Crappie only hit my jigs when they stay still. Why is this, and if I do it right - can “moving” the jig catch more?

Crappies are very interesting when we consider what they eat and how they find it.  Some fish like walleye will pursue a meal like a shark and another popular fish will simply cruise around eating what happens to be there. 

Crappie are smart they know that there are more fish in the sea, so to speak, and they are not going to chase down a small meal when they can just wait a little while and a bigger meal might come by,  just like a novice hunter waiting for the bigger buck.  But just as a hunter cannot resist a descent buck that stands still for a long time the crappie will eat the easy meal that happens to be resting in front of it.

Play this to your advantage.  You have learned what makes them bite now use this.  You will find that fish in one brush pile will behave completely different than that of a brush pile 100 yards away.  My suggestion to you is find an area that you recognize and is successful for that method.  Master that method.  Simple pull and rest movements of equal time have worked for me from a distance and I even had one area where the bait was completely vertical.  I simply dropped my jig in the water and let it sink slowly and raising it at the same rate.  I have caught fish on both the up and down motions of the jig so remember what works and what doesn’t and just add that to your armory.

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