Go to the SC forum, we have a great thread that will practically guarentee you the knowledge to long line troll with the best of them. As with all fishing, you can pay as much, or as little as you feel comfortable with. You don't need the best rods, reels, trolling motors, or sonars. You need a little luck, some basic knowledge, patients, and a body of water that has crappie in it. Reading the many threads, and articles pertaining to long lining will quicken your learning process. Rod racks are optional. They make it better, but you can get by with lying rods down in the boat. Same for trolling motor, you don't need an auto pilot self steering model. Are they better, yes. But not needed as you are learning the technique. Side pulling in a jon boat is another option you may wish to read up on. The Crappie Masters Classic was won using this method this past year.

Quote Originally Posted by tenncrappie View Post
Another in a long line of articles pushing equipment. Most of the little people(non pros) want crumbs on how to fish. Write an article on putting equipment to work and you will sell your product. there is a huge amount of folks who don't have the budget to fork out 3,000 bucks for trolling motors, rods, electronics and baits and no instruction on how to use it.