Monthly Archives: February 2015

How Good Is January Bass Fishing In Georgia?

Bass fishing was tough last month with the water temperatures in the 40s but it will start getting better this month when we have a few warm days in a row. But since bass clubs here fish 12 months of the year, we put up with the good and bad.

Three weeks ago the Flint River tournament at Sinclair was won with just over nine pounds but it took only 4.89 pounds for fourth place. The water got even colder by the next Saturday when the Potato Creek Bassmasters went to Sinclair.

In that tournament a week ago last Saturday 15 fishermen landed 35 keepers weighing 55 pounds. There were two limits. Raymond English had five weighing 7.57 pounds for first. William Scott placed second with four at 7.35 pounds, JJ Compton had five at 6.19 for third and Mike Cox, with just one fish, but the right one, was fourth and had big fish with a 5.18 pounder.

Last Sunday the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished Jackson for our February tournament. After fishing eight hours 13 members brought in 19 keepers weighing about 25 pounds. There was one limit and three fishermen didn’t have a keeper.

I won with five at 7.34 pounds, Chris Davies had two at 4.03 for second and his 2.54 pound spot was big fish, third was Sam Smith with three keepers weighing 3.03 pounds and Jordan McDonald had one weighing 1.74 for fourth.

This year has been Déjà vu all over again for me. Last year and this year in the first Flint River tournament at Sinclair I got second place and second biggest bass. Lee Hancock beat me for both first and big fish both years. Last year at Jackson I had the only limit and won, and had second biggest fish, just like this year. I hope I break that pattern since the Flint River club is fishing Bartletts Ferry next Sunday and last year I zeroed that tournament!

Jackson was tough. Linda and I had gone to Jackson on Wednesday and rode around, mostly looking for baitfish, a good sign bass are in an area. I fished a little and landed one keeper on a crawfish crankbait.

On Sunday Jordan and I started on one of my favorite rocky points but got no bites. After about an hour we headed to the creek where I won last year and there were six boats fishing the area. I will not pull in right ahead of another fisherman so I went to another place.

After working a few points and banks I cast a crawfish crankbait to a boathouse and ramp in front of it and thought I hooked a stick.

My line went a little sideways but I felt nothing. Then it pulled a little and I landed a keeper largemouth at 10:10 AM.

We started fishing places I fished years ago but had not tried for a long time. The reason I fished them was the shad I saw on my depthfinder in the areas on Wednesday. At 11:10 I hooked a spot off a seawall and rocky point and landed it, and on the other side of the point Jordan got hung on the rocks. As he pulled his crankbait loose his keeper hit it and he landed it.

At 12:10 I cast to another rocky point and landed my biggest fish, a two pound spot. Then I cast to a seawall and started reeling and again my line went sideways like I had hooked a stick. But I saw a flash in the water and landed my fourth keeper at 12:45.

After trying a few more places I went to where I had landed the keeper Wednesday and again my line went sideways coming off a seawall. It was another keeper largemouth and filled my limit at 2:15. After that I started fishing a big jig and pig hoping for a big fish and giving Jordan a chance to cast his plug to places first. I was trying to help him catch more keepers as well as trying to land a big fish myself, but it didn’t work for either of us.

The bass were very sluggish in the 45 degree water and I was surprised to land three largemouth. Spots usually bite better in cold water and there were only five largemouth brought to the scales out of 19 keepers in the tournament.

When the water is that cold I fish a crankbait very slowly. When it hits the water I turn my reel handle a couple of times to get it down to the bottom then move it as slowly as I can to keep it there. I told Jordan I thought he was fishing too fast. He was making two casts to my every one cast.

Until the water starts warming and gets above 50 degrees, fishing slowly and fishing for spots are your best bets. Some really big bass are caught this time of year. You may not get many bites, but they may be bragging size. Most of my biggest bass, including my first two eight pounders, my biggest ever, a nine pound five ounce largemouth and my last eight pounder, a eight pound thirteen ounce largemouth, were caught at Jackson in January and February. All but one hit crankbaits.

Don’t let the cold keep you home. You can catch bass this time of year.

Tips On Fishing for Bass In January

Tips for Bass Fishing in January from Denali Pro Michael Murphy
from The Fishing Wire

Catch bass like this in January

Unless you live in Florida or south Texas, the bass in your local lakes are likely swimming in some of the coldest water they see all year. Fishing for them can seem like an exercise in futility, not to mention a great way to expose yourself to some pretty unfriendly conditions.

