Why Fish Small Hooks in Thick Brush with Darrel Baker
By John Phillips
“I use two types of Tru-Turn snelled hooks when I’m crappie fishing – #2 and #4. I like to use the #2 Tru-Turn snelled hook, because it’s a more open hook with a wider gap than the #4. I use this hook when I’m fishing underwater structure that’s not quite as thick as the structure that I fish with a #4 Tru-Turn snelled hook. When I know I’m going to be fishing really-thick brush, I prefer to fish the #4 Tru-Turn snelled hook, because it has a smaller gap between the point and the shank. This lets the hook come through the limbs easier with fewer hang-ups than when I’m fishing a #2 hook. The smaller hook will usually catch as many crappie as the wider gap hook will,” Baker explains.
Baker’s main line is either 10 or 12 pound test line. When the hook touches brush because the B‘n’M poles are so sensitive, you can see the tip of the pole begin to move slowly toward the top of the water. “Many times if you’ll pick your rod up and open the bale on the reel slightly to feed out slack line and then shake your rod tip, the hook will come off the brush, and most of the time you won’t lose your bait,” Baker reports. “Many times the hook won’t be what’s causing the hang-up. It may be the weight on the bottom of the line that’s causing you to get hung. So by just letting out slack and shaking your rod tip, you usually can get your line, hook and weight unhung.”
Another problem that you can often have when you’re fishing river ledges is that the crappie are not the only fish in the lake that is holding on those ledges and brush piles. “We catch crappie, bass, saltwater stripers, catfish and every now and then bluegill when we’re fishing these river ledges. So, we have to have a line that is strong enough to help our anglers land fish this size,” Baker explains.
To learn more about how to fish for crappie click here: http://johninthewild.com/books/#crappie.
