Tight lining for crappies..

[winchester 88]

 We are presently catching crappies which are in the brush but we are having a time in hauling them out without getting hung up.
 I have read several articles about tightlining which utilizes 2 light weight hooks tied on the line one above the other and a heavy sinker at the bottom.
 The hooks are baited with minnows and lowered thru the brush using the sinker as a "feeler" to find the open holes in the brush.
 Do any of you use this type of rig?
 How does it work?
 What line weight, rod action and length do you use?
 Are there any tricks or suggestions that you can add that work?
Thanks for any help....
 Winchester 88

[1tigger]

If you are fishing the brush tightline  is the best method to use !
8lb test and on an ultrlight is a lot of fun .
With an ultralight you have to work them a little more but if you use too stiff of a rod you have the tendancy to horse and that will tear their paper thin mouth .

Good Luck and have fun .

[bassjunky]

Do you just use a dropshot weight on the end to get ya down? if so how heavy are we talking?

[hookemandcookem]

I use the technique described previously. We call it "dropshotting". We put a slitshot (the pinchable weight) and pinch it on the bottom of the line and tie the hook/s above the weight at your desired distance. If you get hung up all you loose (most likely) is the splitshot.

[1tigger]

Do you just use a dropshot weight on the end to get ya down? if so how heavy are we talking?

Use just enough weight to get your bait where you want it ...but not so heavy that your minnow cant move a little .
Really it's personal preferance and a little trial end error .

[winchester 88]

Thanks for the replies that you have given concerning my inquiry about tight lining for crappies but it seems that there are 2 different techniques that we are talking about.
 The tight lining that I am talking about uses a heavy sinker of 1 or 2 ounces tied to the end of a line of 10-15# mono and 2 light wire hooks are tied above the sinker and minnows are used for bait.
 The heavy weight acts as a feeler to detect the location of structure,brush etc.,so that you can get the minnows down thru the brush to crappies located inside the brush, tree limbs etc.
 If you get caught on the brush the light wire hooks will bend open and come free instead of breaking off and requiring re-tying.
 This technique seems to be used mostly in the south on the big crappie lakes but we don't see it too much on the lakes here in Pa.
 Have any of you guys used this technique and had success with it?
 Good fishin....
 Winchester  88

[USMC130FE]

Hey Guy's,

On the subject of Crappies and different techniques......  I always purchase the new issue of Crappie fishing.  What a great mag with some very informative info.  In-fisherman also finds its way in the shopping cart when it has articles on Panfish.  You can pick up a lot of tips and ideas during the morning coffee.

These Magazines have increased my catch ratio considerably.  Tight Lines and may your livewell always hold fish.

Steve

[flockshot]

winchester..ive used a simular technique..though not with 1 once wieghts..more lie 1/4 on a spreader for perch..tried it for crappies with mixed results..your better off going a little bit lighter..you can still feel around and it allows the bait to move better..plus im convinced that a huge weigth will spook alot of fish off of a peice of structure if you go banging around on it.

[winchester 88]

 I just discovered that if I Google the word "tightlining" there is a ton of information on the subject relative to using the technique for crappies.
 I can't wait to get back out and try it.
 Winchester 88

[reelbigfish]

Winchester 88,
  I've seen fishing shows "tightlining" in the brush but it seems like it's kind of tough
to horse them out of the bushes once you hook one.  We fish for crappies around the
deadfall logs using "pinkie jigs"( pink leadheads with white bucktail) and liphooked
shiner minnows.  About 3' up the 6# test line we use a small round bobber.  We swim
this offering around the underwater trees and "knock on wood" for some hot spring crappie action.  Don't most guys use really long poles to drop minnies into the trees
when vertical fishin' brushpiles?

[winchester 88]

Winchester 88,
  I've seen fishing shows "tightlining" in the brush but it seems like it's kind of tough
to horse them out of the bushes once you hook one.  We fish for crappies around the
deadfall logs using "pinkie jigs"( pink leadheads with white bucktail) and liphooked
shiner minnows.  About 3' up the 6# test line we use a small round bobber.  We swim
this offering around the underwater trees and "knock on wood" for some hot spring crappie action.  Don't most guys use really long poles to drop minnows into the trees
when vertical fishin' brushpiles?
{ I've seen the same shows and agree that it is hard to get the fish up thru the brush after you hook them. Their soft mouth presents the biggest problem.
 Several years back a friend of my daughter took me fishing to Pymatuming Lake in N.W. Pa. and we used cane poles which he had rigged with a jig on the bottom and 6" above that was a 1/2o.z.egg sinker pegged in place then above that was a slip float with a bobber stop to set the depth.
 The technique was to pull up along side the logs that were piled up along the shore androp the rig with lip hooked minnows between the cracks in the logs. We caught a cooler full between us and even though we would get caught on wood sometimes all that you had to do was put the tip of the pole down on top of the bobber and force it down the line below the water surface which would cause the egg sinker to sink belowthe jig. A gentle jiggle of the pole tip would disloge the jig. I never lost the jig even though we fished all day with this method. Every one seems to have a method and we need to see what works according to the situation.
We are currently using a chartruese jig head with a black and green plastic tail tipped with a minnow or just a red tru turn hook with a split shot and a minnow below a bobber.
 It is raining hard here and will be for  a couple of days which will cool the water down and may slow the spawn down so I will have to see what works and try some of the suggestions that have been posted here.}
 Catch a bunch..
 Winchester 88