Page 15 - Crappie NOW - July 2017

PICKING APART COVER WITH WEEDLESS JIGHEADS

The Right Equipment for Bite Detection hide than in the thickest cover available.
Overstreet uses either a six-foot Utilizing a weedless head will keep you
B’n’M Sharp Shooter or seven-foot Sam fishing longer and hung up less. To get a
Heaton Super Sensitive with a B’n’M Pro first hand tutorial on how to employ this
Staff 100 reel with eight-pound Hi-vis technique, contact Overstreet’s Guide
Gamma line. “The Sharp Shooter works Service at 251-589-3225, and to show up
great, and the Sam Heaton is even better, with his favorite jigs already tied on, call
especially when there’s a light bite, but B&B Weedless Jigs at 205-544-0197.
sometimes you still have to depend on
the line to see the bite,” said Overstreet.
“Aside from being able to see the line and
where it’s at across limbs that are out of - Josh Gowan
the water, if you have an extremely light
bite on a 1/16 oz. jig 30-feet from the tip
of your pole, there’s just nothing to feel,
but Gamma’s hi-vis line will show you
the bite. If you keep just a little slack in
your line, you can see the line “jump,” and
that’s when you need to set the hook. A jig
falling off or bumping a limb doesn’t have
the same effect on the line.”

Plastic or Hair, Chartreuse or Not
Chartreuse
Overstreet prefers B&B’s Weedless
hair jigs in chartreuse because of their
effectiveness and toughness, but he will
move to a soft plastic and change colors
when conditions dictate it. “In the spring,
we generally have stained water, and I
use the brightest chartreuse I can get with
an orange head and black thread on it; it
just works,” said Overstreet. “As the water
clears, I’ll move to a school bus yellow,
then to a green chartreuse with a little bit
of black in it, and if it gets real clear, I’ll
go to a grey and white. There are times
when plastics work better than hair. If the
fish want the bait moving a little faster, I’ll
put on a curly tail and drag it through, and
sometimes I’ll go to a Bobby Garland Baby
Shad if I’m not getting bit. If the water
gets really muddy, I’ll use Midsouth’s
glow tube on a pink head. The main thing
to remember is if what you’re using isn’t
working, try something else!”
Regardless of the water you’re
on, looking for anomalies in cover and
structure like Overstreet’s downed trees in
river bends will help you locate more fish,
and there’s no place crappie would rather

15 Crappie NOW July 2017