use this bait the most during the Spring in the shallows or when the fish are holding in water six feet or less.
Fishing the docks for deeper fish (8 to 14 ft) requires a little different technique and bait. I alternate between tube jigs lures and marabou jig lures. It is also important to match the jig head with the speed and depth that you plan to fish. I have found that when the fish are not that aggressive, a slow falling lure works best. The only time I use a heavy lure is when my target is small and I have to get the bait in that target area quickly. For example, (deep lay downs).
When selecting a jig weight, I start with a 1/16 oz and move the weight up and down until I determine which weigh keeps me in the strike zone the longest. Many people ignore line weight and that’s a major factor in how your lure performs. The rules of thumb for selecting line weight should be based on the structure around you, using the lightest line possible. Line of choice for me tends to be lines with a diameter of 4 lb or less. That’s my starting point to determine how deep and where the fish are located when using jigs. I carry multiple spools with different weighted lines so that I have the option to switch line weights.
I have found that Basspro.com has the best selection as well as prices on Jigs, Depth finders, and slip bobbers as well as all other tackle. I ususally order online but I do enjoy browsing the store in person.

Finding the crappie

  Locating crappie is the first step in catching crappie. No matter what you use as bait for crappie, be it minnows, jigs or some secret bait of yours, crappie have to be there in order to be caught.
I used to get on a lake and fish every brush pile I saw. And I did pretty good with that technique in the summer and fair in the winter. However, when I started using my depth finder/fish finder I started doing
a lot better.

  The first thing I do when I turn on my depth finder is turn off the fish symbols! I feel that I get a better representation of what's under the boat without have fish symbols on the screen.
That's just my opinion. I like to look for structure that is in the middle of nowhere. By that I mean, if you are running along a flat bottom with no structure on it and suddenly see a submerged
tree or stumps, youv'e found structure that is in the middle of nowhere. When you find this structure, idle the boat back and forth over it to see if it holds fish. The odds are that it will and they will be crappie and bass.
In stead of dropping anchor, Drop a set of marker bouys.

  I use this method to mark structure I've located on the fish finder. I get my first bouy ready and I start idling the boat towards the structure. As soon as I see it on the depth finder, I drop the first bouy. I keep
going in a straight line until I'm well past the structure. Then I make an 180 degree turn and head bac for the structure with my second marker bouy ready in hand. I'm usually a little pass the first marker bouy I dropped before I see the structure
on my depth finder again. This is when I drop the second bouy. Since the screen on a depth finder is showing you the history of whats under you, you have alread gone pass what you are seeing on the screen if the boat is moving.
By dropping the bouys in this way, you can be pretty sure that the structure is between the bouys.

  I have caught I lot more crappie since I've started using this technique to locate them. I usually pitch tube jigs to them first. When the bite dies down, I'll try swim baits like curly tail grubs and catch a few more
crappie. Last but not least, I'll toss a couple of minnows out using a slip bobber rig. Finally I'll pull my bouys and search for the next piece of structure. I hope this helps you in finding and catching
more crappie..For more Crappie tips and my blog, visit Catchingcrappie.com. Also, please feel free to join the new crappie forum and leave tips or ask questions.

  I have found that Basspro.com
has the best selection as
well as prices on Jigs, Depth finders, and slip bobbers as well as all other tackle. I ususally order
online but I do enjoy browsing the store in
person.

How to rig a slip bobber

So what's a slip bobber? Well, a slip bobber is a bobber that slides freely up and down your fishing line. For any bobber to work there must be a way to hold the it at a certain spot on the fishing line. To use the old fashion clip on type, you simply clip the bobber above the hook at the depth that you want your bait to be under water. This is fine but it limits your ability to cast if you want to fish deeper than about 3 feet. Here's where the slip bobber out shines the clip on type. The slip bobber allows you to cast just about as far as you normally would. You can also fish as deep as you want. I have used slip bobbers to catch Crappie 30 feet deep in 40 feet of water.