As intimidating as the negatives of winter fishing can be, there are also some positives. The scenery can be amazing, there is little to no competition, and the fish you do catch are usually the right ones.

By focusing on those positives, FLW Tour veteran and Denali pro Michael Murphy has developed a healthy appreciation for winter bass fishing.

“We can talk all day about the cold, or how they don’t always bite well in the winter.” Murphy said. “But what I like to focus on is how refreshing it is to have the lake to yourself, see some beautiful scenery, and catch giant bass.”

Murphy has always been a jerkbait fisherman, a trait bred into anglers that fish the clear, blueback lakes around his Lexington, S.C. home.

“I spend a lot of time on lakes like Murray, Hartwell, Clarks Hill, and Wateree. All of them have clear water and have dynamite winter jerkbait bites. The bass are suspended in that cold, clear water. A jerkbait just hanging in their faces triggers strikes on even the worst weather days.”

Obviously, the first key to success with winter jerkbaits is to put on some cold weather gear and actually get out on the water. Once there, Murphy has the following tips to help you extend your bass catching season into the New Year.

1. Use the right rod

Murphy said that the number one thing anglers struggle with when fishing jerkbaits in cold water is getting the setup rod right. “Having a rod that is designed perfectly for your technique is more important in the winter than it is any other time of the year. It’s already cold, your hands may not work as well, and you’re likely wearing a bunch of gear. If you’re frustrated from fighting with backlashes or missing and losing fish (which are all things that happen with jerkbaits when you don’t have the right rod), you’re not going to be successful or have fun.”

Murphy uses the Denali Rosewood jerkbait rod (S802JBC) that he designed, and pairs it to a 6.4:1 Lews BB1 casting reel. As the primary designer of the rod, Murphy put a lot of time on the water testing to ensure that it has the absolute perfect flex and power for fishing jerkbaits in cold water.

“We built the Denali jerkbait rod as an alternative to the high dollar custom jerkbait rods lots of guys were using. We shortened the rod handle so it doesn’t get in the way of heavy clothes, gave it the right parabolic bend to keep fish hooked up, and kept a good tip for getting the proper action.”

Winter bass are lethargic and often just slash at jerkbaits, resulting in poorly hooked fish. If you’ve got a big bass hooked up with just a single hook or outside the mouth, having a parabolic action with some give is imperative to keep the hook buried.

In addition to the parabolic flex, Murphy also designed the rosewood jerkbait rod to have a fast tip to impart the perfect subtle flash required to draw strikes in cold water.

“A lot of crankbait rods have that good parabolic action we were after, but they are kind of dead in the tip which makes them less than ideal for jerkbaits. We kept the flex in the mid-section of our jerkbait rod but added a faster, more sensitive tip so that you don’t lose the ability to precisely control your bait.”

As far as baits go, Murphy has had experiences with a number of different baits over the years, and said that almost all of them can be successful if the conditions are right. The one he uses the most though is the Ima Flit, which he also had a hand in designing.

“I look at the Flit as one of the only jerkbaits out there that can be successful under any conditions.” Murphy said. “It dives 6-8 feet deep like a Lucky Craft Staysee , has the subtle darting action of a Megabass Vision 110, the high pitched bb sound of a Rogue, and lacks the internal weighting system like a Husky Jerk. It does it all and I have a ton of confidence that it will catch fish no matter what conditions you’re experiencing.”

2. Work slow, fast

This might sound confusing at first, but winter bass often group up and suspend over different types of structures, making it important to fish a variety of different locations in a day to locate bass.

“I have seen winter bass suspend around almost any type of steep cover available.” Murphy said. “Sometimes it’s bluff walls, other times chunk rock points or dock pilings. Whatever it is though, it’s important to hit a bunch of spots in a day to figure out where the bass are. That’s where the fast comes in. I like to hit a spot for 15-20 minutes tops, and if I don’t get a bite then I’m off to somewhere else.”

The slow part refers to the actual fishing, and Murphy doesn’t stray from convention. He recommended anglers move from a jerk to more of a slide as the water temperature drops, while increasing the length of pauses.

