Thread: Need some advice

Thanx crappiemax, all of you guys ha e been awesome with the advice and I will definitely use these new techniques. What kind of gear do I need to slow troll

Originally Posted by onero22

Thanx crappiemax, all of you guys ha e been awesome with the advice and I will definitely use these new techniques. What kind of gear do I need to slow troll

Minnows have been by far the best for me the last couple times at East Fork. But I prefer jigs when the larger crappie are in the coves. But it seems like all the best fish are out in the main lake chasing shad.

I like this crappie rig the best. It doesn't tangle very often. Mr. Crappie Troll-Tech Crappie Rigs | Bass Pro Shops
Walmart had them for a long time but my local store stopped carrying them this year. But there are many types of them out there.

Try You Tube and look up "tight lining for crappie" or "slow trolling for crappie".
There's a bunch of variations to the rig mbk posted but I'm not expert on the tactic so I'll let the other guys point you in that direction.
For me though I normally use 12' rods when I do fish that way but I know some guys like longer rods. I also just tie my own rigs using mostly a 3/4 oz weight but again I just use 3/4oz cause that's what I happen to have in the boat.
I haven't been there in a while but Paint Creek is a great lake. You just need to learn it.

Go to you tube and watch videos on how to long line troll and vertical troll ( spider rig ) ....... Learning to troll in the summer months will increase your catch rate

Good point James...I forgot to mention the long lining. One advantage to trolling is you can cover a lot of water quickly.

How much weight would I need to long line in 20 to 25 feet of water or is there a better technique for fish that deep

If your marking fish on cover, hold your jig as still as possible, then "pop it" and let it fall back. This will trigger reaction strikes when they're eye-balling your lure and tight lipped.
Some times you can hold your jig dead still and a good wake will "pop it" and you....
If your not marking fish, strap on the skies and join the crowd making laps around the fishermen...lol.
Gotta love Summer!
NP

Originally Posted by onero22

How much weight would I need to long line in 20 to 25 feet of water or is there a better technique for fish that deep

I don't think you need to go nearly that deep. My guess is you will probably find fish anywhere from about 6'-15' deep. Even if you are fishing in 20-25 fow the will probably be suspended.
You should be able to locate some fish on your electronics (assuming you have some type of electronics). Then it's a matter of figuring out what makes them hit. It's not uncommon to find fish 8' deep in 20 fow.

Long lining is simply a method of trolling jigs. In a simple explanation it's all about SPEED & DEPTH CONTROL. I used to LL troll quite a bit but I think I have adult ADHD...I just can't sit still so I'm always casting and swimming jigs. When I used to LL I always used 6# test line and varied either my speed of the boat or I'd vary my my jig weight to get my jigs to go deeper or shallower. Let's say you are trolling a 1/16 oz jig at 1 mph with 40' of line out and you aren't getting deep enough. Your options are to slow down to .8mph or fish a little heavier head like 3/32oz or 1/8 oz. If you want to fish shallower speed up to maybe 1.3 mph or switch to 1/32 oz jigs. I would fish different weight jigs (or Roadrunners) like 1/32, 1/16, 2ea 1/32, 1/32 & 1/16 ect.... getting heavier or lighter as needed. Using a variety of jig bodies will let you hone in on the fishes preference.
If you stay constant with the line weight and amount of line out the back of the boat then you can cover quite variety of water depths by varying the amount of weight or the speed. It takes a little trial & error but it's not that hard.
James is the real master of LL on the Ohio thread.