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Pearow, you must know that lighting a smoke--always do it after the cast--is one of the best ways to get a strike from a nice fish. You get even bigger fish if you go to take a leak (not over the side, of course) using a jar brought for that purpose. This is the true reason for using heavy fly reels on panfishing outfits. When you lay them down in the boat to go, the weight of the reel makes it less likely that the fish will yank the whole outfit overboard. It also used to be a counterbalance to the requuisite lean, but the jar has now replaced that eco-unfriendly practice.

As a side point, Crappie fishing--since they are usually very subtle takers--is one of the best ways to learn to fish slow and detect subsurface hits by watching the line on a slow, slow, slow, pulsing retrieve. Watch for a slight change in the line's pace, lift up, and old papermouth is there. Flies like the one above work great; I usually use size 8 or 10 simple hair wings with a tinsel body--red and white, mickey finn, or gray squirrel tail.