Archive for the ‘Recreation and Sports: Fishing’ Category

Easy Artificial Bait Guidelines Secrets Of Crappie Fishing #4

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets

Crappie Fishing Secrets Of Artificial Baits

You will want to follow these simple steps to increase consistency whenever you go crappie fishing.Once you learn what you need to do in different water conditions you may never go back to using live bait again. Here are some things to keep in mind and do, when using artificial crappie bait. These crappie fishing secrets have been used for generations.

Guideline#1 You need to determine the water condition of the body of water you intend to fish. This simple observation will determine what kind of crappie fishing jig you will need to use.

#1.a Look into the body of water you are fishing and if you can 3-4 feet below the surface, the water is considered clear and you will want to use dark colored crappie jigs. In essence, the fish can see “too well” and you want them to focus on the movement of your crappie jig to stimulate them to bite.

#1.b if the water color is darker and you can’t see 3-4 feet below the surface use a lighter colored lure so the the crappie can see it. make sure you ad this tip to your artificial crappie baits usage list.

#1.c Real dark and murky water means use some “flash” to make your crappie jig look like a minnow. Tie a 1/2 inch to 1 inch blade above the crappie fishing jig.

Guideline#2 I recommend you use a slip bobber, you can a good one to use is called “Mr crappie and you can purchase them at bass pro shop on-line.The slip bobber is unique because it will not come out of the water when you are jigging for crappie. this is a little used crappie fishing secret form the past.

Guideline#3 Use a “split shot” above the slip bobber to control the depth of the crappie jig. You want to work the depths between 4 and 8 feet. you can do this by readjusting the depth by sliding the “split shot sinker up or down the line until you get to your desired depth. Keep working these depths until you start catching crappie.

Guideline#4 jerk the rod so that the jig only moves 3-4 inches. Make sure it is real light jerks.

Guideline#5 If you do not get any bites , adjust the depth. The colder it gets, the deeper you will need to go. The warmer it is, the closer the fish will be to the surface. this is a little used crappie fishing secret.

Well, I hope the guidelines help you improve your crappie jigging success in the future, good luck and good day!

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About crappie fishing secrets

The Must Have Crappie Fishing Artificial Baits: Secrets of Crappie Fishing #2

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets

Crappie Slamin’ Artificial Baits

If you are ready to step up your crappie fishing you need to learn how to fish with crappie artificial baits. If you use crappie artificial baits properly,you will usually catch more crappie than people using live minnows… for a variety of reasons)- For one with proper selection of artificial baits for crappie you are attempting to imitate the nature food source of the crappie. Crappie may be hitting on a variety of different food sources on any given day. If you select the correct artificial bait for that day or a certain seasonal situation you are going to catch fish, and if the crappie are hitting heavy you will catch allot of fish.

When you go to purchase your crappie fishing artificial baits,I have compiled a list of “killer” crappie fishing baits that every crappie fisherman should have in his or her tackle box. You are welcome to copy any information in the article so when go to purchase your crappie fishing jigs you know what to select.

#1 When you purchase on line, at the bait store or a department store like wall-mart look for crappie fishing jigs with a 1/32 to 1/8 ounce weight on them. Crappie fishing jigs can be purchased in sizes from 1/64 oz usually up to 1/4 ounce.My personal preference are crappie fishing jigs at weights of 1/32oz to 1/8oz and I have an assortment of these jigs in my tackle box.Most of the weight of a jig is concentrated in the head of the jig. All crappie fishing jigs show the weight and hook size on them.

#2 You will need to have an assortment of crappie fishing jigs. So your first jig to look for that is 1/16 to 1/8 ounce is called the curly tail crappie jig.A curly tail jig is made up of a jig head with the hook molded into it and a plastic curly tail that has a body and a tail and mounted thru it’s center on the hook. To see what a curly tail jig looks like do a google search “curly tail jig” you will find plenty of pictures for reference. The curly tail jig is very inexpensive and is one of the most commonly used crappie fishing jigs.

