Whether fishing a tournament or pleasure fishing, it’s easy to be facing bad water conditions. During a recent tournament with muddy, falling water the competitors faced tough fishing.
Three important keys became apparent to the fishermen who were successful. First, on day one the fish were on the wood in flats and on small ledges. Fish moved on day two. The falling water had them moving back toward deeper water ledges. Therefore, wood covers along the creek drops were holding best fish.
The second observation was a pitched jig was preferred by crappie. Pitching past a snag and letting it pendulum toward the snag was much more productive than a jig dropped straight down.
The third key was to hold the jig still for a while. A jig allowed to swing into the wood and then left in front of the fish was more likely to get hit. Some fishermen would pitch to a snag 10 or more times before getting a bite. –T.H.
