Thread: Spider Rigging Question

If you think of it each pole can have a couple of different baits and at different depths. So its a given more baits your gonna be able to find out what the fish want quicker. I love the thump also from vertical jigging, and your more likely to catch that bigger fish but I fish tournaments and 90% of the time the spider rigging guys come out on top.

I guess its all in how you look at it..Some would say having more than one pole is unfair..what about F.Finders? are is it ok as long as they dont have stucture scan or SI? We all have opinions.lol

Pretty exciting to have 6 fish on at 1 time....

Rickie

Originally Posted by PoleNHand

I have fished my whole life holding two poles and they typically have jigs on the other end. I would have to say that 90% of the excitement is the THUMP! A 2 pound fishing exploding on a jig in about 4 feet of water is intoxicating. So why do people seem to prefer spider rigging. Is it all about the numbers cause it can't be nearly as exciting. I just want to better understand the appeal. It is not that much different than putting out a trot line.

I pretty much two pole all the time like you, but to me spider rigging is more relaxing. I would also say spider rigging is alot more productive for those fishing in new areas that don't have alot of spots marked or sink they're own beds.

I think there's a time and a place for every method. I, like you, love to feel that THUMP, but I also like spiderrigging. Fish for fish jig polin' is more exciting to me and I feel like it's more proactive because you actually empart movement to the bait to entice bites, but catching doubles, triples, etc. ect. is pretty dog on exciting too.

When fish are on the move and aren't holding tight to cover I prefer to spiderrig channels and ledges. When they get tight to cover I want a single pole in my hand. This past spring we were outcatching the majority of spiderriggers and trollers single pole jigging, but there was a couple weeks that the fish made a move and were scattered. That's when the multiple pole spreads shined and we struggled to boat fish.

In my opinion each presentation has it's place and purpose.

the thump is exciting,but until you get all your rods going down and fill the pull of a big slab on a long rod you don't know what exciting really is then if you hang a big cat or striper now that fun!!!

The whole idea is to 'catch something' ... and all methods have a time & place where they shine. Some look for numbers, some look for size, some look for that "one" wallhanger, and some don't even keep the ones they do catch. Some like to see the "bounce, then slowly bending rod tip" ... others like to see their "float slowly sink into the depths" ... others like to "feel the thump", or just the sudden realization of weight on the end of the line ... and some like to "see the line bounce, move to one side, or suddenly go slack" (when the bait cannot possibly be on bottom), never having felt a thing.

One has to define "exciting", in their own terms ... then translate that to the methods used. Catching fish is exciting, in and of itself. How you do it is secondary to the results you get, from the methods you use. Ain't none of them exciting if you're not catching fish when you're using them banghead But ... put together a pattern of where they are & what method presents your bait to them in the most proficient manner ... and start catching some ... then ANY method being used, at the time, can be exciting.

I'm reminded of a trip to KY Lake, many decades ago, when my partner & I were casting Roadrunners back in a bay pocket. There were 3 guys in a boat anchored right in the middle of that pocket, each using multiple cane poles & floats w/minnows. We circled around their boat, casting & catching Crappie no more than 10ft from their floats ... one fish every few minutes. On the other hand, they'd sit for many minutes not catching a fish .... then all of a sudden two or three of them would be jerking & slinging fish into the boat, two or three fish at a time. They'd pop'em into the livewell, untangle their messes & re-bait, then sit back & wait for the next "firedrill" to occur. Both boats were having a blast, fishing the way they wanted to & catching fish doing so. There was another boat, with two other friends of mine, sitting a little ways off from where my partner & I and the cane polers were .... tightlining minnows in a deeper section of the bay. They, too, were filling their stringers ... fishing the way they wanted to fish. It was all good, for everyone concerned !!


... cp

I literally spent years jigfishing with one pole, and when plastic crappie jigs first began to seriously come on the scene, spent many-a-day fishing with only a small box of a few basic colors of jig bodies and some leadheads, along with a trusty 8 ft fly rod for a pole (cause there weren't any of the fancy jig poles on the market then) in my boat. What's more, I introduced jig-fishing for crappie to more folks than I can count. But then...the crappie tournaments came along and a friend of mine and I formed a team and began to fish the tournament trail. Right away many of the serious tournament teams began to realize that it was going to take unique styles and methods to consistently win tournaments and provide that edge that everyone was looking for. Spiderrigging was not a "new" concept; many of us had used it in various ways over the years, but tournament teams----like Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman (two of the best) refined it and soon established it as the most productive and useful fishing method for consistently catching big fish on any given lake. My team member had spiderrigged for years, spending much of his time learning how on the tree-filled waters of Reelfoot Lake, so like most of the tournament teams, we, too, began to use the method as our primary style of fishing. And it was over those years and many tournaments that I began to really understand.....SPIDER-RIGGING IS AN ART FORM!

Many folks think spiderfishing means simply throwing out a variety of poles and rigs and just drifting along hoping something bites. But I will tell you that serious spiderrigging is a technique of matching equipment, baits and presentation to each fishing opportunity. Real spiderrigging is also about serious boat control. The best fishermen I know using this technique are also some of the best at running a trolling motor that you'll ever find. In all the ways of crappie fishing that I have tried....and believe me, I've tried them all and maybe even made up a few...nothing to me is quite as challenging and fun as running a set of trolling rods when the crappie are really biting. I love crappie fishing in all styles and methods, but given a preference, I'll choose spiderrigging every time.