#3 Your next crappie jig to look for is called the “marabou jigs” I would recommend you have and assortment these jigs in your crappie fishing artificial baits list also. The marabou jig comes in a variety of colors. You will notice that the jig head of the marabou crappie jig is similar to the curly tail jig. The marabou jig has hair like material for the body and tail instead of plastic. Again, to see a picture of this jig just do a google search.

#4 You should have some “weedless spinner baits” in your tackle box.Weedless spinner baits are a little more complicated to select. The weedless spinner bait can have a variety of different crappie fishing jigs attached. The majority of them will have either a “curly tail jig” or “marabou jig attached.If you want to see a picture use ” weedless spinner bait as your search term.

#5 Your next crappie fishing artificial bait you need to have is called a “willow leaf blade” This is actually a crappie jig attached to a “willow blade” The best colors to select are “Colorado” and “gold. I would recommend you have a couple of these in your tackle box.

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About crappie artificial bait

How To Catch Minnows Crappie Fishing Secret Part #3

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets

How To Catch Minnows

If you don’t have a whole lot of experience, and you want to get out there and guarantee some good catches of crappie than live minnows are for you. Also, if you have a limited budget for bait I have some suggestions below on how to catch a bunch of crappie minnows quickly and for free.

The best thing about this is, crappie minnows that you catch come from the crappies natural environment, in the exact water you will be fishing. Bait shop minnows are sometimes caught at different bodies of water, and will be “foreign” to crappie which can cause crappie to reject them as a food source. Also, bait shop minnows are usually older and near to dying then freshly caught minnows. Amazingly this is a little used crappie fishing secret , that few fisherman use these days.

STEP#1 Walk around the lake looking for “shaded areas” close to shore.One of the best areas is near to boat ramps, and boat docks. Possibly because that is where fisherman dump their bait after they are done bringing their boats in.. but also because these areas offer good “cover” for minnows, along with food sources.

STEP#2 You want to target water 4-8 feet deep.

STEP#3 Cast a 3-4 foot crappie minnow net with 1/4″ netting holes. This takes some practice. The Idea is to cast the net “flat” so the largest area hits the water.

Step#4 If you are having a hard time finding crappie minnows to catch , a surefire method to catch your minnows is at night with the help of a underwater fishing light. The under water fishing light will attract 1000’s of minnows close to the light just cast your net near by or build your self a minnow trap and drop it near the light. you can also use a large dip net.

Well I hope these tips on how to catch crappie minnows help you. This concludes part there of our Crappie Fishing Secrets Series.

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About how to catch crappie minnows

Anglers crappie catching secrets part#1 Don’t Miss Out!

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets

Okay, lets be honest, no one likes to be bested especially fisherman. if you ever have sat around chewing the fat with other fisherman you know what I am talking about. Most of the stories get taller and taller about the large slab “that got away” as the conversation goes on. We would like We would like to share some crappie catching secrets that i am sure you will be interested in. Wouldn’t you love to show of a giant 2lb slab to all your fishing buddies? Well read on and use these great crappie fishing secrets.

You will find crappie catching secrets here that may seem like common sense but they go back generations of family tradition. Even if you are a experienced or just sometimes fisherman these tips will work for you.

First, What’s in your crappie fishing tackle box?

Lets start out by going over what we recommend you have for crappie fishing tackle. You should have a spare spinning reel one that holds 4 to 8lb test mono-filament line. As a rule of thumb, a good all purpose reel would have a 4-4.5:1 gear ratio. This is a medium speed reel. Always ensure that the reel that you are thinking about purchasing has a smooth, non-constrictive drap. The line should pull out steadily and without hesitation at whichever tightness you set it at. Having the correct reel is very important if you want to catch crappie consistently.

