# getting better



## Brad Anderson

Craps are becoming a little more aggressive as time passes. Now 1 outta every 30 that swims by will bite. It seems crappie fishing always starts kinda slow then picks up steam later into winter.

Some decent reports are starting to trickle in. Might have to put walleye fishing on the back burner for a while.


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## Kansas Kid

I have had a rough start. I fished for 3 hours last Saturday and did not catch a fish. I saw one guy pull 5 keepers in a row out of one hole, but he never caught another fish in the next two hours. I only saw two other crappie caught while I was there.


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## Brad Anderson

Try jigging real aggressively, with small minnows.


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## Kansas Kid

Thank you, I will try that. I have not used minnows yet, only jigs. I thought about getting some the other day, but the only ones they had were the size of a better quality shad.


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## flocknocker

I was out at the res mon. the 12 and had a decent evening 7 keepers and many lost fish due to excessive hook sets


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## Kansas Kid

7 keepers sounds really good compared to how I have done lately. You might have doubled that if you could get out of the paddlefish mode.  All of the bites that I have had this year have been soft and on an easy lift.


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## Brad Anderson

Not sure how big a shad is, but the minnows I've been using are around 2- 2 1/2 inches long. The smaller the better. Big minnows will work if they are really hungry and aggressive. If jigs aren't cutting it try a spoon. I have found that bare hooks work good too, if conditions warrant such a tactic.


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## Kansas Kid

I was just kidding about the shad, but all they had were large minnows. I know were to get some smaller ones the next time I go. I have been looking for some small jigging spoons, but I have not come across any. All I can find are for walleye and I have a ton of those.


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## GooseBuster3

Last time I was out crappie fishing every fish hit my lure but I really had to jig it to get them to bit. They would bit during the day but not at sunset, I thought that was really odd.


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## Kansas Kid

When you guys are talking about being aggressive are you using a lift and drop, a bounce, fast twitch, or another movement. It seems like I have tried everything that normally works this time of year.


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## GooseBuster3

Just keep bouncing the tip of the rod up and down very fast in short jerks.


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## Kansas Kid

I have done that some, but maybe not enough. I was just looking at some jigging spoons on the net, is there a particular size that works well for crappies. The 1/5 oz looked like a good size. They also had some 1/10 oz.


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## Kansas Kid

I found some in 1/16 and 1/8 that look perfect. I will order some of those in different colors and see how they work. Thank you for the advice guys.


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## Field Hunter

Just out of couriosity....I know GB3 is talking about ice fishing....are you, Kansas Kid?


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## Kansas Kid

Yes, we have about four inches of ice on the reservoir that I fish. Even when the ice is off, I fish a dock that runs over water from 6' to 22' and vertical jig. The fish seem to be in the 12' to 15' range. I have never used jigging spoons for crappie though. Did I say something that sounded weird?


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## Brad Anderson

1/16 is perfect. Make sure it has a treble hook, better consult Kansas regs though. I know MN doesn't allow treble hooks to be used with live bait. Not to sure about ND?? Have you ever tried wax worms?? I never use them but I hear they can produce.


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## Kansas Kid

I ordered some stuff last night. I got a few 1/16, but most of the colors were back ordered. I ended up with more 1/10 items. I looked at the wax worms, but they wanted $20 for them, so I didn't order them. We can use trebles so most of them had them. I can't believe the number of items that were back ordered. Most of the things that I really liked were not in stock.


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## flocknocker

I was using small genz worms and the smallest minnow hooked through the meaty part of the tail. Most bites came when I left it alone and the minnow struggled against the bobber. they didnt want it jigged much at all.


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