We went out to Lavon on Tuesday and caught about 25 before the wind blew us off the lake.

Went out today and fished about 5 hours and caught 3 crappie and 2 nice channel cat (on crappie jigs)

Talked to a lot of other folks coming off the lake at about 2:00 and nobody had enough crappie to stink up the grease.

I have a Livescope on my boat and we could see tons of fish, but none of them were taking the bait.

We used jigs with minnows on them , tried several different colors and different sizes. NADA. Nothing worked

Wayne

Probably because they are letting out 6200 CFS of water out of the lake now, the lake usually fishes a little tough when they are letting that much water out.

It was a tough bite, and there were some places where I saw the same behavior on Livescope, but also found a few active trees and came out with 11 keepers and threw back twice that many unders. We fished only jigs, and the popular color seemed to be Bobby Garland, �Lights Out� black over green color shad profile. Some fish were in standing timber where the bottom was only 13 feet deep.

Drop a straight minnow down and I bet they bite it. I have seen times where they don't want a minnow on a jighead and will hit a straight minnow first drop.

I thought livescope was supposed to make them bite?

I thought Livescope was like magic, just automatic to catch fish if you get one too.

Its interesting to see people that got Livescope and still struggle to catch fish though.

No, it doesn�t make them bite. But Livescope can give you more insight as to how you might get them to bite. Livescope also gives a great visual of underwater trees and structure too. Better than any side or down imaging I�ve ever used or seen. Putting your bait on a fish�s nose while avoiding the branch that�s gonna break you off is helpful.

These guys just don�t know how to use their livescope. You got to press the catch button.

We have been using minnows quite a bit lately. They won't hit a minnow as readily on a jig head. We have been using a snelled hook with a pinch on weight about 5" above the hook. This allows the minnow to swim free and gets us a lot more bites. A lot of bites are so soft that you don't feel them. The fish just swims up and sucks the minnow in and sits there. You can see this on livescope. Just raise the rod and if you feel pressure set the hook. Works.

I have not bought a minnow in 40 years and not going to start now. I believe crappie react to jigs or minnows by instinct and most all bites are just a reaction to what is presented in front of them, if the bait is presented in front of them and resembles prey they will react and hit it, the question is will the angler be fast enough to react and hook the fish when that happens. a minnow would definitely make it easier because the fish will probably hold it longer but a experienced angler would be able to detect the strict first no matter if its a jig or minnow.

I believe you guys with Livescope have proven this already by watching fish take the bait and the angler does not even feel it.
This issue can be helped by very light line and a very sensitive rod as well.

Just my 2 cents.

I cant even remember the last time I saw minnows out fish jigs. I know it happens, but I have fished shoulder to shoulder with minnow fishermen and made them look silly by the end of the day with jigs. The few times I have seen minnows out fish jigs has always been in the dead of winter.

I have been tempted to buy some minnows just for old times sake, but I honestly feel like I can catch more with jigs just about any time I am on the water. And my jigs never die when I forget to feed them.

I just crossed the creek on Hwy 78. They REALLY have the gates open now. It has the bottom south of the 78 bridge flooded now.

Yesterday was only my second time to use the LiveScope, so I am still learning. Until now, I have not even had a boat in about 30 years and this is only the third time out, so I ain't exactly good at this.

Wayne

Yep!

Come to Grapevine with me in the summer (When it's not flooded) and I bet I can change your mind about jigs producing more.

If they won�t bite a downsized jig (1� or smaller) I use wild caught minnows. I usually don�t have a problem getting them on jigs, but if I can�t, fresh caught minnows will catch them. If they won�t eat a fresh caught minnow then you might as well give up. Fresh caught Minnow will outfish a bait shop golden shiner 4 to 1.