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Slabmaster II
Bankhead and Long Lining Questions
The 2 or 3 crappie that I've been catching on recent trips seem to have their all out spawn colors on but I'm getting really tired of beating on the same ol' spots over and over with no decent results. I've bought a couple of new rods to try long lining with and I'm going to be running 4 rods to start with double 1/32 oz. on a couple and maybe double 1/16 oz. jigs on the others.
Questions are:
Am I wasting my time trying this during this time of year?
My speed will either be .8 or 1.2 mph due to my 5 speed trolling motor. Will that work?
What kind of ballpark depths should I try to start?
Weedless or regular jig heads?
I pretty well have a few colors picked out to try so that's not an issue. I will be limited to afternoon trips due to work though. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Crappie.com Legend
should still catch some and dont only concentrate on shallow water, try the 7 to 15 feet of water near spawning areas as well. If you do go shallow I would just use one 1/32 jig so you can get shallow without getting hung up. Your speed this time of year should probably be on the faster side. My last to trips I had to be going at least 1.1 mph. As far as you type jig head I never use weedless, but I dont fish your water so couldnt say. Troll around a area once or twice if no fish move!
Crappie.com Legend
usafret99 has really been on them this year, and gives excellent advice above. I like to fish a double rig depending on depth you might want to run a 1/16 on the bottom and about 5' above that run a 1/24 or 1/32. At the faster speed you should be okay in about 10 FOW as long as you are using 6lb test line. Make sure all your rigs are using the same size line to avoid tangles and fowled gear.
Slabmaster II
I did it. Long lined for a total of about 11 hours Friday and Saturday afternoon. Caught 15 slabs. Learned a lot, ranging from how uncool tangles and invisible snags on the fish finder can be to how awesome 2 fish on 1 rig is. I caught crappie in water depths ranging from 40' to 15', with the shallower being more productive. I had various jig head setups running between 7 and 20 feet deep. I'm hooked! Thanks usafret99 and Bob D for your input!!
Question for the experts: Will long lining catch fish all year? I know finding them is the main factor, but I think I can cover enough water to do that now.
Crappie.com Legend
Yes, you can long line all year, but it will vary a bunch thru the summer and fall. Usually when trolling jigs slow and deep to the suspended fish is the trick. Once you locate them and find a school that is hungry you can clean up. If there are a bunch of white crappie around it seems that trolling crank baits works well on those fish during the summer. Pick up the speed for that. The guys on the MS thread have a lot of good info on how to do that, you should check them out too.
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