“In really cold water, I actually do more of a slide than a jerk. Baitfish don’t really dart in cold water, so you need to mute it down some. The important thing is to start with slack and end with slack, then experiment with your pauses depending on how the fish react.”

3. Listen to the fish

Remembering the circumstances surrounding a fish catch can be important at any time of the year, but Murphy said that it’s exceptionally important when throwing a jerkbait in the winter.

“Sometimes the bass will get really dialed in to a specific cadence or pause length. If you pay attention to what you were doing when a fish eats, you can often replicate it and score the rest of the trip. I’ve seen it before where they only eat a bait after a 5 second pause and won’t touch anything different.”

The same can be said for the type of cover or structure a bass is caught near. Even though winter bass are more lethargic, they will position on different structures depending on the weather, wind, or light penetration.

“You hear pros talk all the time about pattern fishing, and winter jerkbaiting is awesome pattern fishing.” Murphy said. “If I catch a couple off a 45 degree pea gravel point, there are likely to be bass on other 45 degree pea gravel points all around the lake. I can then focus on those the rest of the day.”

The Final Word

In addition to the pointers above, Murphy has one last one that he said may be the most important, and that’s to not let cold and winter stop you from getting on the water.

“I can’t believe how many fishermen put their rods and reels away when the calendar flips to January. It may be cold, but if you pick up a jerkbait and put some time on the water, you’re going to catch a lot more bass than you will from your couch.”

Are Gun Owners Our Own Worst Enemies?

The comic character Pogo famously said “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I often feel that way about Georgia groups that are supposed to support gun owners. We bicker among our selves over trivial matters and almost seen to support Brady Bunch like gun control groups rather than supporting our right to keep and bear arms.

This was what was happening seven years ago.

Right now the Georgia legislature is playing ping pong with HB 89 that removes some restrictions from Georgia gun owners. It has been referred to a House/Senate Conference Committee, a place bills often go to die. At least part of the reason a bill supporting gun owners is having a hard time passing is the disagreement of groups that are supposed to support gun owners’ rights.

Did you know you can not legally carry your gun in a state park, even if you have a carry permit? Did you know that you could be walking down the street with your legally concealed gun, walk up on a group protesting something, and suddenly break the law simply because you had your gun at a public gathering?

The argument over the wording of HB 89 seems silly. Why are law-abiding gun owners in Georgia restricted in so many ways? Why can I carry my pistol into a liquor store but not into a bar? Why can I carry my pistol to a bass club meeting but not to a church meeting? Why am I not trusted based on where I happen to be?

Vermont has no laws restricting gun owners there. Anyone can carry a gun anywhere. According to the Census Bureau Vermont ranked 48th in violent crime in 2004. Georgia has all kinds of restrictions on carrying a gun and we ranked 19th in violent crime in the same report. Law abiding citizens carrying guns are not the problem.

Why do Vermont politicians trust their citizens while Georgia politicians do not trust us? Why are we so restricted in our rights? What purpose do the mish-mash of Georgia gun laws serve, other than to trap law-abiding citizens that make an honest mistake. They certainly do not reduce crime.

The latest shooting on a college campus is a perfect example of the stupidity of gun laws. An insane murderer killed five innocent students at Illinois State University. He had a shotgun and four handguns in a “gun free zone” on campus. That rule did nothing but disarm law-abiding citizens and make them easy targets. We deserve the right to protect ourselves without running afoul of some state law or university rule.

On a more positive note,

Shooting wire 2/15/08
Thirty one state Attorneys General have weighed in on the case, signing an amicus brief that supports the decision of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in striking down the District of Columbia’s thirty-plus year gun ban. Since I’m one who criticizes pretty easily, it seems only appropriate that I list the names of those Attorneys General: Troy King of Alabama, Talis Colberg of Alaska, Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas, John Suthers of Colorado, Bill McCollum of Florida, Thurbert Baker of Georgia,

And a final note: one “inquiring mind” called me this week to ask if I would consider assembling a list of those Senators and House of Representatives who didn’t sign the congressional amicus brief. I worked on it, but simply didn’t have the list together in time for today’s deadline. Instead, I’m going to list those who did sign the brief. If you don’t see your elected representative’s name on the list – they didn’t support your rights as a gun owner or individual.

Here’s a list deserving of a thank-you from each of us. And an extra thanks to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas for leading the bi-partisan effort to let the Supreme Court know a majority of the legislative branch still supports individual rights and freedoms.

