Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Jigging for crappie hints please.

I bought myself a 12' Mr. Crappie jigging rod and I have place not too far away where I work the inlets/lake banks for spawning crappie. I'll be shore fishing. Water is usually a little murky. Bright sunny days. Any pointers?

I use a 1/16oz jig about 18" under a bobber. Reel so slow that your bobber is not making a wake. For the spawn I prefer a smaller #4 hook on my jigs and 1 1/2" jig bodies vs 2"... I get better more solid hook ups with less in the lips.
Dawn and dusk are usually best here on Truman. I like the color of the jig head to contrast with the body.
Ask your local bait shop what colors are popular for where you're fishing. Have 4-5 different colors to try. I use junebug or black or red with chartreuse or plain chartreuse. Sometimes blue and white before light.
I use Sufix 832 braided line... it's the diameter of 4lb mono and a lot of the time I can straighten out a hook if hung-up and not break off. The longest rod that I use walking the bank is 8' and most often 5 1/2'.
If there are any stumps or standing trees in the shallower water be sure to cast beyond them and reel your bobber right along both sides of them... they can be hot spots.

Swim the jig around cover just above the depth they are holding. Locals can tell you the colors they are liking. The first colors I try here are black and chartreuse or white and blue or white and red.

A buddy shared a tip with me -- he was catching crappie left and right, and I was struggling to get a bite. We were using small jigs with 1" tube jigs. He told me to use a clinch knot to tie the jig, so that I could snug up the knot to make the jig stay horizontal. I was using a palomar knot, like I do 99% of the time, but my jigs were hanging vertically and getting ignored. I retied with the clinch knot, and start catching fish.

I like to tie one jig on and come up the line approximately a foot and tie a dropper loop and attach another jig. This allows me to fish two different patterns or colors and two different depths. If the bite is super hot you’ll get doubles from time to time.

If the bite is slow I like a slip cork, allows you to fish slow and basically vertical jig from the bank. When the spawn is on and they’re more aggressive I ditch the corks. Out of the boat or if they’re up on the rocks or in flooded timber I like to vertical jig the two jig rig.

My go to colors are Bobby Garlands in Blue Ice, Sunrise which is orange and yellow, and Patriot which is a silver shad color with red and blue flecks. I’ll put one of these colors on and the other rig will have the old standby black and yellow marabou jig. 1/16 oz jig heads, usually bright pink or black with a white eye. I prefer sickle hooks, deeper bend makes for more full penetration hooksets. Downside to the sickles is they catch more brush. I despise braid, especially on spinning gear, 6lb P-line flouro coated mono is my favorite.

In murky water, color contrast is vital. Black and something else is a classic, with chartreuse, yellow, and pink being the contrasting colors. Red and yellow is also good, as is the classic red and white. Use jigs with prominent painted eyes, as crappie zero in on eyes.

Don't overwork your jigs. If you can drop your jig down from the rod tip right into the cover, even trying to hold it still gives enough motion. Plastic bodies for crappie jigs have slender tails or appendages designed to quiver even at rest.

One of my "dipping" rods is an old 9-wt fly rod fitted with an ice fishing reel and 4# mono line. It can't be cast, obviously, but it's job is to dip a jig with only a couple of feet of line out. I hold slack line with my left hand and lower the jig next to stickups, dock pilings, stumps, or any other cover. I often have to let line out to swing a crappie in because the line from tip to jig is so short. From shore or quietly wading, it's a deadly technique.

You can pull a lot of crappie out of brush by vertical jigging . Your 12 ft rod is perfect just pretend you are fishing in a coffee can ,straight down and up to avoid getting hung up . Try using yellow florescent line snd pay close attention to your line .

Watching the line is critical as crappie will sometimes take a jig as it is lowered, but the bite can be so subtle it simply results in a little slack in the line. If the jig stops falling there's often a crappie holding on at the other end.

Lots of excellent advice - thanks!

Put a bobber stop for a slip bobber on your line if you are trying to stay at certain depth so you can return to it. I fish the crappie spawn at a couple of different lakes with a 12' rod, and fish between 18"-36" deep. A bobber stop at 36" helps me to better gage how deep I am and if I'm fishing in water too deep for spawning. It also works well after the spawn if they are hanging 6-7' deep to have that stopper at around 7' deep so you won't be fishing under them.

Fish slow and keep your jig still, and you will get more strikes.

Good idea - I'll put that to use. Still a little early for the crappie spawn here in Idaho - too cold.

For fishing from shore you would be better off using a shorter rod.
Mostly you will be casting, and the long rod is better suited for reaching, not casting.
If you have a light action rod between 6’ and 7’ id be sure to take it along.
Also dont be overlooking using a Beetle spin lure you can get at Wall Mart for about a buck.
You can change out the grub for a different type if you prefer.
The Bobby Garland swimmers are as good as it gets in that area.
I dont think color matters much, so long as the jig head is pink. lol
BTW, im closing in on 500 caught since the new year, 2 trips per week averaging 5 hours each.
From a small boat of coarse using one 8’ rod and moving very very slow along the weed edges.
That dosent count the pesky bass caught as well. lol
Favorite colors, Monkey milk, Electric chicken, Lime green, with a 1/16 pink jig.

A small 1 1/2 " red and white tube jig on a 1/32 oz chartreuse jig under a bobber usually gets lots of bites here on Champlain. Later after the spawn when they get into deeper water I use Bobby Garland baby shad in electric chicken, or one of the white or pearl colored plastics on a 1/16 oz and swim them. Lake Fork sickle tail baby shad in green glow is also a killer for swimming the bait.

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