Thread: New to crappie, intro and gear advice needed

First of all, WELCOME aboard! You're getting involved in the best crappie fishing forum there is. I'm sure you're going benefit from all the great folks here and their extensive knowledge. I'm in MA, so we're pretty much in the same neck of the woods. Before I give you some of my thoughts on your request, I've got to ask, how do you like that 73dv sonar? My fishing partner & I are going down to Cabelas in Hartford on Wednesday to look at the Garmin lineup. Interested in the 73SV, with side imaging.

OK....now if you check some our posts in the New England Forum below, you will see that we drift as well; usually with the wind, but we also use drift socks. So your approach can/should be just fine. Here in MA, we can only use two rods per angler, so I can't help you with the spider rigging techniques used by others here. I do know that drifting open water basins can pay off big time though.

We (my partner & I) do not use live bait at all. We are mainly CPR fishermen and use mainly jigs dressed with a variety of soft plastics. You should go online and visit the Grizzly Jig Company's website. There you can peruse the site and/or order their catalog. They have the best prices around and outstanding service to boot.

Your budget is more than sufficient to get you off the ground, as you will see at Grizzly. It appears that you are looking to buy more than one rig to start with and Grizzly does have multiple rod deals. Personally, I'm partial to the B n' M lineup of rods. Length again is a personal preference thing. I favor the 9' lengths in the SHSS series. But I'm sure others will help you out here as well, with many other options and opinions.

I will say this however, if you cast, troll, jig or drift, you'll probably need a good quality spinning reel on each rod. Check out the Plfueger Presidents (I have three of the #6920 size on my rods at this time). Great quality and durability at around the $50.00 mark. Do some reading up on the various products which our members will be recommending and select what best fits your budget and preferences.

Good Luck to you and we look forward to hearing about your trips.

Thank you crestliner, for both the advice and the welcome. I will be reading the New England forum from now on. I checked the NY forum and there isn't much activity there.

I love the Garmin so far. This is my first boat and first time buying anything but I'm pleased with it so far. My family has always had boat but I've just been there for the ride along in the past and just used whatever pop had on his boat. The Garmin down vu helped me in refining a lot of structure and that was very helpful. I located a few sunken barges I didn't know about and several other key structures I plan to fish for years to come, Oneida is a huge lake so I'm still exploring and refining. The unit is super helpful in doing this. I recommend it but wish I had the side scan as well, I'm sure you'll be pleased.

I appreciate ate the advice on the website, I'll be checking there now. Thank again for the advice!

"Crestliner" gave you some real good info to start off with. If you're an avid walleye fisherman,
than you can use some of that gear as well, for trolling during warm water months. My partner
and I like to single pole fish with 9-12 ft rods on brush piles and dipping in the brush during the spawn.
We use B'n'M Sam Heaton rods in 7ft lengths for casting,and Ozark "Tony Edgar" rods for dipping using
Bass Pro Crappie Maxx bait casters filled with premium Vi-Viz line on these rods in a 6-10 lb test with a
short (15-24") fluorocarbon leader of 4-6lb test. The baitcasters seem to prevent line twist. I do agree with
"Crestliner" about using the 6920 Pflueger Presidents. They are a quality reel that will serve you well.
I use a lot of artificial baits, while my partner prefers live bait, minnows and waxies. Jig sizes we use vary
from 1/64 thru 3/16 for dipping brush, all with bigger lite wire red Matzuo sickle hooks in sizes up to 2/0
for the heavier jigs. There is more useful info that you can obtain, by using the "Advance Search" feature.
Whatever you choose to do, enjoy and have fun! Catchin' crappie is a blast and sometimes frustrating.
Enjoy and Tight Lines

Thank you Dave. I appreciate your advice.

I'm searching through a lot of info and looking forward to making my purchase soon. I just want to be sure I'm buying something that will last and I won't outgrow in a matter of a year. I'd rather spend a bit more up front than have to upgrade quickly. Honestly I try to be on the water 3-4 days a week so I look at it as an investment for years to come so if I go over my budget I'm ok with it. The wife likes to go with me so she'll be ok with it as long as I catch fish and feed her.

