# Skipjack - fresh versus thawed? (and a monster crappie)



## hoosiertransplant (Apr 20, 2009)

After what seems like forever I finally caught a half way decent flathead last week. This was on a freshly caught chunk of skippy. Recently I've had zero luck with frozen bait. I'd love to hear if this is just coincidence or is fresh significantly better? I know when it comes to shad that frozen is just about worthless compared to fresh.

About 10 minutes before dark I decided to throw a large orange Xrap and something that could have ate this fish completely slammed it 'on the pause' of my aggressive retrieve. I was absolutely sick to my stomach. Before he made a big run and broke me off he was fighting much like a flathead. - kind of lethargic at first until realizing he is hooked.....

Also added a pic of my little guy with the biggest crappie I've ever seen. Must have been 16+ inches. Caught it in Nashville on the Stones River below Priest Reservoir with a gulp minnow on a jig.


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## Cheesehead Cory (May 16, 2004)

Yep, IMO fresh skip is considerably better. Also, in my experience, fresh shad is just slightly better than frozen skipjack, and I agree that frozen shad are significantly less productive.

That's a whopper of a crappie!


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## fishknife (Apr 13, 2004)

Very nice crappie. Congrats to your son.


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