This will drive any nearby predator fish insane! Be ready, because many times you will hook fish on both rods simultaneously!
     
If you like to use maggies, wax worms, earthworms or night crawlers in the winter time, and like them in different colors, here is the secret that bait shops would rather you didn’t know. The night before you want to go fishing, simply put a few drops of food coloring, of the color of your choice, in your bait’s bedding. By morning, the grubs/worms will have turned that color. It is completely harmless to them.
     
If you want fat, healthy night crawlers to fish with, take your worms out of the bait box the night before and place then in a flat container lined with wet newspaper. Place this in the fridge until morning. The next day, you will have incredibly fat, jumping night crawlers.
     
If you find you are catching all small crappie, move out to slightly deeper water. The crappie will get bigger. Crappies tend to school by size, with the larger ones preferring deeper water.
     
Crappies in tailraces below dams are often overlooked. The best rig for this is a double-jig rig under a bobber. Cast the rig upstream and allow it to drift into eddies and backwashes. Gently set the hook anytime the bobber moves strangely.
      
And last but not least, remember that a crappie has a very tender mouth, so a hook-set is not really necessary. Simply pull the fish in. And don’t put them on a stringer. They can tear off easily, hence the nickname ‘papermouth bass”.
 
Happy Fishing

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