Make sure you have a light weight crappie fishing rod. The one rod I would recommend is: The Ultimate by B’n'M is built to be a casting, flipping or jig rod for walleye, bass or crappie or use it to rig for live bait or jigging. With a strong backbone and superior tip action, these tough rods have Portuguese cork handles and one-footed aluminum oxide spinning guides for superior casting ability. They come in two lengths, 8ft and 10ft More length is better so get the 10ft rod if your thinking of buying. It is very important that you don’t pass this crappie fishing secret up.

You should have at least 25 size 4 aberdeen or mustad gold hooks in your tackle box. These hooks are commonly called “perch hooks”.

I recommend you have at least (5) pre-assembled crappie fishing rigs that have a double hook set in your tackle box.it is very important that you check with your states fishing regulations to make sure a double hook set is legal in your state before you consider using this crappie catching tip. To make a double hook set, slide a second hook over the barb of you crappie jig. This considered a double hook set.

Bobbers, big enough for the rigs , but not so big you can’t feel the crappie biting. A bobber I would recommend is Bass proshops best seller, “Mr crappie rattling pair” they come in three sizes 3/4″, 1″ and 1 1/4″

I sincerely hope you enjoyed the first part of our crappie catching secret series, and stay tuned for our next part of the article series.

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About crappie catching secrets

A Beginners Guide To Buying Ice Fishing Supplies

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

Ice fishing is Winter activity that can be enjoyed by everyone in the family. The cost is minimal to get fixed up and with tips from experienced ice fishermen, a Newbie can be expected to have success their first trip onto the ice.

But what’s required to begin ice fishing? One has a variety of choices in fishing supplies in the stores, a Beginner can easily lay out hundreds of dollars on ice fishing tackle and not have the basic gear to get out on the ice.

So I’ve put together this list of the basic ice fishing supplies that a Newbie will need to get started. What’s even better is that for less money than it cost for a trip to the grocery store, you could buy all the fishing supplies that you will need to begin fishing.

Before anything else, you will want to get an auger meant for ice fishing to bore holes in the ice and snow. I recommend a five or six inch auger meant for ice fishing for panfish like Perch, Bluegill and Crappie. If you want to go after bigger fish like Bass, Pike and Walleye, then If it was me, I’d get a 8 or 10 inch auger meant for ice fishing. You have two choices, power augers or the manual augers. It’s no secret that the manual augers are not as expensive as the power augers but need more work to drill a hole. You’ll also need a scoop to get the ice chips out of the ice hole.

You’ll want to buy quality tip ups or ice rods. A lot of ice fishermen drill a bunch of holes over weed beds and other structure and use tip ups to increase their chances of catching fish. Not surprsingly a lot of fishermen prefer to ice fish with an ice fishing rod. If it was me,I’d get a few tip ups along with a good rod so you can see which technique you prefer.

The line you use for fishing should be designed for ice fishing. The near freezing water can make the line break easily. Due to this, you will want to make sure and get line specifically designed for fishing through the ice. Cortland makes a product called Ice Line that is great. The line is the most important part of your ice fishing equipment.

You’ll also want to get some jigs and lures to go along with your bait. Miniture jigs are excellent for panfish. Also tear drop jigs and tiny spoons will come in handy when the panfish get finicky. As for bait, panfish love mealworms and spikes while larger fish such as Walleye prefer Worms or baitfish like smelt. Be sure to talk to local fishermen to see what’s they recommend a Beginner use their first time out on the ice.

It would be wise to bring something to sit on. A majority of seasoned ice fishermen use an ordinary 5 gallon bucket. A select few will even bring lawn chairs out on the ice, but a 5 gallon bucket will also help you haul your gear to and from the lake.

And this is all you need to start ice fishing. Also you’ll need a fishing license and read up on the regulations for the body of water you plan on going fishing at. Being fined for breaking a law can ruin your fishing trip. Now go out and have some fun. Never forget the first rule of ice fishing, be safe and follow all the safety rules for being out on the ice during Winter.