Vice President Richard B. Cheney in his capacity as President of the Senate

Georgia – signed
Sen. Saxby Chambliss
Sen. Johnny Isakson
Rep. Jack Kingston (GA-1)
Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3)
Rep. Tom Price (GA-6)
Rep. John Linder (GA-7)
Rep. Jim Marshall (GA-8)
Rep. Nathan Deal (GA-9)
Rep. Paul Broun (GA-10)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (GA-11)
Rep. John Barrow (GA-12)

For the past few weeks, a battle’s been quietly raging between legitimate firearms dealers and two of the major companies that process credit card transactions. The companies, Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp., have both refused to process any non face-to-face credit card transactions involving firearms. That refusal includes both business-to-business transactions between federally licensed firearms retailers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Yet the companies both continue to insist they’re neither anti-gun or anti-firearm industry.

Jan 16 shooting wire

BAD SIGN FROM THE NORTH
The 82,000 members and 655 member clubs of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, is criticizing an announcement by the Ontario Chief Firearms Officers of a “pilot initiative” targeting owners of firearms in the City of Toronto who are over the age of 75 and possess more than ten firearms. The “initiative” would subject the citizens to a mandatory search of their premises by officials. The OFHA says such a program would remove Canada’s senior citizens from protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Subsequent to this announcement, the Mayor of Toronto and the Premier of Ontario Province have called for a total ban on hand guns across Canada.
Outdoor wire jan 17

Ice Fishing Is Fun and Provides Camaraderie

Get hooked on Fun, Camaraderie of Ice Fishing

Today’s feature, on what it takes to get started in ice fishing, comes to us from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
from The Fishing Wire

Kids love ice fishing

Fishing is a year-round activity and when the thermometer plunges below freezing for prolonged periods, most anglers have little choice but to hit the hard water. Ice fishing becomes the go-to activity until spring.

For beginning anglers, ice fishing offers one significant advantage: access. Boat-less anglers, who otherwise are limited to shorelines or fishing piers much of the year, can often access entire lakes. That inspires some anglers to proclaim that ice-fishing season is their favorite time of year.

Fortunately, ice fishing can be relatively simple. All that’s needed to start is a way to make a hole in the ice (an auger or spud), a way to clear the slush from it (an inexpensive scoop), and rudimentary equipment.

So how do you get started?

There’s a good opportunity coming soon. Feb.14-15 is Michigan’s annual Winter Free Fishing Weekend, when no license is needed to participate. There are hands-on educational events scheduled at a number of areas. In addition, the Carl T. Johnson Hunting and Fishing Center in Cadillac holds on-the-ice fishing events every Saturday at noon.

Novice anglers often can find assistance nearby. Tom Goniea, a fisheries biologist at the Department of Natural Resources, says finding a mentor helps shorten the learning curve.

“Ask around,” Goniea said. “Ask the guys at work or the folks at church. Ice fishermen make up a community that’s usually quite willing to introduce others to the sport.

“And most ice fishermen have enough equipment that they can get you started if you go with them so you can see what you need.”

DNR fisheries biologist Christian LeSage agrees.

“There’s a big social component to ice fishing,” he said. “When you get out on the ice people are usually friendly – they’re willing to tell you what they’re doing, what they’re using, and how they’re catching fish.”

Except for largemouth and smallmouth bass – bass season closes Jan. 1 and doesn’t completely reopen until the Saturday before Memorial Day – anglers who ice fish can pursue all species they target the rest of the year. Ice fishing can range from fishing for panfish on a farm pond to making miles-long sojourns on the Great Lakes in pursuit of walleyes, lake trout or other top-of-the-food-chain predators.

Groups make ice fishing more fun

LeSage recommends people start with panfish. He likes bluegills.

“You can try it on a small pond in a park,” he said. “And you don’t need extravagant gear. If you go places where people have been fishing, you don’t even need an auger – you can reopen a hole with a hammer.

“Most veteran fishermen know that the best fishing is at dawn and dusk, but you can catch bluegills throughout the day. You can catch them in shallow water. You can catch a lot in a small area. And they’re delicious.”

