Thread: Todd H. Stirring It Up...

Todd's a good guy, and a friend of mine too. I already had put my 2 cents in on his FB post before this thread popped up here for me. I've personally been doing tournys since the mid 1980's off & on. Tournament wise, competitor numbers have lessened quite a bit over the years, and sadly, several associations folded as a result of this. The tournaments drew huge numbers back in the 80's compared to now, and offered much better payouts. But currently, I think you are right too - more people are interested in Crappie fishing as a sport on whole than before, and interests in the sport are on the rise. Todd really believes that the one man, single pole, no live bait profile will bring in the big sponsorship money like the Bass circuits have. I am not so sure, but I think it may be a piece to the puzzle anyway. It sure would be nice to see those increases at the weigh-ins! I'd love to be making my living just by fishing in tournaments. But personally, I'd still like the choice to have a partner or not to compete at them too.

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Doesnt it also have to do with the fact that there will always be more "money" in bass fishing? I fish for all species, and I know that the cost of my crappie gear is substantially less than bass gear. Since there is more money to be made, sponsors spend more money, and it gets more attention. I would say it has to do with the size of the crappie vs size of the bass, but when you compare catfishing, its probably close to crappie in popularity on the trail, and I suspect for the same reason. Lots cheaper to catfish than bass fish.

I'm with Todd on the "one man, one pole."
Who wants to see two guys sitting down watching 8 poles with two minners each. Most of the public would not understand, prob make comments like, "well if I had that many rods I could catch them easy."

Originally Posted by Slabs Inc

I'm with Todd on the "one man, one pole."
Who wants to see two guys sitting down watching 8 poles with two minners each. Most of the public would not understand, prob make comments like, "well if I had that many rods I could catch them easy."

Funny you should mention that. I've seen several videos on spider riggin' and nearly every one had at least a few comments about "how can you NOT catch a fish with all those poles in the water" or "do you think you need all those poles to catch a fish?". I'd venture to guess that those people are not die hard fishermen but rather a sampling of the general public. Many don't understand it's a lot like wingshooting. Sure, you have hundreds of pellets in the air, but there's a whole lot more sky around the target than there are pellets!

I'm not against spider riggin' or any other legal form of fishing. Heck, I started out learning how to do it from EB and did it for a year or two. But I would like to see a one pole, one or two jig per line tourney. I'd bet it would catch on pretty quick simply due to the challenge it represents.

I saw Todd's Facebook post. I am not sure it how much impact it would make, but he is right in that the manufacturers of plastics probably aren't going to pump much money into tourney circuits that have a bunch of boats spider rigging minnows. It is an interesting topic.

I will say that I have gotten more into spider rigging and have been using minnows more, partially with the upcoming tournaments in mind. If tourneys were rod in hand and artificial baits only, I maybe wouldn't be as avid with multi rod setups .. but can't say that for sure. I want to learn as much as I can about the many techniques.

Still learning is the reason I took a few lessons from EB and Winger and need more..An old man isnt to old to learn and besides until they have a tourney that is 1 man 1 rod as I prefer to fish guess in order to compete I needed those lessons on riggin with a zillion rods....that spankin I got last year didn't taste very good.....Ranger

I am prepared to try to beat all comers be it one pole or 20 I just want to fish live bait no problem jigs no problem I have been criticized by some around here for carring a bucket of minners all the time think about this who wants to drive 125 miles and they wont bite a jig I dont

Originally Posted by Big George

I am prepared to try to beat all comers be it one pole or 20 I just want to fish live bait no problem jigs no problem I have been criticized by some around here for carring a bucket of minners all the time think about this who wants to drive 125 miles and they wont bite a jig I dont

I know what ya mean BG, but I'm thinkin on the tourney trail, it would help greatly if there were high dollar sponsors of those minnows/live bait. I haven't bought a minnow all winter and have fished strictly jigs. Minnows will come during the spawn or when I have guests in the boat (kids).

As far as Crappie vs Black Bass, I think part of the reason is the cost to fish for Crappie is realatively cheap compared to keeping up with what it costs to chase Bass. That said, there's not that many companies that would be willing to sponsor big money Crappie fishermen. The boats, motors, electronics etc would be in play, but they'll only do so much since so many are already using their products.

Todd is right when he looks at it as one rod, one fisherman, no live bait. In my opinion, it's at least a step towards better tourneys.

Another thing about Crappie fishermen vs Bass fishermen, there are many Crappie fishermen that only fish the spawn. Bass fishermen at least fish Spring and Summer. Makes for a lot more sales of their items giving them more reason to sponsor equipment.

As a recreational Crappie fisherman, I like things the way they are. How many of us see someone Bass fishing on the lake and work their tails off, spend so much money on rods and equipment and get the rears handed to them from the lack of fish due to the pressure Bass have had for the last 35 yrs?

I personally do NOT want to see more people vying for Crappie in the waters I fish. If I'm a tackle manufactuer, I'd like to see the lake covered with guys fishing and hopefully a big percentage using MY STUFF.

It comes down to MONEY, and if that's the case, the green carp boyz can have it so I can fish and be left alone to enjoy a healthy population of decent Crappie.