Crappie Trolling

[lonkm]

Do any of you guys that fish the Bull ever troll for crappie? Which method do you use, spider riggin or long line trolling? Which is th most effective? Thanks Lonnie

[Sam]

That's exactly the kind of fishing I do most often. No spider-rigging or fancy stuff for me, though - crappie in upper B.S. are in the brush, mostly, and that part of the lake has a lot of brush, underwater bushes, and stick-ups.

I sure wouldn't want to have a bunch of poles set and troll into a brushpile. That happens often enough with just one pole, and I'd think a spider rig would be a real mess in that situation. Even more exciting would be trolling into a school of white bass and getting 4 or 5 big ones on at once. I'm not gonna do that - but I'd give a six-pack of Sam Adams to watch someone ELSE do it.

Naw, I keep it simple - just one light-action rod with 10-lb. PowerPro line, and a Swimmin' Minnow on (usually) a 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jighead. I pour my jigheads on light gold-colored hooks so the 3-lb. diameter PowerPro will straighten the hook out instead of breaking off - 'cause there's lots of hang-ups when you troll where the crappie are. With a 1/8 oz. jighead, a bunch of line out, and my 5-speed trolling motor set on "2", I can slow-troll as deep as 12'. Mostly I troll shallower than that though, because crappie will come up for a lure but they won't go down for one if you're trolling below them.

Over the years I've found about 50 spots between Beaver Creek and Bear Creek to slow-troll for crappie, and when I find a good bunch of them then I'll stop and cast to them. I've caught a lot of crappie limits out of upper B.S., including a few already this year.

[rangerman]

Trolling for crappie is alot of fun. I do troll for them on Table Rock in the spring and summer. I find that using this technique most of the fish you will catch will be larger in 11 and 15 inches. I troll the channel swings against bluffs and usually there are trees present. Trolling the right crankbait at the right speed and using a good braid, you will find that the crankbaits 95% of the time will pull right through the tree tops without snagging. When your crank contacts the tree you will usually get a strike.

I would think you could employ the same technique on Bull Shoals with little problem.

[porter57]

when i have trolled,ive also kept it as simple as i could. just drop a couple lines with either jigs,or jigs tipped with a minnow or

a hook baited with a minnow with a bit of weight above a couple feet. for the most part ive tried to wind drift but have used the trolling motor but, i just cant seem to go slow enough and still keep control of the boat. its a light wieght aluminum bassboat with a lot of the front end out of the water. and my troller kinda stinks as well,an old evinrude

with three speeds. but mostly i think its the front end catching air and getting pushed off course. works ok when there isnt any breeze(like that ever happens)

[lonkm]

Thanks Guys. I really appreciate your in put. Any favorite crank baits?

[taxidermist]

Deep we crawfish by Rebel work well. Also helps to pick up walleye. I troll the gravel banks this time of year.

[Quillback]

I use Bandit 300's on Beaver. Firetiger has worked well for me, black works sometimes and the Walleye seem to like black also. My uncle uses them in Mississippi and swears by bubble gum. I have also heard folks say the mistake color works well. I also saw Wally Marshall crankbaits at Basspro and picked a couple up, gonna try them this summer, they look like they should work.

Crappie.com has a lot of info about trolling cranks for crappie, look in the state forums for Arkansas and Mississippi.