im stuck on shore for a while and i would like to catch more crappie or bluegill since the bass have slowed down. right now i have a 5' UL rod with a 750fb sedona and a 6'6" L clarus with an abu cardinal 801.  i usually use smaller cranks like size 3 and 5 rapalas and have had some success. i recently picked up a small pack of 1/16 oz jigs with some 2" powergrubs (single tail) and i havnt cought anything on these.  i usually do a steady retrieve but that hasnt landed me anything on the jigs.

from what ive read they are easy fish to catch but im having a hard time , at least from shore. i would also like the fiance to be able to catch something and have her fishing experience be more enjoyable. most of the places i go fish for them are smaller ponds less than 5 acres or so. maybe 10ft deep tops in the dead center of the water but on some there is no access all the way around.

so how do you guys do it? whats your technique if you dont mind sharing?

brush piles , minnows and last but not lest , fish where their located . Sometimes it's really hard to catch them when you are shore bound.

brush piles , minnows and last but not lest , fish where their located . Sometimes it's really hard to catch them when you are shore bound.

i try to stay away from live bait. not to raise an argument , but i feel its more rewarding to catch a fish on artificial bait.

from what ive read , they tend to like deeper water , but these ponds are far from that lol.

brush piles , minnows and last but not lest , fish where their located . Sometimes it's really hard to catch them when you are shore bound.

i try to stay away from live bait. not to raise an argument , but i feel its more rewarding to catch a fish on artificial bait.

from what ive read , they tend to like deeper water , but these ponds are far from that lol.

If you want to keep the girl frien interested , use the live bait.

If you are fishing from the shore like I always do, then you would need to find them first. Few times I went out, got few dozens of minnows and fish around the lake or pond until I found a good stock of crappies. Then, I will switch to small tubes and jig after I know where they are located. I agree with sqhertz if you want ur GF to enjoy fishing, then go with minnows.

If you are fishing from the shore like I always do, then you would need to find them first. Few times I went out, got few dozens of minnows and fish around the lake or pond until I found a good stock of crappies. Then, I will switch to small tubes and jig after I know where they are located. I agree with sqhertz if you want ur GF to enjoy fishing, then go with minnows.

i guess that will have to do then.

one of the ponds i go , is loaded with crappie and maybe an acre in size. some days we will land 12 a piece , others we only land 2 or 3 in a couple hours fishing with the small cranks.

i keep seeing those maribou jigs? with the hairs and those roadrunner jigs with the spinners. have you had any more luck with one over the other? i dont want to 'collect' a bunch of crappie tackle like i do bass tackle. i just want to catch them.  ;D

I use marabou jigs from cabela, and had some luck with white or chartreuse.

Also, I have a 121 piece crappie jighead kit it lasted me few years. I like using tubes since it gives me better results, and I fish them slow.

Good Luck cathing them.

Buy lots of jigs.

Fishing slow + fishing around brushpiles+light line = many lost jigs. Especially fishing from shore where you can't go get 'em. Use jigs with light wire hooks as many times, you can straighten the hook and save the jig.

But then, if ya ain't losin' them, ya ain't fishing in the right place.

Tom

Ditto with tholmes.  Sometimes, you have to lose a few to get a lot.

  Today, I had the best day fishing all year.  A local pond where I live has tons of black crappie stacked up in the coves on the northwestern side.  A fellow who was coming back from there tells me that the particular cove I picked out would have 'em from here on until February.  It's a matter of getting the right lure and tackle and figuring out what works best in any given situation and you're set.

  Today's weather started out a bit cloudy and cool but warmed up real fast as the sun came out.  The cove was situated with a southern exposure, so the sun and the breeze were going straight in.  Crappie were stacked up around brushpiles and fallen trees around the back half of the cove and guys fishing there told me they had gotten up to 30 to 40 of 'em by the time I arrived after Noon.

  I used a 7' light fast-action rod and reel combo with small bobbers and any combination of jigs, microspoons and grubs to get my crappie action.  I had lost the better foam bobbers within a couple of hours on snags and miscasts into the surrounding branches and bushes so that I only had a few cheap plastic bobbers which did more sinking than floating, but that didn't deter me.  By doing a moderate retrieve across the cove where the other guys had been (they left by 2:00), I ended up with a blizzard of strikes and came up to 25 catches before retiring for the day.

  The lure colors which seemed to work best were chartreuse or at least partly white in stained water of 1-½' to 2'.  Check your local pond for similar situations and bear in mind that changing weather conditions might either heat up or turn off the crappie/panfish bite, depending on how servere the change gets.  I had to give up on fishing a clearwater creek this week because the Nor'easters which blew through over the past week had raised a bit of silt and made the current run faster, which -- combined with a few frosty nights -- seems to have turned off the creek fishing action all together.

As has been mentioned above, focus on using marabou this time of the year. Best bet is a double rig under a slip bobber, so that you can adjust the depth of the jigs. Two 1/32 oz. marabous - different colors - about a foot apart is about as good as it gets. Leave in once spot if the there's a definable ripple on the water. If calm, SLOW reel it back to you. The bobber will go down! 

Have you ever tied a slip bobber on, over a drop shot rig tip with little minnow baits.Me and another friend did this and pulled several this way, including a few bass.

for panfish, hands down best bait is live bait, whether it's nightcrawlers or minnows.  Especially if you're taking out your fiance/wife/girlfriend/kids/youngens...  It's the kind of bait you can just throw out and repeatedly catch fish.  (provided they're there)  If you're dead set against live bait, at least give it to them while you use small cranks and spinners.  But you'll be hard pressed to find something that works better than live bait for these lil fish.