Crappie tips?

river fishing crappie holding to cover as you are I fish the up current side first looking for very active feeding fish with beetle spins,feather jigs or road runners.I then move to the leeward side to feed them live minnows and the jigs casting up to the cover and drifting back.

For fish holding tight to cover I use fine wire hooks as the mustad #3777 draught hook or custom made vertical spinner tipped with waxy or minnow.

The fine wire hooks will bend well with 4 to 6 lb test line and can be straightened out a few times before breaking off.I use 2lb test and loose lots of jigs and hooks but when the bite is good catch many fish.

father inlaw and i fish for crappie in a local river along the banks often early in the spring with all diferent small jigs no bait what so ever we will catch 3 to 4 hundred in a 6 hour span ,,,, slowly moving along the edge right up under the trees and limbs

Have you tried rigging the jigs with a small piece of thin plastic worm in the same manner as a Texas-rigged worm for bass? That should cut down the hang-ups by letting the hookpoint ride across branches rather than catch them.

Try using a seven foot rod and a very small chub minnow on a number ten mustad hook, just drop it in one spot and let it go, one number ten split shot if necessary and no bobber, keep a taught line.

If that doesn't work then, use a bobber and a jig with a small chub.

Although I have never had to fish alot of fallen trees to catch my crappies..my favorite method for fishin clear areas is to reel it moderate to slow and use an 1/8 ounce lead head with a black w/ chartruese(i dont think i spelled that right)triple tail grub...I only fish with these grubs and swear by them..I have caught 25-30 fish stringers with these grubs(really nice ones to alot of them weighed 2lbs.)

The "slider" brand sells weedless lead heads you can buy...basspro.com

pinky jigs (pink head with white rooster tail) with a shiner minows thru the lips. also a shiner hooked thru the back (just below dorsel fin) with a #10 gold hook

My fav. is a white hal-fly with a red head for daytime and a black one for night time fishing also try live minnows.Good luck!!!