Personal Best

[jallen67]

I was lucky enough to get out and fish for about an hour and a half this afternoon. Started off by throwing a zoom minnow and caught 1 crappie. Switched to a Chart and purple CM and caught the biggest crappie I've ever caught. She was 14 inches. Caught a couple more on a white CM. Caught 6 total and only 2 keepers. Probably missed as many as I caught.

A couple of questions. I used the CM and caught the big one under a float (actually under 2 TM floats ). Caught the others by reeling without a float. Obviously I should have a bigger float instead of using 2 TM floats but I used what I had. Is it better to jig a CM or use under a float? Does it just depend on what's working?

Since using UL tackle starting back last fall I have missed a lot of fish. Does the UL tackle and 2# test have something to do with me missing fish or am I doing something wrong? I've always seemed to be decent setting hooks until this UL stuff.

Tonight was also my first experience with actually filleting fish. It did not go very smoothly and ended up with chunks instead of fillets. Still tasted good though. Let's hope I can catch enough to get better...

[TNBronzeback]

Congrats on the slab crappie! they do get easier the more ya do.
In regards to the U.L. hookups, there are alot of factors to consider. First would be the rod. Ive noticed most ultra lights are very very whippy with no backbone at all. The entire rod flexes evenly from tip to handle. Those rods can have a tendancy to be hard to "feel" hits and get a good hookset as they have no power. When you set the hook, all your doing is flexing the rod and not setting the hook very good.
Another factor is wind and lure weight. If the wind has a good bow in the line your not gonna feel or see the bite as easily and again can result in a late hookset, coupled with a whippy rod makes hook ups hard.
I dont know the rod your using but that might be something to consider. If i pick up any rod, ultra light especially, i give it a few false hooksets in the store to check the action. If it doesnt have a good backbone about half way up, i put it back. Even with ultra lights ya need some backbone for a solid hookset.
I dont use 2lb test, but i do 4lb and all my light rods have a soft top half/tip and some good backbone for setting hooks.
Just my 2 cents. Im sure some of the other hardcore U.L. guys can chime in with thier thoughts.

[fisher01]

Congrats on your crappie catch. Time to send in for a TARP certificate. You'll get much better as you fillet more fish, sharp knife or a good working electric knife is a must. Be careful not to cut through the backbone. When that happens, its tough to recover the backside filet.

[Alphahawk]

Congrats on the crappie! Sometimes the fish will hit it under the float and at other times twitching it is better. I like to use the float when it is windy......just let it sit there and have the wind do the work. As for a hook set if you are using 2# test and have your drag set accordingly it can be difficult to get a good hook set on bass.....their jaw is very tough compared to crappie or bluegill. I have a bunch of UL rods for different specie of fish. I always use a fast tip for trout....bluegill....and a slow or moderate tip for crappie fishing. Several of the rods I own one might say they were a little whippy....but some are very stiff yet they are UL rods. One advantage to using a softer tip rod is it will take a lot of pressure off the 2# test line. I will be fishing Center Hill for Smallies next week and I will be using a 9 foot rod that was made from a fly rod blank. It is the same rod browntrout used today to catch those Smallies with. It really takes a lot of pressure off of light line. Bronzeback's post is spot on.....you may be using a rod that is too soft. You have to have some backbone in the rod. The rod that Trout Magnet sells is a good UL rod with plenty of backbone.....and a good rod for the money. Creekcrappie can speak to that rod as he has been testing it out. Some good rods with great action are the Fenwick Elite Tech River Runner and the Phenix Elixir Trout Rod.



Regards

[creekcrappie]

Nice crappie! Like alpha said, I use a float when it is windy. Most the time I just straight reel it. I like to use 6 and 4 pound line for the crappie magnet. I like to use a light-medium light action rod. For trout and bluegill I will use 2 pound like the setup you have.

[CRobinson1985]

Nice catch, like Alpha and Creek I use a float if it is to windy to cast accurately or if the water is very choppy. The wind/chop will do all of the work for the magnet but that leaves you with the important part of determining the depth of feeding fish which is easier without the float. I will also use a float if I am hanging up a lot or cannot determine what is on the bottom. When doing this I will still twitch or drag the bobber until I determine what presentation they want. My wife actually only fishes with tm's under a float and can put a hurting on me numbers wise once she figures out the presentation. If the small tm float is not working try to find the cigar tm floats. They are my preference for floats if I have any available and they will work on cms as well.

[Reel Tune]

Congratulations, that's a very nice crappie.

[FlipaYak]

A couple of notes on hook ups and UL gear.

