Keith Lusher 02.15.24
It’s not typically that crappie anglers begin utilizing corks this early within the 12 months. For many anglers, the corks come out when the climate warms up and the crappie are heading into the shallows to spawn. Forrest Inexperienced of Lacombe, LA is an admitted cork fishing idiot and stated he’s been utilizing corks to focus on his crappie regardless that the fish are nonetheless in deep water.
“Don’t get me unsuitable, I get pleasure from tight-lining a jig straight down in 15 toes of water however typically these fish hunker down into some severe construction,” he stated. “A cork permits me to hover that jig proper over the construction and never get snagged a lot.”
Inexperienced has been fishing Bayou Lacombe in Southeast Louisiana. The Bayou is teaming with crappie. Sadly, it’s additionally plagued with loads of fallen cypress and picket trash piles. And whereas these are prompt sac-a-lait attractants, the comb piles can result in many misplaced jigs. Throughout February, crappie are sometimes grouped tightly within the construction, and getting snagged can spook the varsity of fish, which in flip, trigger the crappie to vacate the construction. When going through this case, Inexperienced errs on the aspect of warning. “If these branches on the underside are simply too thick for me to bounce my jig via, I’ll put a cork on my line and rig it so it hovers proper over the construction,” says Inexperienced. “That permits the tube jig to be within the strike zone of the crappie whereas staying simply above the branches.”
When fishing with a cork Inexperienced adjusts the depth and says he’s been recognized to make use of a cork in water as deep as 12 toes. Like most fishermen, Inexperienced could be choosy with regards to how his fishing gear performs. When utilizing a cork for crappie fishing, he makes a small modification that enables the float to develop into extra buoyant. He buys two weighted corks. One in all them being a 2-inch cork and the opposite, 1.5 inches. “I take away that lead weight that’s wrapped across the backside part of the 1.5-inch cork and put the lighter lead on the bigger cork,” he says. This prevents the cork from being weighed down an excessive amount of once I add the 1/16 oz. jig head to the tip of the road.”
In February, Inexperienced fishes the principle bayou and stated he’s catching anyplace between 20-30 sac-a-lait per journey by staying in the principle bayou and finding large brush piles in 10-15 toes of water. Whereas the fish are in deep water now, Inexperienced stated it received’t be lengthy earlier than they head for the shallows for the spawn.
