Thread: Question for spider riggers

You have heard patience is what you need to do just about everything. But not with crappie fishing if you troll a place and it doesn't produce in a few minutes you need to move somewhere else. Now you may come back to that same area after a while and load the boat. Crappie school around and are the hardest fish to pattern at times. But when you do find them in whatever depth water, they are usually more around in that same depth water. Here is also a lot of information.

Crappie Fishing Tips and Articles

thanks scrat, for both the info and the articles. I'm going to start reading right now.

I agree with Scrat to a degree but I dont pick up and move completely always. Take yesterday, had found a place the day before that produced a few short fish pulling cranks but no keepers. When I left from there I noticed someone who knows that lake WAY better than I do out at the mouth of the hollar. Bought some minners the next morning and went back in there, starting out at the mouth. Also had heard some info the evening before on a pattern that was working at another area on the same lake. When start fishing came I started dropping lines in the water, fishing 3 rods as I was by myself, before I could get the 3rd one set to depth the 2nd pole got hit, missed it and by the time I got the rod back in the holder the 3rd pole had a fish on it. Thought it was on but was not the case, was fishing a flat out in the mouth and nothing happening so I headed to the ditch feeding this hollar looking for a ledge, as I get to the ledge sure enuff the outside pole goes down, only had 6 keepers but this spot would produce 4 of them. worked the ditch and just kept moving around in that area. About 10 I had kinda established a pattern and decided to go try another area I had caught a few shorts in pulling cranks the day before, fished this area for an hour without a bite. Time to head back so I did, once again catching a fish before I could get my 3 poles set back out. Work an area, get a map card and learn how to use it, its your friend for a ton of different reasons, probably the best 150 bucks you can spend if you are gonna fish different areas.
By quit fishing time I had 6 keepers (same as committing suicide in a tourney), let number 7 get off at the boat, caught close to 30 short fish, murdered (litterally) prolly 20 white bass. I wasn't bored all day.
an area has a lot to offer most of the time, especially fishing hollars, I look for ledges, sometimes its not much either, just a change in the bottom or something, watch your graph and pay attention to those changes, they will catch fish for you if you work em.
there is no substitute to time in the seat, dont be skeered to speed up either, sometimes .8 mph is golden!!!
Good luck, have fun, when its not fun I will quit!!

For the op
Year before last I fished a half mile area from may to October. Let your ff tell you where to fish.

Originally Posted by KDAVID1

For the op
Let your ff tell you where to fish.

Should I be looking for crappie on the finder...or baitfish?

It seems like the last few times I've gone I found almost nothing that looked like a school of crappie on my graph. Again...it could be that I'm just not in the right areas...but my sonar looked like a ghost town.

You can but I look for general area. If I see fish or baitfish either one. Most of the time just look for fish and consider bait fish an extra but that's just me. Once I catch I don't even look at ff but look at the map (contours the rest of the time) again that's just me and not for everyone I wouldn't imagine.

Fished Fri PM and caught 11 keepers from 3:30 till 7:30 in three different depths of water. Early, I found a few in 12 fow water 4 feet down. As the shadows got longer, I went to 6 fow and fished 2 feet, picked up a few more. Then 5 fow down 1 1/2 feet caught my last three. Looked for shad on top but didn't see any. Sat. was spent trying EVERYTHING I knew to find fish. Seemed like when I found them I couldn't get a bite. Every depth from 14 fow to 3 fow, to the trees and bank. Plenty of short crappie, but only 4 keepers ALL DAY....13 hours on the water. (got some nice sun) Sun. started at 5:30 in 8 fow water, fishing at three depths. Nothing. Bout 7:30 pick up three accidentially, and came home. Really no pattern that I could find.

Sometimes I move in 30 min. sometimes I wait em out. Sometimes I'm right, and sometimes I'm wrong.