Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! > Crappies

What size?

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Kevin23:
Oh man, what a question. Sometimes it takes a 3mm tungsten with one spike or a micro plastic, sometimes it takes a w3 jigging rap with minnow head. All depends on the fish's mood.

panfishman13:
i usually go pretty small for crappies, even the really big ones. i usually rely on soft plastics though. haven't really tried spoons or rapalas while i'm on a crappie bite, but i've caught them on crankbaits and stuff in the summer, so theoretically, they'll hit the ice fishing equivalent to crankbaits in winter.

slipperybob:
I know it's talking about size, but I think what is part of the equation is hook up.  You need to examine where the hook up is and exactly how the bite is.

When the crappies are seriously inhaling lures.  It's more than likely they're onto an aggressive bite or keying in on large lures.  A fish has to be or else those larger prey's will escape.  It's amazing that crappies will take in a 1/2 oz spoon into their mouths.  At times like these small lures are often ignored.  Like for live bait as example.  Crappie minnows gets nothing.  Put the bigger fathead minnow and boom, bite is on.

When the crappies are just nosing or pushing the lure, nibbling on it.  They're on a curiosity mode.  Maybe they're lethargic and fasting.  Maybe they're half asleep and can't see so well in that dingy water.  It maybe the smallest bit of plastic on a single hook with no more than a little brass fly head or glass bead as weight.  Only the lightest of spring bobber or for line watchers, any changes to the line is the indication of lure movement.  As since it's not a guarantee bite, if the fish is just nosing the lure.

Here is where it gets tricky.  We all have experienced on both end of the spectrum where you hook set immediately and it's pinned or you wait for that tell tale signal where the fish starts to swim away with lure in lips and then finally put a lazy hook set to snare them in the lips.  I recall the days of the slip bobber tactics where you weigh it out just right.  Where the bobboer lays on it's side on a weightless bite or the slightly submerged bobber where the fish just barely so much as pulled it a few millimeters downwards.  What I looked for is when the bobber is going for a swim and being dragged at least a foot or more.  That's when I put the hook set just as I feel the weight of the fish.  In simplicity I had always counted to five.  From experience putting the hook set early has often yield on a miss.  The later hook set has a higher hook up ratio.  Too late and it's often back to empty.

Unclegillhunter:
Has nothing to do with size question but after I release a fish and if needed rebait I always check to make sure my horizontal jigs are in fact horizontal. it makes a difference.
Keep it safe! JDL

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