Page 6 - Crappie NOW | November 2016

Wood Cover

but stay far enough away to give you action. This tactic lets a fishermen feel the
plenty of fishing room. You also want to jig bump cover and feel the bite.
get a little cross-current or cross-wind so A slip-float is good for casting a
your baits will have a natural presentation. minnow. The float aids in longer cast by
If a fisherman chooses not to anchor being near the hook but after the rig hits
it is best to carefully mark a spot with a the water it allows line to feed through the
buoy. Do not place a buoy directly on the float until reaching the bobber stop. The
cover because it will be in the way. Place stop is usually a thread or tiny piece of
it away from the spot, maybe 10 feet to the plastic on the line for setting depth. On the
left. Repeated casts will be easy to make stumps in the example, the minnow can
in reference to the buoy. be set to 15 feet so it is at the top of the
Casting can be with a freefall jig or stumps.
float. A freefall jig can be counted down Casting may have lost favor with
to obtain the starting depth. Or, it can be
allowed to go to the bottom when fish are
holding near bottom. For example, stumps Kayaks continue to become more popular
in 18 feet of water sticking up to around 15 and can be used to reach most good
feet can be reached by letting the jig hit the crappie-holding locations. This fisherman
surface, fall until it hits bottom and then was on Lake of the Ozarks.
returned with a steady retrieve or hopping

6 Crappie NOW November 2016