How to Fish the Toughest Lake in America with Adam
McClellan
How to Fish the Jig
Editor's
Note: Adam McClellan of Cumming, Georgia, fishes the
toughest lake in America just outside Atlanta - Lake
Lanier. "The water clarity on Lake Lanier during
the summer months sometimes exceeds 7 feet," McClellan
says. Lanier is a major recreational lake with plenty
of water skiers, jet skiers, boaters and other outdoor
water recreation activities that can and does interfere
with fishing. This week, we'll see how McClellan not
only fishes this lake, but also successfully catches
fish. Adam and his father, Stokes McClellan, fish the
Southern Crappie Association tournaments, as well as
the Crappie USA tournaments.
Question: Once you get the jig under the dock, how
do you fish it to catch crappie in that clear water?
McClellan: Since I'm shooting so far underneath the
dock, and I'm fishing the jig on the fall, I don't have
a good feel for what the bait is doing on the line.
If I were fishing in a brush pile, I could feel all
the brush and the strike. However, I'm fishing
horizontally. I don't want to pull my line tight because
I want the jig to fall naturally. I want the jig to
fall as vertically as possible. When your jig is that
far away from the boat falling on a slack line, the
only way to tell when you're getting a bite is to watch
the line. During the hot summer months, the bite's going
to be extremely light. The only way to tell if you have
a strike is when the line stops sinking before it gets
to the bottom. For instance, if I'm fishing in 20 feet
of water, the jig should sink for more than 5 or 6 seconds.
Therefore, if the line stops early, I know I have a
bite, and I set the hook. In addition, if the line moves
to the left or right, I know I also have a bite, and
I'll set the hook.
Question: Don't you feel that the Hi-Vis line spooks
crappie?
McClellan: Remember that I'm fishing 4-pound-test line.
I believe that line is so small that even though it's
visible to me, I don't know that it's visible to the
crappie. I don't feel that it spooks the fish.
Question: How deep are you catching crappie at this
time of year?
McClellan: The docks I'm fishing will have 20 to 25
feet or more of depth at the front of the pier. When
I shoot the jig, I'll let it fall all the way to the
bottom before I start my slow jig retrieve, close to
the bottom. Most of the time, I catch crappie at 15-
to 20-feet deep, as the fish comes from the shallow
backside of the dock to the front of the dock.
Question: When the jig reaches the bottom, how are
you working it back to the boat? McClellan: Most of
the time, I catch crappie as the jig falls. If I don't
get a bite as the jig falls, I retrieve the jig not
by reeling, but rather by lifting my rod tip and letting
the jig swing as if it's on a pendulum. Besides trying
to catch crappie, I'm also trying to feel with my jig
and line for any brush that may be under the dock. Most
lakeside owners will plant brush or Christmas trees
under their docks. Often, this brush holds crappie.
Question: How many crappie will you usually catch during
the summer months using this tactic? McClellan: My best
day on Lake Lanier was earlier this spring. I pulled
up to a pier that had two boat slips. I fished back
and forth between those two slips and caught 32 crappie
under that same dock in about one hour.
Question: What size crappie were you catching?
McClellan: Lake Lanier is an unusual lake compared to
others. On most lakes, when you shoot docks, the larger
crappie usually bite first, and the more you continue
to fish that dock, the smaller the crappie will be that
you catch. However, if you fish Lake Lanier, the opposite
is true. Most of the time, the first crappie I catch
while shooting docks are hand-sized, but if I continue
to fish that same dock, I usually catch several that
weigh more than 1 pound. The biggest crappie I've caught
on Lake Lanier hasn't weighed more than 1-1/2-pounds.
Tomorrow: How to Pick a Dock
to Shoot, and What Time to Shoot Docks
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