What’s nicest about bluegills is that they can be found almost everywhere and, as fishing quarry, are relatively unsophisticated. All you need is a basic gear. Small fiberglass rods with simple, spring-tension spoons can be yours for less than $10 and you will see accomplished ice anglers using them. Add some light line, a few low-cost tear drops (small weighted hooks) and a container of insect larvae (wax worms or spikes, the early life stages of bee moths or flies, respectively) and you’re in business. Lower your bait to the bottom, begin slowly working it upward in the water column until you start getting bites, and then fish at that depth.

It can (and does) get much more complicated with expensive rods, sonar fish finders, and a plethora of other equipment. But many anglers never acquire all that gear and continue to enjoy productive bluegill fishing.

As you progress in the sport and explore other ice-fishing opportunities, the equation becomes decidedly more complex. Get addicted to walleye fishing and you’ll be into snowmobile or quad runners, insulated ice shanties, GPS, underwater cameras – the list is endless.

But some factors never change: The first rule of ice fishing is to be safe.

Good, strong ice can support a semi-truck, but every year there are tragedies that often involve recklessness. Make sure the ice is safe. Even arctic temperatures won’t guarantee it, especially if there’s an insulating layer of snow on top. You can get up-to-date info from bait shops around fishing locales, but always make sure yourself. Carry a spud to test the ice in front of you as you venture forth. Don’t approach ice that is discolored or has objects (such as vegetation or timber) protruding through it. Be especially careful of rivers (current can degrade ice quickly) or spring-fed lakes and ponds where warmer water can cause thin spots in an otherwise solid surface.

Always carry basic emergency gear, just in case. Ice picks (or homemade alternatives constructed of nails in dowels) will give you a way to get purchase on the ice should you break through. Carry a rope to toss to someone else who breaks through.

It’s better – some would say mandatory – not to go alone. You certainly don’t want to head miles off shore – at Saginaw Bay, say, or Little Bay de Noc – without a partner. Always make sure someone knows where you are going and when you plan to return. Carry your cell phone.

Sharing Ice Fishing Knowledge

Make sure you dress for the weather. Dress in layers from head to toe – the best way to keep your feet warm is to keep your head warm – and a waterproof outer layer is advisable. Small luxuries – such as extra gloves and hand warmers – often pay large dividends.

Ice fishing isn’t for everybody. But if you look around in the winter and see the huge shanty towns that spring up on some of Michigan’s best fishing lakes, it’s obvious that a lot of people are having a lot of fun out there.

It isn’t that difficult to become one of them.

For more information on ice fishing, visit the DNR’s website at www.michigan.gov/fishing.

What Is Your Favorite Outdoor Memory?

What is your favorite outdoor memory? I have a lot of them, but I have had a lot of time to make them. If you spend time outdoors you will make both good and bad memories, often when least expected. And you will remember them the rest of your life.

My first bass will always stand out since it hooked me for life. Mom and I were fishing below Usury’s Pond dam and catching small bream and catfish. Our tackle was a cane pole, cork, hook and sinker. Live earth worms were our bait.

My cork went under and when I lifted my pole the fish took off and jumped several times. That bass was probably about ten inches long but I loved the way it ran and fought, very unlike the other fish we had been catching. I have loved catching bass since that day.

My first deer is also memorable to me. I had been hunting for about four years, since I was 14 years old. My first two years my parents would let me hunt only during archery season with my uncle Adron. But when I turned 16 I got a Marlin 30-30 lever action rifle and was allowed to hunt with it.

I was hunting on public land on Germany Creek near out boat club. I had seen a few does during the year from my first climbing stand Mr. Ed Henderson had made from a picture in a magazine. That mid-November morning I had been on the stand about two hours when I spotted a buck about 100 yards up the hill.

It is no excuse, but I this was before I had a scope on my rifle. I aimed at the shoulder, and I am sure I was shaking badly from buck fever. When I pulled the trigger the deer dropped, then got up and ran. I emptied my gun at it as it disappeared over a small hill.

Staying on the stand as long as I could stand it, probably just a few minutes that seemed like hours, I started down the tree. I was in such a hurry I jumped from the stand when it was still about eight feet off the ground. That jump would injure me now, but at 18 I hit the ground running while reloading.

I topped the hill and there lay an eight point buck. I could not have been more proud, although now I know it was a year-and-a-half old buck. Its rack was mall but perfectly formed, and my dad got it mounted. I think he was as proud as me. It is looking at me as I type this.

