Techniques for Fishing Cribs

I recently fished a lake that was loaded with fish cribs in 8-12 ft of water. I tried a variety of techniques (crankbaits, football jig, dropshot, C-Rig) and couldn’t get bit. How do you guys go about fishing them? Are in they similar to wingdams where you can fish 15 and not get bit and load up on one of them?
Any information would be helpful.

-Dusty

I’ve had luck in N Wi just using a splitshot, hook and live bait. I would imagine small plastics would work also.

A slip bobber and Crappie jig Work good for the pan fish, I fish them right above the crib.

Itry not to get over the crib with the boat , If using a bobber Iwill cast up wind of it and let it drift over the crib . Ialso like to go fish them with plastics completley wieghtless so your bait just floats down into the crib real natural looking.Iam guessing if you were on top of the cribs in 8 ft good chance that was your problem. Good luck

I agree, go with a slip bobber and either live bait on a hook or plastics used for crappies and gills work great too. Please be sure and let us know what worked best for you when you fish them. This is a subject that isn’t talked about much so it can lead to a very interesting and educational thread. You could use a marker bouy to mark the outside edge of the crib and then make your cast off to the side a few feet away from the marker bouy is so you know just where the crib is.
Thanks, Bill

Don’t rule out the roadrunner jig either. You just have to get a feel for how many counts to get to the depth you want.

Maybe the wrong time of year to fish cribs. It`s spawning time on a good many lakes fish will be in shallow next to spawning grounds. Great summer and winter structure.

The cribs in the lakes I have fished seem to hold fish more in the winter and the summer, might be a little early in the year yet. I’ve always had the best luck by tossing a marker VERY close to the crib, then anchoring upwind and casting distance away and using a slip bobber with a leech or minnow, setting the depth at the depth to the top of the crib and letting the wind carry it over. If that doesn’t work, try going progressively deeper and staying to one side or the other.
It’s not good to anchor right on top of the crib, but in my experience it’s important to get your bait as close as possible to the crib (without catching it!).
You are also correct in stating that you might fish 15 of them with no results to speak of, then hit one that is just loaded with fish. Good electronics will help find ones that are holding fish.
I wish I could tell you to try the ones closer to deeper water, or shallow water, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. The ones that hold fish seem to be the ones that are holding forage!
Hope this helps.