This crappie fishing addiction I have started fifty-five years ago, and it began when my father took me crappie fishing when I was six years old. From that day on, after I caught my first crappie, I have been hooked for life. Every year since then I have always looked forward to the three weeks in spring and the three weeks in the fall for a good time crappie fishing on the weekends with my father. Most people laugh today when I tell them this story, but back in the 1950s that was the only time people thought they could catch a good stringer of crappie. As the years passed and crappie tournaments came around, I started leaving the Missouri lakes and going to compete in other lakes around the south, and found out that there were many different techniques for catching crappie year round.
Two of these techniques are called spider rigging and long line trolling, and both are good ways to catch pre-spawn fish and post-spawn fish. Spider rigging is done by trolling eight polls from the front of the boat with double hook minnow rigs or two jigs on each line. Long line trolling is done by casting eight polls from the back of the boat with either curly tail jigs or tube jigs. When using a spider rig you normally run a trolling motor at a speed of 0.1 to 0.5 miles an hour over brush piles, secondary points, and creek channels. The same is done with long line trolling except the speed will vary from 0.5 to 1.5 miles an hour. When learning these trolling methods I suggest going with a friend or hiring a guide to show you how to set up your boat and fish the trolling techniques so that you become comfortable with the new methods. This will save you a lot of time and will make you a better crappie angler.
Here are some of the most important things to remember when crappie fishing:
These are some of the keys techniques you should keep in mind when going crappie fishing. Here are a few more things for you to remember to make you a better crappie angler:
I have been fishing for crappie for over fifty-five years, and every day I still find myself learning new techniques on how to catch more crappie. Always remember to be versatile and willing to change when the bite slows down. I hope these different tips and techniques will help improve your catch the next time you go out.
By Paul Alpers
(P.S. Always remember to take a kid fishing when you get a chance.)