The dumbest question is

the one you don't ask, so here goes. This year me and the ms. are trying our skills at
crappie fishing at Lake Fork. We have been doing pretty good for a couple of rookies.
I went with a guide and got a few tips, and a few spots. We have also stumbled on to a few spots
of our own, mostly brushpiles and some timber. We can drown minnows with the best of 'em.
My question is I envy reading about and watch guys catch crappie with jigs,
I have plenty of jigs ($$$), and have caught a couple here and there, but nothing like I would like to do.
How do I select the color to start with or use ??? and the size, weight,..,..there has to be some sort of logic to start with I would think,..
any help would be appreciated,..jim

Im in the same boat as you with crappie. I'll hire a guide and assimilate his brain. Plus I'm a land locked sailor, so no boat. Yet. Not again Cast. Aluminum this time buddy, it'll be great. I said no.

Still trying to talk myself into/out of buying a tracker.

Well, anything with chartruese in it should work in Texas. On any lake really. It's not so much the color to start with. It's using a bait that you have confidence in. Being a "rookie" (and I know you fish great) especially on fork in the summer, if you know where fish are, tip some jogs with a minnow. Get a few bites. Put a few different baits and colors on. Once you know the fish are there, leave the minnow off and see if you can get them to bite. It's a slow process. I personally know many baits work out there. For instance in my boat, I've seen Rocky tops, thermocline, and Lane palmers jigs work incredibly. That's first hand experience. On Ray Roberts yesterday and today I tried new baits with no minnows. I used them in areas I KNEW fish were there. I caught fish on the new Bonehead Brush Gliders in pink/blue, pink/chartruese, and one
That is the same color As foil.. Haha. But it's all trial and error. After that it's confidence. Once you have confidence in something I almost guarantee it'll work anywhere!

Every place has different pattern and better and worse colors. You can always try experimenting with different colors as you go but you will almost always be good with natural colors. Start with just a white baby shad and a black baby shad, I know crappie guides who won't use anything else but that. Get pink jig heads, for some reason those work best according to most pro crappie fishermen. Also might want to try Bobby Garland Itty Bitty Jig in white or black/chartreuse (they are about 1&1/4' long). Have found that a lot of times when the bite is tough and the fish are finicky they will be more willing to hit the really small jig. My thought would be for you to learn how to tie 2 jigs onto your line and have 1 of the white or black shad jigs on the bottom and have an experimental jig about 12-18 inches above it so you can see what else is working, use it to try different colors, different types of jigs, etc.

ALSO absolutely get some Bass Pro Shops Hook Guard for Weedless Lures or if there is a different brand.... they will save you the frustration of loosing all those jigs fishing the timber!

Eric

I don't put as much emphasis on color as presentation. Lot's of folks make the mistake of fishing too deep...you have to get the bait in front of the fish and secondly is the rate of fall. With that said, sometimes color makes all the difference but for the most part I think the crappie bite is a reaction bite. As mentioned above, once you have a confidence bait that's the one you will use most of the time anyway. Good luck to you and the mrs.

Find the active fish. If you find them, they will bite whatever is put in front of them, most days. If I don't get bit within 10 minutes, I'm moving to the next spot.

If the fish are inactive, you can try every color in the rainbow...the bite is going to be slow, if at all.

There are plenty of crappie in Lake Fork, and plenty of places they reside that you should not waste your time on an inactive area.

I fish three basic colors...blue, chartreuse and white, in different combinations...sometimes blue/white, other times blue/chartreuse, sometimes white/chartreuse. I will have these tied on a rod.

I also have a black emerald shiner tied on.

I fish these on a 1/8 oz. jighead as a single rig, or 2-1/16 oz. on a tandem rig.

Some spots, I may only catch a couple...others spots I may catch 20, if the bite slows, I change colors. Once the bite stops, I'm on to the next spot. I may re-visit a spot several hours later.

For me, finding the active fish is the key.