Camping and building huts in the woods are great memories. The best hut we ever built was a “log cabin.” We cut saplings and made walls between four nicely placed trees, and finally remembered we needed a door so we made one. The roof was saplings laid side by side and thatched with sweetgum limbs and leaves. It slowed the rain a little. That eight by eight foot hut was our castle.

Camping took many different forms, from sleeping in the back yard in lounge chairs to putting up an army surplus pup tent in the woods. Lounge chairs look like they would be comfortable, and they get you off the ground, but that bar across it where it folds guarantees there is no way to get comfortable for the night.

Pup tents worked little better. They were drier than the hut but the gaps around the ground allowed mosquitoes and other bugs in. But we spent many happy nights sleeping on the ground in them in sleeping bags. It is amazing how rocks pop out of the ground right under you all night long no matter how well you clear it before putting out your bag.

My first Top Six tournament when I made the state team will always be special. My first time was over 30 years ago and I have made the team five more times since then, but that one will always hold a special place in my mind. I placed fourth at West Point out of 540 fishermen. Without Kenneth Hattaway’s advice I would not have made the team, and many people have helped me over the years. Those are good memories, too.

Quail and dove hunting with dad was always special, but the first time he let me take the dogs and his short barrel 12 gauge out by myself was special. I found five coveys that afternoon, all by myself, and killed one bird from each covey. That was four more than I had ever killed in one day with my .410!

Dad never went squirrel hunting with me although I hunted several afternoons a week after school and all day on Saturday during most of the season. One day after school while I was getting ready dad said he would go with me. I got a limit that afternoon, killing ten tree rats, very unusual. Dad never fired a shot and I now realized he tried to help me kill every one we saw. He was always the one to walk around the tree to make the squirrel come around where I could see it.

All those and many more are special memories. Don’t miss a chance to make some of your own, especially with your kids.

Try Different Strokes When Ice Fishing

Different Strokes For Different Folks-Or Fish when Ice Fishing

By Bob Jensen
from The Fishing Wire

Yellow perch ice fishing

A lot of factors can determine how many fish we’ll catch through the ice. Color is important: So is lure size. How the bait is attached to your line can be a consideration. A small jig attached to your line with a big, bulky snap/swivel probably won’t be as effective as that same jig tied directly to a low-vis monofilament or fluorocarbon.

A very important consideration any time you’re ice-fishing, but especially when the fish are being finicky, is the action you’re putting on the lure. Just as in open water fishing, how you move the lure will have a direct influence on how many fish you catch.

Different lures have different actions. Consider the difference in action of two really good walleye baits for ice fishing, the Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon and their Puppet Minnow. The spoon has a very straight up and down motion. When you lift it up then let it fall, it flutters a little bit, but falls pretty much straight back to the bottom.

Try different actions

Using the lure with the action that the fish want will help you put more fish on the ice.

The Puppet Minnow has a different design that gives it a different action. When it’s jigged, it falls back to the bottom in a semi-circle. It falls slower, which appeals to fish in some situations. It also covers a larger area as it falls. This action might appeal to fish that are out to the side of your hole that don’t want to come in to eat the spoon that’s being fished straight up and down. Both styles of baits are good, but there are times when the fish will show a preference.

By the same token, sometimes the fish will prefer these baits being worked fast, other times they’ll prefer a slower presentation. Watch your sonar and see how they respond to different actions, then give them the action they want.

Perch and panfish can be very selective about lure action. Sometimes they want the lure moving quickly, much of the time they prefer a quiver, and there are times when they want it motionless.

We were on a lake in South Dakota a while back that had a reputation for producing lots of big perch. When we got there a weather front had gone through that had the perch very unaggressive. We could see them on the sonar, and we tried everything we could to get them to eat our baits, but they just didn’t seem interested.

Finally, one of the anglers in our group sat down in the shelter, rested the elbow of his rod hand on his knee, and sat as still as he could. He jigged the bait softly every now and then, but when a perch came in and looked at this bait, he held the bait as still as possible. Eventually the perch ate the bait. Sometimes it would survey the bait for maybe twenty seconds before eating it. Pretty soon everyone in our group started employing the “elbow on the knee” technique, and we started catching more fish. We didn’t catch every perch that looked at the bait, but we caught a lot more than we had been.

Catch crappie using different lure action

Whether you’re fishing open water or through the ice, if you pay attention to the action you’re putting on the bait, you’re going to catch more fish.

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