When using Trout Magnets, I get bit by fish of all size. Sometimes, when I am missing fish, it's not my gear; it's the size of the fish. As in, lots of little bluegill. Probably not your problem since you were fishing crappie magnets just something I've noticed.

The other thing is how you set the hook. I've fished mostly for bass and catfish in the past. I'm used to big, powerful hooksets. I've found that a slow, steady pull of the rod works best with UL gear.

This hookset seems to be real important with bluegill. I can't speak for crappie. With bluegill, I feel a tap, pause the retrieve briefly, and then take a step back while sweeping the rod up and back. Doing this really improves my hook set ratio.

Charlie Brewer demonstrates what I'm talking about here:

http://goo.gl/HVSlU6

He reels down to take up slack. I step back because I always forget to reel down.

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by FlipaYak

A couple of notes on hook ups and UL gear.

When using Trout Magnets, I get bit by fish of all size. Sometimes, when I am missing fish, it's not my gear; it's the size of the fish. As in, lots of little bluegill. Probably not your problem since you were fishing crappie magnets just something I've noticed.

The other thing is how you set the hook. I've fished mostly for bass and catfish in the past. I'm used to big, powerful hooksets. I've found that a slow, steady pull of the rod works best with UL gear.

This hookset seems to be real important with bluegill. I can't speak for crappie. With bluegill, I feel a tap, pause the retrieve briefly, and then take a step back while sweeping the rod up and back. Doing this really improves my hook set ratio.

Charlie Brewer demonstrates what I'm talking about here:

http://goo.gl/HVSlU6

He reels down to take up slack. I step back because I always forget to reel down.

That is a good video and I have watched it several times. The Trout Magnet jig head was designed to catch trout without causing injury. While the Trout Magnet is great for catching bluegill you will miss a lot using the short shank hook. Jeff has a new hook coming out for bluegill that has a much longer shank. I field tested about 3 dozen of them a while back. They work great....fished them in a bluegill hole at Pickwick and didn't miss a single fish with them. The hook most of the time had penetrated the lip somewhere on the mouth. When they will be out I am not sure of as the first order of a hundred thousand were made wrong.


Regards

[jallen67]

Thanks for the help. That video was very helpful and it looks like yall have given me enough reason to go out and buy some new gear!!!

[jaycee]

I use the crappie magnet float and cut it in half to avoid the sometimes line twists. Saves a little $$. Very little. ha

Also a good tip I do is bend the hook point out a little for better penetration. I think it helps. Been doing that for years. Also I have used the trout critter jig head. It has a longer shank.

[crosshairy]

Originally Posted by TNBronzeback

Congrats on the slab crappie! they do get easier the more ya do.
In regards to the U.L. hookups, there are alot of factors to consider. First would be the rod. Ive noticed most ultra lights are very very whippy with no backbone at all. The entire rod flexes evenly from tip to handle. Those rods can have a tendancy to be hard to "feel" hits and get a good hookset as they have no power. When you set the hook, all your doing is flexing the rod and not setting the hook very good.
Another factor is wind and lure weight. If the wind has a good bow in the line your not gonna feel or see the bite as easily and again can result in a late hookset, coupled with a whippy rod makes hook ups hard.
I dont know the rod your using but that might be something to consider. If i pick up any rod, ultra light especially, i give it a few false hooksets in the store to check the action. If it doesnt have a good backbone about half way up, i put it back. Even with ultra lights ya need some backbone for a solid hookset.
I dont use 2lb test, but i do 4lb and all my light rods have a soft top half/tip and some good backbone for setting hooks.
Just my 2 cents. Im sure some of the other hardcore U.L. guys can chime in with thier thoughts.

I agree - folks sometimes think that ultralight means the rod doubles over in half without any effort. For most ultralight applications, it seems like a rod with a decent backbone up to the 50% mark means increased sensitivity and hook-setting power throughout. The flexibility in the last half of the rod is important to absorb the surges in the fish's pull during the fight, so that the line isn't snapped. So long as you aren't using a 3' fishing rod, it doesn't need to be doubled over all the way to the handle

[jallen67]

I went back out Saturday and really focused on working with my hook set. It paid off and I caught 10 crappie and 1 bluegill. That purple and chart CM is a beast!


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[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by jallen67

Thanks for the help. That video was very helpful and it looks like yall have given me enough reason to go out and buy some new gear!!!

If you are looking at anything in particular in a rod and would like some input on light and or ultra light rods feel free to PM me. I have bought and tried many....low to high cost.....off the shelf and custom. High cost is not always the best.


Regards