I have no particular strategy that I'm tied to, I figured just like any other fish I'd offer a bunch of baits and presentations similar to a spider rig until I find what they like, then I'll refine my strategy to what the fish want. When ice fishing I'm allowed 9 lines in the water at a time and I use 9 different presentations until the fish tell me what they want. Open water I'm allowed 3 lines but I like to have a back up in case of malfunctions or break offs. I figure if I can offer up both live and artificial baits I can narrow down what the fish want on a particular day. Hopefully that works, if not I am open to changing my ways.

I think the first on my list is a jigging rod. A friend of mine's family owns a farm with a large pond that connects to a nature preserve that is loaded with crappie. They need some help culling the population there so that's my first plan while I wait for ice out. Once the bays thaw I'll hit marinas and peirs on the lake, then when the water is good I'll take out the boat.

Do you use dots at all? Like ice fishing jigs? I've hear mixed reviews on their effectiveness in open water, but figured using a heavy jig on bottom with a top ice jig drop shoted and tipped with spikes or plastics may work well. Any thoughts to that? Thanks again!

Hey "Growler", sounds like your taking the right approach, but as most of the guys here will tell you, equipment is a personal
choice. When I buy, I want to make sure I can touch, feel, examine the equipment for it's benefits and it's flaws. What works
for me may not work for you and others as well. As I suggested before, use the "Advance Search" feature and you should be
able to get some local help. For the pond, you may want to try a slip bobber setup on one of your light or medium light walleye
rods, especially if you've got one that's 6'6" or 7' with a #2 or #1 light wire hook and a minnow, or a small Thill "Crappie" float
(1/16 or 1/8) and the appropriate size jig with an artificial offering. Of course, these are intended for open water.

Since I do NOT spider rig, I can't be of much help in that area, but again, using the "Advanced Search" feature should get you
quite a few responses. You might want to look up "Capps & Coleman Rigs" for that technique.

As far as "dots" are concerned, I don't know what they are or how to use them. I do use Tungsten ice jigs when the
presentation ca[[s for something small and still. And I usually go with something like a Bobby Garland "Itty-Bitty" bait.

I'm sorry I can't be of any further help, but maybe a couple of other guys who fish up their in the northeastern part of
the country, may be willing to chime in with some sage advice.

Hope you get more info than what "Crestliner" and I offered. Keep pluggin' away!
Tight Lines - Dave

Dave, thank you again for the reply. My apologies for the delay work has been cramping my fish game and free time lately...

I've been searching a lot and found a ton of info, thank you for the advise. I agree with the buying and wanting to feel a rod. I've been trying to track down somewhere that sells the shss but can't find anywhere within a couple hundred miles. Such is life though.

Dots are essentially really small ice jigs. I use what's called a stank eye, it's a very small hyper glow jig that is made local to my area. Very similar to the tungsten ones you mention but not as heavy and not round but more shaped to include protruding eyes. I'll get a pic uploaded to show what I'm talking about. Thanks again. Tight lines!

Hey "Growler" , if your definition of "shss" is the Sam Heaton Super Sensitive, then Grizzly Jig is who you want to call.
If you decide to call them, ask for Louie or Wade Mansfield and they will be able to help. Grizzly Jig in Caruthersville, MO
is probably the largest retailer of crappie gear in the midwest. You may be interested in some of the videos you can find
on YouTube regarding B'n'M poles and crappie fishing. You can download Grizzly Jigs catalog online and peruse about
185 pages of crappie tackle. As far as the "dots" are concerned, try Custom Jigs & Spins, Northland Tackle or just try
googling, "ice jigs". If the "shss" is the Sam Heaton rod, I personally own the 7ft rod and really enjoy the feel and touch
of this rod, paired with the Pflugerville President reel Model 6920 and 6lb Fireside Crystal and a 3ft Fluorocarbon Leader,
for drop shotting. For me this works really well, what with my old hands and poor feeling in my fingers. Best of luck in your
search. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions that you think I may have an answer for.

DaveB, thank you for the insight I searched through Grizzly's website and will be looking at ordering very shortly. Things got a little whacky with work and I had to go out of town for a while so I'm just now playing catch up. The boat is finally on the lake and ready to go, not just getting gear together for the weekend. I have some ultra lights I'm using for now but want to get a few more poles and the Sam Heaton seams like a good fit to me thanks again. Tight lines.