Crappies fishing?

[San Chan]

What kind of Float/Bobber you guys using when you fish for Crappies?:thanks2:

[karpbuster]

I rarely use a bobber but when I do I use a small one or the stick type. When early spring fishing you are looking for the slighest movement on the bobber so get one that you can see any movement on.

A small jig 1/16oz (or small minnow), small bobber, cast out and retrieve real slow, stopping and let sit for few seconds. Bobber moves at all set the hook.

Good luck. I love crappie fishing, lots of fun.

karpbuster

[REW]

San Chan,
In my opinion, the very best bobber for crappies or anything else for that matter is the "rocket bobber".
This bobber comes in two sizes. It comes in a large size and a junior size.
I like to use the large size since it is heavier and I can cast further with it.

There is a secret to using it however.
The secret is to use a very light jig or plain hook and a small split shot to pull the hook down a bit.

The thing that you do when you properly fish the rocket bobber is to have the bobber lay on its side when it is being fished. When you get a bite; the bobber tips up and you set the hook. The fish feels virtually no resistance on taking the bait.

The bobbers come in two colors.
They come with a yellow top and a red bottom and they also come with a red top and a yellow bottom.

It is nice to have a couple of each color.
Depending on the brightness of the day, and or cloud cover it is sometimes easier to see the yellow when it tips up, but on other days, it is easier to see the red when it tips up.

--
I generally like to use a 1/32 oz jig which falls very slowly, and is not heavy enough to tip the bobber up by itself.

Link for it as follows:

http://www.tackle2000.com/pages/1/index.htm

Note: it also has a built in hook remover on one end which actually works very well.


Take care
REW

[San Chan]

Thank you guys.....I will give that bobber a try:cheers:

[Cold Front Illinois]

The best bobber I have found for crappie fishing is a slip blobber, the Thill Stelth #2's are my favorite. They are great for the very shy bite. The split bobber lets you change depth very easily and doesn't put any crimps in the line. I also do not use any heavier line then 6# magnathin.

With about a $1000's worth of tube jigs, and small spinners and everything else I have to have, I always seem to do well with a number 6 tru turn hook (blood red or the gold) and just enough of a small split shot to make the bobber stand up. If it lays down, set the hook. The bobbers are very sensitive and often times they will be pulled under very slowly.

Most of the time, I do add a couple of the orange or chartruse beeds for color.

Another jig head we have found to be very effective under the bobber is the mini mite. The two colors that seem to outproduce all of the others are the chartruse head with a clear metal flake body and the standard pink head with a white body, tipped with a crappie minnow.

Just follow the instructions of the previous posters, and do a very slow retrive with a pause now and then.

Good Luck!!

[REW]

Cold front.

Since you are using the mini mite, you know how effective these jigs are for fish.

The next time you are out - try fishing without any minnows.
Most of the time the bare jig will work as well as or better than a baited jig.

Also, many times, you will do much better if you bait the jig with a wax worm, or a eurolarve - rather than a minnow.

In general, most of the times, during daylight fishing - I will outfish a minnow many times over by using a wax worm or eurolarve rather than a minnow for crappie. However, during a nigth time bite, the reverse if often true.

----
Think positive and use these jigs without bait, and you may be very plesently suprised. If you are on a hot bait, you will put many more fish in the boat, if the fish take the jig without bait, and you don't have to lose any time rebaiting the hook.

Take care
REW

[Cold Front Illinois]

REW,

Thanks for the input.

Heading to Kentucky Lake Saturday and forgot about the wax worms.

I will try the wax worm, under a bobber, with just a mini mite during the day. I will let you know as you are correct, the mid afternoon bite can be tough. Plenty of fish cribs on the Blood River to drop that set up into without spooking the fish. I will usually cast past the crib about 10 feet and the do a slow retrive into the crib, trying not to spook this fish inside.

Can't wait to try this.

[bob oh]

I like the old red n white round bobber with a light jig and twister or wax worm or tiny minnow. tap your line and the bobber will roll just slightly picking up the jig, tap tap tap, bobber quivers, catch a crappie!

rod bender bob

[CarpetBagger]

a lighted one since we usually kill em at night....

CB
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[Bill Krejca]

I prefer Gapen bobbers due to their unique line attachment. They have a plastic tip which features an also plastic ring which slides over the end. It can either function as a slip bobber, by not sliding the ring all the way to the end, or a fixed depth bobber by chosing the length, and then sliding the ring over the end, trapping the line at that point.

They feature very small pencil bobbers, which work great with a small 1/32 oz or so jig; I usually place a small shot up a ft or so, so that it will pull down with hardly any resistance. This setup can not be cast a long way, but is deadly for fairly closeup or down wind fishing.

For distance, I use a similar, but larger float, sometimes with a ball on the end for visibility. Again, it should be weighted for castability, and set for little resistance. Because it is farther away, the bobber may have to float a little higher, unless you have eyes like an eagle. With this type of setup, a slooow retrieve will many times telegraph the strike, due to the feel of it's added resistance, so the bobber is used maybe more for bait depth maintanance, than as a strike indicator.

90% of the time, jigs will work better than minnows, especially with some Shad (in Iowa, anyway)Smelly Jelly on the jig.

[REW]

Bill,
Try the rocket bobber as I mentioned earlier. If you use the large rocket bobber, you can cast a mile but still easily see the bobber due to its tip up style.
The bobber fishes on its side. However, when you get a bite, it tips up and the longer tip of the bobber is quite easy to see - even at a considerable distance.

This bobber may be rigged as either a fixed or a slip bobber.
Take care
REW

[Bill Krejca]

REW,

I'll pick up a couple if I see them around here, if you'll try the Gapen bobber. We can compare notes later this summer.

[lokt]

Most slip floats have a major drawback. The line cuts the plastic stop bead after awhile, sometimes only 20-30 minutes, and prevents the line from sliding through the float. These slip floats have glass beads the line won't cut, and will last dern near forever:
http://www.hloutdoors.com/bobber.htm
I use these myself and they're great, no more hangin' up as the line slides through the float since the glass stop bead isn't cut. Cost about the saame as plastic stop bead floats and since they last far longer, are much more economical.

[rks]

check this out. A planerboard/bobber for crappie. www.windsorsbobberplaner.com

[Starfish]

I'm kind of old-school... I like a round red/white bobber, but it's a small one with two little green beads on one end that the line snaps between to set your depth so it's easy to adjust. It just barely floats a 1/32 oz jig. I like a long (10.5') light steelhead spinning rod with 4 lb mono. Even when they're relatively deep (5 or 6 feet) you can cast the jig and bobber a long way by reeling the bobber right to the tip of the rod. An old style Canyon Plastics 1/32 oz mini jig with red/white, pearl, or purple/white is usually the most effective around here. We hit about fifty crappie yesterday on purple/white in about four hours fishing. Not red hot but it made for a great dinner!