Thread: Locating and Catching Crappie Advice

Originally Posted by jacob2000

Alrighty, Vic N. I plan to try a majority of the things y'all have presented me with. I will most certainly try jigs over brush piles and in shallower water during the spring. Me and my dad will begin creating new brush piles and recording their depth, and we will try to fish many different brush piles in a "milk run" type style. Probably will use minnows over the brush piles, but I will try the jigs as well. I will also attempt to begin trolling, probably long-lining or pushing/pulling. We do have a boat, and the only other places I have fished for crappie specifically would be on our dock. Our boat is well equipped for crappie fishing, and we are looking into getting a new trolling motor. We have electronics, not quite sure how to read them well. I fish Toledo Bend pretty much exclusively for crappie, however I would love to try at other lakes such as Sam Rayburn or Richland Chambers, etc. We may be going up to Toledo this summer if we can find time. If we go we will night fish brush piles and probably set up new ones. I would like to come up and try these new techniques throughout all 4 seasons, during the day and at night.
Hopefully that gave you a little more info so that you can understand my position

Seems like you have a pretty good plan. If you haven't already, make sure you start posting on both Texas and Louisiana state forums to ask specific questions about Toledo Bend. They will be able to tell you exactly what pattern is currently working, whether to try live bait or artificial or a combination, what areas of the lake, etc. To learn more about how to use your electronics...how to tune them for the best pictures, how to interpret what you are seeing, go to the fishing electronics forum to read and ask questions. Search both states fishing authority to see if they have put out brush piles and if the coordinates are posted online. If you don't have GPS, you might want to get at least a handheld model. Also if you don't have a mapping function with your electronics, buy a paper map WITH contour lines for each lake you want to learn.

Thanks for the explanation CrappiePappy!

Is there anyway to get a picture of a "Pushing" set up on how it is rigged?

What is the best way to maintain depth? How much weight are we talking to keep it at these depths when trolling?

Originally Posted by jdk426

Thanks for the explanation CrappiePappy!

Is there anyway to get a picture of a "Pushing" set up on how it is rigged?

What is the best way to maintain depth? How much weight are we talking to keep it at these depths when trolling?

I just started "pushing" jigs, so I don't have any pics. I'm basically running three 14' rods straight out the front of the boat .... 1/2oz barrel weight on the main line, a plastic bead, then the main line tied to a duo-lock snap ... pre-tied leaders of a lesser pound test line with various sizes & styles of jig heads can then be clipped onto the duo-lock. My leaders are around 12-18" long. I can add whatever color/shape/size of plastic body to the jig head, and change them as needed.

My speed is usually between 0.5mph & 0.8mph to keep my bait depth at 6 tenths x's the length of line out the end of the rod. Or, in other words, if I put out 17ft of line, my baits will be about 10ft deep. That is, of course, IF my lines are more or less running at a 45deg angle.

I only distinguish the difference between "pushing" jigs and "spider rigging" jigs ... by the speed of movement. Spider Rigging, by my definition, is done at less than 0.5mph (but others may disagree) and the lines are kept at much less of an angle (almost straight down).

My Spider Rigging buddy uses 3/4oz weights on similar setups ... and the crankbait pushers/pullers around here use 2oz weights & 5ft leaders. Everybody seems to have their own formula for getting their baits to the depth needed, by the amount of weight used & length of line out.

Like I said .... I'm just starting out, and still learning & experimenting ... so, I may end up using more weight. I just started with 1/2oz weights, but I can go up to 1.5oz weights (single barrel sinker) if the situation requires it. The major factor in my not pushing crankbaits, is simply because I only have a 42lb thrust 5spd 12V trolling motor and one battery for it. Pushing cranks pretty much requires a running speed of around 1.8mph for sustained periods ... which is usually best done with 24V variable speed trolling motor/2-4 batteries setup. Not to mention the line counter reels, and trolling rods of 14-20ft in length.


This picture is as close to anything I've got, showing me "pushing" jigs. And in this particular instance, my rods are not pointed as much towards the front of the boat as I would normally have them, because I was pushing these jigs along a dropoff (quick drop of 20ft down to 40ft deep) and was using my depth finder to keep the "boat" over 40fow & using the long rods to keep the jigs near the edge of the drop.


It worked very well, considering I would normally be casting the shallows or shooting docks at that lake, at that time of year.



... cp

"Is there anyway to get a picture of a "Pushing" set up on how it is rigged?" Maybe this will as help.
https://www.google.com/search?q=push...w=1280&bih=620

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkp2Hy8jH9k

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/missi...ng-cranks-try/

When you are using a crappie jig like a roadrunner, is it dragging on the bottom because the retrieve can be so slow?

Originally Posted by jacob2000

When you are using a crappie jig like a roadrunner, is it dragging on the bottom because the retrieve can be so slow?

I, personally, don't let my Roadrunners drag bottom .... whether casting or trolling with them. A certain speed is required to make the blade spin, and not just flutter. The depth of the water and the method I'm using will dictate whether I use a 1/32oz or 1/16oz Roadrunner.

And yes .. I do realize that a RR can & will catch fish, even when the blade is just "fluttering" or not even moving .... and that it will catch fish when used as a vertical jigging bait. I've just found that it is much more effective when the retrieve speed is fast enough to make the blade spin. I've even heard of people catching fish on a Roadrunner that was being dragged along the bottom or hopped along the bottom ... but, I tend to think that those fish would also have been caught had those people been using a regular jig of the same size/color.

Irregardless of the ad hype ("as long as you fish it slow") .... IMHO you can fish them "too slow", which basically renders the blade as almost useless or unnecessary. The blade not only produces attention gaining "flash", but also produces "pulse waves". Pulse waves give the location of the bait to the fish in water clarity or depths where the visibility of the flash may be limited.

... cp

How often do you change colors of your lures?

Originally Posted by jacob2000

How often do you change colors of your lures?

If you're referring to using jighead/plastics :

When using only one rod & casting ... I usually don't change colors very often. I "might" change colors 2 or 3 times in a days fishing, but that would be under unusual conditions. As I've stated in replies to some of your other questions, I usually use a lure that has contrasting colors (like blue/chartreuse or green/chartreuse, or even purple/charteuse) so that I have a dark & light color working for me at the same time.

Now, if my fishing partner is wearing them out on another color ... I switch to that color !!


... cp