Crappie fishing

[PeteG]

Good morning,
I'm not very knowledgeable with Crappie..... But Iv'e been enjoying fishing with small jigs for some decent size fish. Last time out, I found a bunch of good sized crappie but hooked up a bunch which I dropped on the drift. These were bigger fish. I was using braid, flouro leaders and reels with a minimum drag setting which apparently was too much to keep these fish buttoned up. No stretch, no give. These fish had heft. No, it wasn't grass or bottom.
I'm going after them today with some gear that should be a bit better for the soft mouth.
What's your thoughts?

[greensider]

Use pliers to open hooks a little bit you will get a better hookup

[senkoasm]

I use braid with my spinning and spincast reels and do very well with all size fish - even wee bass the size of a popsicle stick.
Suggestion: a light action rod allows a decent amount of flex. I'm not talking ultralight and definitely not medium action.
The test is when I troll crankbaits and fish attack, when the rod bends way back, the hook stays put until I can reel in the fish regardless the species. Besides, light action rods allow casting light jigs/plastics a good distance because of its flex. Here's a catfish caught recently trolling:

a crappie on the same day:

and a perch:


I use Kastking 8#/2# diam braid and like the long distance strike sensitivity and hook sets. I've caught 7 lb catfish and 3 1/2 lb carp on my tackle as well as bass like this one:

and this tyke on a modified Kut Tail:


Large crappie over 11" are one of my favorites on light tackle casting different structure and depths:

...all on braid and a light action rod.

As far as drag set, it should be set to approx. 25% of the breaking strength of the line you are using or you should be able to pull line out with a bit of effort.

[PeteG]

Thanks everyone for your help.
So that day I was lucky to be on a bunch of large crappie. I also had a bit of wind pushing the boat which didn't help in keeping them hooked up.
I did a bit better motoring into the wind with a bigger slab hooked up.
Better catch rate with jigs over bait.

[senkosam]

Better catch rate with jigs over bait.

ALWAYS !

[PeteG]

So what I see is each spot and any target in that spot, has a condition which is most productive. Some conditions produce quantity and others produce quality - all in the same spot. Also add in season, moon and water temp to further complicate the plan.
I did not find those sized crappy again this season. I did find other areas which produced well, at times and under certain conditions.
Always be prepared and have a educated guess as to what could be the bite.