True

I experimented on my dock this summer. We had a couple of 100 fish days, so it was a good summer. One day I would throw out 8 to 10 handfuls of dry dog food others I would not. Some days I would throw out handfuls of dead minnows, some days it was live ones to get the frenzy started. Some days I would fish with the kids swimming and jumping off the dock some days I would fish when no one was splashing and jumping in. Then I charted my catch rates. Oddly enough, live minnows to start frenzy beat chumming. We caught more fish while the kids swam and jumped in water then when it was still and quiet. Dead minnows after the frenzy started out fished jigs or live minnows, and it wasnt even close. If you could keep minnow on the hook after you caught a fish, you were guaranteed a bite with the dead minnow. I caught 8 crappie in a row off of the same minnow. Last, playing the radio killed the bite, everytime. So, here are my stats that make you say hmmm, Live minnows to start, dead minnows to keep, kids swimming a plus, no radio. Sounds silly I know, but keep a fishing log, increases your knowledge 10 fold. So nice to look back and say this time last year this depth this spot this presentation.

Target species was crappie and I guarantee you that between 1908 and 2008 that old man caught more crappie than most of us ever will. Think about it if carp are attracted to cottonseed meal then minnows would be also because they are both in the cyprinidae family. So by chumming for minnows you are probably going to get the attention of a few crappie which are attracted to the minnows. We used to put little chunks of cottonseed meal in our minnow traps (homemade-ball jar with wire screen), so I know it works.

1908 - 2008

My bad 1908-2009, I forgot we caught some in early 2009 cause he did not pass away until May of that year and would have been 101 on August 22nd. H3ll he caught crappie at Benbrook before the lake was thought of being built. The little creek (Dutch Branch) that passes right in front of the pier at Baja was just that, a little creek that he and old man Jimmy Dip used to catch crappie out of it. He told about how they caught crappie on X-mas day while it was snowing and that was sometime in the 1930s. Oh yeah Sirjet, you can toss chopped or whole minnows and shad to start a feeding frenzy when the bite is slow just to put this thread back on track.

When I set a new brush pile I will drop some purina game fish chow in a weighted bucket with some tiny holes in it. I catch crappie on all of the piles but I also use a large amount of willow limbs which are really the best.

The old timers swear by the minnows in the jar trick. I never tried it but I can see how it would work. I have never ever chummed for crappie. Using a green light at night is the best I have done. The light attracts bait fish which brings in the predators.