Rigging up a slip bobber takes a little more time than using a clip on type but it's well worth the little bit of extra effort. The old style clip on type have a clip to hold the line. Slip bobbers have a hole thru them so that they can slide up and down the fishing line. There is usually a small knot tied on the fishing line to stop the bobber from sliding up the line. The line used to tie the knot is usually made of string. You can buy rigged knots all ready set up to put on the line. To save money, I use dental floss. Next, a small bead with a hole thru the center is slid on to the line. The knot should be big enough to stop the bead from sliding past the knot, but small enough to pass through the rod guides easily. Now the bobber is slid on the line and the hook is tied to the end of the line. I usually place a split shot on my line between my hook and the bobber. The split shot keeps the bobber off of the hook while casting.

You'll find that you will be able to use a slip bobber in a lot more situations than you could with the clip on type. You can use slip bobbers to precisely hold you bait just off the bottom no matter how deep the water.

The next time you mark suspended fish on your depth finder, try using a slip bobber set to the depth of the fish. I use this technique a lot in the winter when are suspended deep. Good luck! Visit my site WWW.Catchingcrappie.com for more fishing secrets.

How to rig a slip bobber

So what's a slip bobber? Well, a slip bobber is a bobber that slides freely up and down your fishing line. For any bobber to work there must be a way to hold the it at a certain spot on the fishing line. To use the old fashion clip on type, you simply clip the bobber above the hook at the depth that you want your bait to be under water. This is fine but it limits your ability to cast if you want to fish deeper than about 3 feet. Here's where the slip bobber out shines the clip on type. The slip bobber allows you to cast just about as far as you normally would. You can also fish as deep as you want. I have used slip bobbers to catch Crappie 30 feet deep in 40 feet of water.

rigging up a slip bobber takes a little more time than using a clip on type but it's well worth the little bit of extra effort. The old style clip on type have a clip to hold the line. Slip bobbers have a hole thru them so that they can slide up and down the fishing line. There is usually a small knot tied on the fishing line to stop the bobber from sliding up the line. The line used to tie the knot is usually made of string. You can buy rigged knots all ready set up to put on the line. To save money, I use dental floss. Next, a small bead with a hole thru the center is slid on to the line. The knot should be big enough to stop the bead from sliding past the knot, but small enough to pass through the rod guides easily. Now the bobber is slid on the line and the hook is tied to the end of the line. I usually place a split shot on my line between my hook and the bobber. The split shot keeps the bobber off of the hook while casting.

You'll find that you will be able to use a slip bobber in a lot more situations than you could with the clip on type. You can use slip bobbers to precisely hold you bait just off the bottom no matter how deep the water.

The next time you mark suspended fish on your depth finder, try using a slip bobber set to the depth of the fish. I use this technique a lot in the winter when are suspended deep. Good luck!

I almost forgot to tell you where to get slip bobbers. Walmart usually has a few diferent types of slip bobbers at a pretty resonable price. I have found that Basspro.com has a really good selection of slip bobbers. The last time I checked, they were a little more expensive than Walmart but they had a lot to choose from. Be warned! Shopping online is addictive and if you are like me, you will wind up buying more than slip bobbers! For more fishing tips email me at Roc@catchingcrappie.com

Part 2 Smith Mountain Crappie

After waiting for what seemed like months, I finally had time to get to Smith Mountain Lake to get at those slab size crappie! Though I was skeptical about the size of crappie that my friend Tony (Killer-Hog-Head) claimed to be catching, I knew that a lake of that size could hold slabs as big as he claimed.

We hit the lake at sun up. Now I know that most folks believe that you have to be on the water early, but I don’t subscribe to this point of view. Now there are exceptions. For example, I do believe that you can catch surface feeding fish at dawn and sun up. That’s another story. We were there at sun up because Killer-Hog-Head said that he caught his fish early. And, I wasn’t going to give him any reason (excuse) for not putting us on some slab size crappie.

It was a short ride from the ramp to slab crappie spot. I was just getting hunkered down good in the boat when we turned in to a cove. My first words were, “we have fished this area a hundred times and I’ve never seen a slab sized crappie come out of here.” Tony said “I know, but this is where we were catching them.” I started casting jigs towards the shore. However, I had one eye on Tony at all times to see what he fishing. The first thing I noticed was that he was rigging up a slip bobber to use minnows. Now I know minnows are good bait for crappie, but I like to think of them as the equivalent of putting on training wheels on a bike. Correction, I used to think of them that way.

