Let me start by saying I love to fish and I don't care what kind of fish it is. Except when I am tournament fishing for bass; then it's all for the money! Anyway that will be another story, so lets just go have fun and catch lots of fish. My three favorite fish consist of crappie, stripers, and bass. We will start with winter crappie fishing, which means from October to February. The best crappie fishing takes place during these months but most people think that spring is the only time to do this. So I will explain what you need to do to catch these tasty little creatures that God put on earth for me to eat.
Usually at the beginning of October I will start by fishing piers. Not just any pier, deep piers with good cover around them, like a boathouse, double-deckers, anything that produces good shade. We will be shooting these piers with a spinning reel and very limber rod. Any reel will work, but the rod has to be like a hickory stick. The bait we will be using is a jig, colors being white, chartreuse, and combos of different colors that will be determined by you and the lake you're on. The weight of the jig is the most important thing, nothing bigger than one eighth ounce and as small as you can fish with. I like a one sixteenth ounce in general for every thing I do. The slower it sinks the better off you will be. This type of fishing takes a little practice on or off the lake. It doesn't matter but it will be easier on land the first time you try. Oh, by the way, I forgot line size. The smaller the line the further you will be able to shoot. Six to eight pound test works really well for me and helps save jigs in heavy cover. Now tie the jig on your rig and lets start by taking enough line from the reel where you can grip the jig with two fingers by the hook, flip the bail on the reel, bend the rod double holding the jig and try to shoot it in a general direction. Over a period of time you will be able to put this bait anywhere you want it. I have been doing this so long I can shoot the jig from one end of a pier to the other.
Now lets start fishing since I am through bragging! Go out to your favorite lake, pull up to a good deep pier and start shooting. Once the jig hits the water try to tighten your line because it may only take a second to get a bite, and sometimes you have to let it go all the way to the bottom. Most of your strikes will come on the fall so be ready at all times. If no strike on the first fall then work it back to the boat by lifting your rod tip and letting it fall again. Work the bait all the way back to the boat because lots of people put timber at the end of their piers. If your lake is like the one I fish, the power company drops the water level by five feet in the winter for flood control. This really is an advantage for me because I can actually go under the pier and do a vertical jig in certain places, but while under these piers I still shoot to places I can't reach. Just remember to never give up. I have fished piers with double boat docks - the first without a bite, the one with the pontoon under it holding fifty fish!
This type of fishing can very productive and is a whole lot of fun. Me and some of my buddies have even gone out to see who could catch the most fish and we got a little crazy - like shooting through tires nailed to piers for boat protection, and having to pull the fish thru the tire hole. Shooting under pontoon boats is a lot of fun too. It is a challenge because there are lots of things to get hung up on. What I am trying to say is this is a wonderful way to fish and a good way to load the livewell for the long winter months ahead. Give it a try and if you have any questions about this type of fishing contact me or Ed at BamaBassFishing.com. Stay warm and be safe!
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