I think you did everything right. Ernest has posted that the bite on LL has been real light. It might be Possible that you didn't detect some bites. If you scaned them on side image or whatever sonar you had and they were there you should have caught fish. You switched baits and did everything you could to get them to bite. I would suggest to slow down your fishing technic. Sometimes you have to work an area a little slower. What rods are you using? I would go with a Pro Angler 8' or 10' this time of year. You will detect the slightest bites on your choice of jigs or minnows. Then if no bites I would move on and try other location in the same depth you marked the other fish and fish that area as slow as possible. Your fish count should be going up weather they were keepers or on not. After about 4 or 5 different spots you should be close to a 1 man limit of fish if not more. But don't stay to long in one area if you can't get them to bite. Move around and take notes of what's going on when you do get bites and repeat that in the next area you go to. YOU WILL HAVE FISH IN THE COOLER OR LIVE WELL. When you've done all that you can do call it a day and remember what worked well for you that day and repeat it the next time you go out. You should have fish.

work the old timber right at 20 feet deep maybe no lower than 18
.....12 to 14 foot down in the middle of the day .....hold the jig right up against the tree in the shade when you drop it .....these depths are critical on both ......if the jig gets to 12 and the line dont go "slack" for a split second ......pick it up 2 feet and drop it 6 inches at a time fast .....the line should slack just a second each time .....one nano second longer .....SET THE HOOK.....get the net .......
watch the slack line close .....you probably are only "feeling" 1 bite in 10 if you go on touch alone .....they seem to only want the drop (most days) in the summer and its less than a slight whisper ......lots of baitfish in the water makes for tricky fish.....the next meal is a bite away thing

+1 for all those get a guide posts. I have learned a ton from going with various ones. It is an investment in your future angling. Cliff Spindle is a great guy and you will catch fish and learn a lot.

"Armed myself with an array of jigs (dont care much for minnows)"


Fish determine if they want minnows not fisherman. Some days it does not matter. Other days they want one or the other. Gotta give them what they want if you want to catch fish.

Reggie

Im using a BnM Sam Heaton Super Sensitive 9' rod with 6lb mr crappie hi viz line. I dont know if I can get much slower than I was fishing...I was barely moving it. My presentation is prob off a little. Either way...I booked a trip with Ernest Paty 2 wks from now. Hopefully he will school me.

That should help a lot!

Been there done that. Maybe light hits with wind on your line with light tackle? Next time out you will slay em.

wlgorman,

You will surely learn a lot on your trip with Ernest. I hired him for a trip in '03 and between 7:30 and 11:30 we had 50 crappie in the livewell. It was the best day crappie I had ever been on. More importantly I still fish the way he showed us back then and we can typically find and catch them when we go out.

For your line, if you haven't trip it yet I would recommend the Power Pro line. It's incredibly sensitive and you'll feel anything that bumps with it. It's expensive but unlike mono line it has no memory so it lasts a loooooong time. I've used the same line now for several seasons.

Ill look into it. Im gonna try the line I just put on at least for a couple more trips. Tried braid when I lived on the coast wadefishing and didnt care for it, but this is a whole different ball game.

Crappie have a well deserved reputation of being finicky. I've been out reeling in fish after fish while everyone around me was catching nothing, but I've been on the other side of that, too. We all have. The more knowledge and experience you get, the more often you'll be on the catching side of that event.

Roland Martin gave the best fishing tip I ever heard: Go early, stay late.