Gman

Alot of variables to consider. In muddy conditions a larger profile bait helps (thanks Tommy Tidwell) for that tip. Also whats going in in the lake eco system. If the mayflies are hatching, a brownish darker color may be good, if the grasshoppers are flying into the water, green may be the color, if the crickets are flying into the lake because farmers are thrashing thier fields around a lake, brown /yellow/ green/ black may work.
If the shad spawn has finished recently in the spring, a small light colored jig may work.
I live out in the country and grasshopper and crickets are hopping everywhere.
I went fishing yesterday and tried some green jigs with some sparkle, (because the waters very stained), and the fish loved it.
On some lakes crappie are so prolific (waco), I believe they cannibalize thier young, so green jigs tend to work good. Sometimes black and chartruese jigs will outfish green though. Scent is important too, crappie nibble will improve your bites 4 to 1 in my opinion .

Color is not as important as the overall size of the bait, weight of jighead and presentation. You can get a fish to hit any color as long as those things are done correctly. You also want to fish the lightest jig possible. I hardly ever go above a quarter ounce jighead. Will they work? Yes, but I feel that you are missing fish by fishing too heavy of a jig, especially this time of year, because so many will hit it as it falls.

I'm reading that crappie jigging is pretty much the same as bass fishing a t-rig but with a very light touch. Can you feel the tap tap like a bass on a worm? Then just slowly raise the rod to set the hook?

Color doesn't matter, until it does. This is not a smart a... answer, just what I've found to be true. I've fished ten different colors before, and got fish on all colors. On a different day, only certain combo's will work. For me, and this is just a general rule, on bright sunny days, bright colors fish better, and on cloudy or overcast days, grays, black and blues fish better.

For Fork, I have five combos that work well, and are usually a starting point for my Fork outings. A good buddy of mind dubbed them the Fab Five, -Cinnamon/Blue, Chartreuse/Blue, Gray/Blue, Cinnamon/Chartreuse and Gray/Gray-Black.

If you don't get a "THUMP," then you get a bite where the fish swims up with the bait, and if you aren't paying attention, you won't feel anything until they spit it out.

So you watch the line for a twitch?

A lot of times the line will just go slack. Sometimes it will twitch but not very often.

Don't overwork it! Get it in front of the fish and let the bait do the work.

I need a guide/crappie mentor.

You have a lot of mentors right here and they'll help you. I have worked a jig like a T-rig but only because that's the only way they would bite on that particular day. Some days they will hit it on the fall...other times they will hit it when slightly twitched and some days they want it perfectly still (dead sticking). That's the challenge of crappie fishing...figuring out what they will hit. Don't wait for the tap,tap,tap like when bass fishing....crappie will give you one tap...it may be hard, may be soft or you may not feel it at all so always watch your line. Good luck to ya!

thanks all,..keep sending, I'm all ears. I'll be on lake for 11 days straight so I'm going to try and learn a few things. I have a great Crappie guide in our RV park,..and I pick his brain when I get a chance but I have to respect his trade, and his privacy. Sound like TOW and experimenting is the best teacher, after you pick up the basics. One thing for sure I'm having fun...

Or you could tie your own getting this set up for 300.00 saving about 2/3 the $$$

I use 2 colors 99% of the time. White/chart in clearer water and black/chart in murkier water. Being new to jig fishing I would suggest 1/8 ounce. You will be able to feel it better. The most common mistake I see is over working the jig. I start at 12' and let it down slowly and watch my line. Once it gets down I hold it still for a few seconds then slowly, with my free hand, pull it up 6 inches then stop for a few seconds. I repeat this until I have about 2' of line pulled up. If no bite, i drop back down and go 2' deeper and repeat until I get to the bottom or I have caught a fish. If you get bit, know how deep it was and was it on the fall, sitting still or coming up. Fish will tell you how deep and how they are reacting to the jig.
I watch someone daily struggle usually and most of the time it is because they are yo yoing the jig or fishing it too fast. Be a line watcher, and focus only on your jig and the next bite.
confidence is the key so the more you catch the more confidence you will get. Hope that makes a little sense and helps.
Good luck

I would be glad to take you down to the docks on grapevine and show you how to jig. I have Monday-Wednesday's off though.

The best thing to do (same thing I did to learn to jig fish) is to not buy any minnows at all and go out with only jigs. This will force you to experiment and learn how to use them. Go out there with the mindset that your just learning and any fish you catch is just a bonus.

cold turkey huh..?

That's how I always roll......I'm about to start doing 1 on 1 or 2 jig fishing tutorial trips.