As soon as he was rigged up, he started up the boat and headed us to the opposite side of the cove. I should have known that there was no way Killer-Hog-Head was going to put me on fish while he still had to rig up. I know he thought he was going to catch me without a slip bobber rig but he was wrong. I had one rod rig that way just incase I couldn’t get the jigs to do the trick.

He put us so close to shore, I could have jumped to shore with no problem. Tony’s bobber went under almost immediately. That one went 16 or 17 inches! I had a minnow under a float before he could get his fish in the live well. We worked that side of the cove for most of the morning. We caught just about a limit of slab size crappie! I did manage to get a few on jigs, but the majority of the fish were caught using minnows or minnas as Killer-hog-head calls them.

Since then, we learned how to find other coves that held the same size fish. I my next blog, I’ll tell you what type of coves we look for when we are fishing for slab size crappie in the spring.

How to make a gill net

Gill netting is a very productive method of catching fish. Although a lot of states do not allow the use of gill nets, Virginia is one of the few that does. In fact, it allows recreation gillnetting as well as commercial gill netting. The recreational fisherman is limited to one gill net whereas the commercial guys have as many as they want. They just buy as many gill net licenses as the need.

I started out as a recreational fisherman/gill netter. It was more fun than I expected and I found that I could catch enough for a weekend fish fry whenever I wanted. Later, I wanted to sell fish and that required me to become a commercial waterman. I did pretty good my first year considering I only had one gill net.

I needed more nets and found that I needed to learn how to make my own nets. The cost of a gill net is cut just about in half when you build it yourself. Gillnets consists of three major parts. The top line, the netting, and the bottom line or lead line are the main parts of the gill net. The top line is usually made of float line. Float line is a line that has a foam core to make it float. Floats spaced out on a line also works but the foam core line is easier to handle when deploying your net.
the netting comes in different size meshes as well as thickness. The size of the mesh determines the size fish that can be caught in the net. A three inch mesh will catch fish as small as 6" and as big as 12inches with the average fish being about 8 to 10 inches.
To build my nets, I used 1/2" foam core top line and 65LB. bottom line. I used 600 feet of each. I used three inch net mesh for catching Spot and medium Croakers. For the large Croakers and sea trout I used 3 3/4 " mesh. When you order your netting, order twice the the length of the size of the net you will build. For example, to build a 100 yd gill net, order 200 yd of netting. Netting is usually measured in "stretched yards". Tie the netting to the top and bottom line at intervals of about 7 to 9 meshes. At each end of your net, run a rope from the top line to the bottom line and secure at both the top and bottom. These are your end lines. You will attach a buoy to the top line and an anchor to the bottom line at both ends.

All that's left to do now, is to set the net in you favorite spot and get ready for a fish fry!


  

Smith Mountain Lake Crappie trip

It will be that time of year again soon! By that, I mean the spring Crappie season! Some of the best fishing in Virginia is at Smith Mountain Lake. With 22000 acres of water and endless tributaries, it's no wonder why Smith Mountain Lake has some of the best fishing in Virginia.

My first trip to SML was about 20 years ago. On that trip I caught my limit of 10 to 14 inch crappie and I was the man. I continued to have that same kind of success year after year. Now, fast forward to about 3 years ago. A friend of mine, which I'll refer to as "Killer-Hog-Head", called me up and told me that he was catching 18" crappie, and lots of them. Now you and I both know that the way to tell if a fisherman is lying is to see if his lips are moving. Since he was on the phone and I couldn't see his lips, I took the bait and said, "Where and when?". He proceeded to tell me how big they were and how they fought, but was a little closed mouth on exactly where they were caught. Oh, he would tell me at SML, but 22000 acres is a lot of water. I wanted the specifics! Needless to say, there was a whole lot of talk, but not a lot of information. I was pretty tired of hearing about the "secret crappie bait" and the "special crappie techniques" that were needed to land the slab size crappie. After what seem to me to be about a good 30 min. of flapping his jowls, we finally set up a time that we could meet at the lake and I could get a first hand look at some of these monster crappie. I'll tell you all about that trip in my next Blog. Below are a few pictures.