Author Topic: How to fish when "Lite Bite"  (Read 4604 times)

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Offline Easy

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How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« on: December 31, 2017, 09:29 AM »
I have recently read several posts that say they are catching some crappie but the "bite is lite".  My question is how do you fish or what strategy do you use when the crappie "bite is lite"?  What do you observe or how do you know a crappie is messing with your hook?  What do you do to entice them to bite or to hook them?  Your input would be appreciated.  Have a great and healthy New Year to all.

Piscolli

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Re: How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2017, 12:31 PM »
There's a few things you can do:
Hold your rod in your hand, not a rod holder
Use lighter gear, rod, line, weight
When you feel a lite "tick", set the hook
Make any adjustments and movements slower

Offline Art Chamberlin

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Re: How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2018, 01:17 PM »
I credit my deep water light bite success to my using a 1/8th (or less) ounce drop-shot weight. If I lift on it and there is any light pressure at all I set. If there is nothing there I simply lower I back down. The other important thing is to have the line in your pole holding finger at all times. Works for me. .....Art

Offline Philbie

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  • Minnesota Crappie
Re: How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2018, 09:31 PM »
Art is spot on.  Very light gear and holding the rod(s) are key.  UL rods, 2lb test, and 1/16 oz jigs.  Length of the rods, IMO, not very important. 

We always use a minnow trailer.  A lively minnow makes a huge difference, again, my opinion.

The bite that we were seeing at Alamo closely resembled an active minnow on really light gear, more or less a slight tick.  The difference was it was followed by a very light drag where the rod had a slight bend.  My guess is the fish was swimming with the very slow trolling speed we were using.

At this point the hook could be set.  My experience with crappie is that they do a pretty good job of hooking themselves in normal situations.  In the lite situation I would slowly move my rod tip forward (the direction of trolling) then let it go slack and let the line tighten back up watching and feeling for the fish to provide a little drag.  Hook set at this point.

Good luck if ya venture out.

Offline sparkchaser

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Re: How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2018, 05:36 AM »
I generally fish with longer rods (12 to 14 foot) off the front of my boat spider rigged. I set them up in my rod holders so that the tips are evenly matched across. That way when there is any disparity between them I slightly lift. If I feel any pressure, I set the hook. With this set up I am targeting a certain depth that I want the biat to stay at trolling at .3 to .5 MPH. I usually use the Kentucky drop shot, or Capps and Coleman rigs with 1oz weights. 2 bare minnow hooks.

As mentioned by Philbie the bite can be as subtle as a "twitch", as if your minnow if moving around. I also sometimes see the line going slack with my rod tip going up, or the line moving to the side. It requires you to really pay attention, as you can easily miss the fish.

Holding your rods will certainly help feel that bite, versus seeing the bite.

Again, everyone has their own set up that they are comfortable with. It just depends on what works for you.
 
SEA.....HAWKS....

Offline Easy

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Re: How to fish when "Lite Bite"
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2018, 04:55 PM »
Many thanks to you all for sharing your knowledge and experience.  I am going to print this page and take it with me on my next fishing trip. Now if I can remember to put the plug in the boat before I put the boat in the water!

 

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