IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Crappies => Topic started by: lefty2053 on Jan 23, 2019, 02:25 PM
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Went out for 4 hours with the wife today. Sat on top a school of perch and Crappies. Only about 5 bites all day and caught only 1. I tried everything but dynamite. The only fish caught was a Crappie on a Purist Black jigs tipped with Shrimp. When I say we sat on them that is just it. There were tons of them going through anywhere from 12-30 in 30 FOW. Tried dead stick,Twitching,Jigging Raising and erratic jigging. We tried Slender Sloons,Ratso,Ratfinky, Kastmasters,Purist,and a lot of other small to larger jigs. Meal worms,Shrimp,Red Worms,Liver(had 2 hits on that) Plain Plastics and that was it for the day.
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Lefty, if you were fishing the reservoir I think you were, I have had the same issue there at times. I never found a solution either. Fishing the last 1/2 hour before dark gets them to bite sometimes.
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Yeah it was Crawford. This is the second time this month it has happened. I call it the January Slow down. Happens at the Blue Mesa as well.
I am going to look for some other baits today that might help or waste my money on. Either way I will know I tried my best.
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How much pressure has there been there? The low water may not be helping either. Wax worms usually work better for me. Good luck, hope you figure them out.
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I was thinking low Oxygen. As far as pressure the most I have seen at the lake ever was about 20 Vehicles. Where I was fishing not many people go to that area. Like I said a lot of fish on the finder just not biting.
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I had the same thing happening to me years ago. Crappie wouldn't hit anything I offered them including small minnows which they usually love. For some reason I picked up a minnow that I had dropped and had stepped on a few times and baited my hook with it. When the bobber stop hit the top of my float the float went under and I set the hook. It was a nice 11" Crappie. I smashed my minnows for the rest of the day and went home with a nice bucket of Crappie.
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I had the same thing happening to me years ago. Crappie wouldn't hit anything I offered them including small minnows which they usually love. For some reason I picked up a minnow that I had dropped and had stepped on a few times and baited my hook with it. When the bobber stop hit the top of my float the float went under and I set the hook. It was a nice 11" Crappie. I smashed my minnows for the rest of the day and went home with a nice bucket of Crappie.
Cool story. Maybe I can find some dead minnows(no live ones allowed here).
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buy some live ones and step on them before you go?
Keep it safe! JDL
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buy some live ones and step on them before you go?
Keep it safe! JDL
Can't even buy lie minnows where I live.
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Timing has a lot to do with it very often. Basically it's mid-winter and they've probably been hammered dawn and dusk fairly regularly so far, so midday and midnight might be the answer. Have found my personal best time to be 2-3 hours predawn through sun up. Often have a very heavily fished area to myself and have torn them up before anyone else arrives, which is also about the time the fish back off, they're still there but not all that interested in eating.
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Typical January is when I find time to go Ice fishing and ice is good and fresh. Also seems to be the hardest time for me to get decent consistent action too.
I admit that, sometimes the smallest piece of a minnow at times seals the deal, like a cube minnow or no more than just the head. Totally opposite of my reasoning, since it doesn't represent a minnow anymore in any sense.
I also learn the specially cut the long way and works well. Even though it's far easier for the fish to rip bait off hook now.