Ok...

I have used jigs with various results fishing for whites. But I haven't tried jiggin' for crappie mostly because I don't have any idea how to present the jig.

I would guess that presentation is at least as important as jig style and color... And I would think that there's a little more to it than just hanging a jig at depth or bobbing it up and down...

So... what's a good technique for presenting jigs to crappie?

i have the best luck either fishing it vertically, in which case i try to keep it as still as possible and every now and then lift the line up with my hand about six inches and let it fall. works good on light weight 1/16 ox or 1/32 oz lead head jig or horizonatally in which case i just use a steady retrieve and if i'm using lift weight let it fall a little bit every few feet

if there is a little bit of current i put on a small jig, throw it out and let it slowly sink, actually i tend to catch more white bass with this technique but works with crappie two.

overall i have better luck not over working a jig but letting it sit as still as possible. a friend showed me a good trick when verticle fishing. start out with you jig just below the surface. allow to sit for 1 minute then take out about a foot of line and let the jig fall, repeat this until you hit bottom. a good way to locate the depth they are fishing.

OldSaltDawg...

Thank you very much for the reply! I would have never guessed that you would want to keep the jig "as still as possible"!!! I really expected to hear all sorts of movement techniques.

I really like the idea of the 1 foot depth increments...

Thanks again

your welcome. the jig actually is moving you are just letting the water and current dictate the movement.

Never heard that one OSD, Thanks

99% of folks JIG the jig too much. Baitfish don't hop up and down 1-2'. Hold it still and a small twitch of the rod tip is all the action you need to put on the jig. Always twitch your tip down and not up. You'll hang up alot less. We catch more fish lowering or raising the jig slowly.

Like they said, the movement of your hand/boat/waves will impart enough action on the jig. Keep a tight line and get used to the thump and steady, but not too powerful, hookset you need for crappie. Don't let them get ANY slack either - their mouths tear easily. Try fishing with a guide - there seem to be plenty of great ones on this forum. You're in Georgetown, so give Tommy Tidwell (Granger) a call, he's a great teacher, especially jig techniques.
http://www.txfishing.com/tidwell/

Thank you guys for the tips and suggestions...

We went out on Georgetown tonite and spent some time at and around the mouth of the river watching the fish finder. Now I'm a complete newb with a fish finder, but we started seeing what looked like quite a few fish around 25' - 30' deep. The water was about 77 degrees by the way.

So we dropped anchor and lines. My brother had a small one within 90 seconds (while we were still rigging up). Then each of us caught one on minnows. We didn't take many minnows so my dad and I switched to jigs...

Immediately we were getting strikes and caught fish as soon as we got our jigs to depth.

Unfortunately we only caught 6 or 7 before the storm blew in with some significant waves and rain. But we caught those in about 10 minutes! We are in a 15' Lowe Line jon boat with a 35 Evinrude, so we had to book it home.

I am so psyched about the immediate success with the jigs! I was using a wahoo jig (white w/ red eyes) and a bass assassin mini shad with clear belly and light green back with speckles.

Can't wait to get out there again!!!

Thanks again for your help!