Just getting into crappie fishing

Just getting into crappie fishing and in some advise on what type of poles, reels, lines, sinkers and jigs/minnows. I will be fishing out of a boat and am needing a depth finder. Been looking at some but so many different one out there. I live in Bull Shoals up by MTN Home, so I will be manly be fishing Bull Shoals Lake down by the dam. But I've heard Conway and over cup are some really good spots. So any advise would be great. Thanks Ben.

Welcome to the boards Ozark. I'm pretty new myself to crappie fishing so I'm not much on advice except on what I've learned on this site. I'm from Conway and have fished Lake Conway a few times and am actually going to Caney Creek tomorrow after work. A bunch of guys on here are catching the mess out of crappie at Caney and Gold Creek. With the air getting cooler, they are saying the bite is fixing to get hot. Most guys from what I hear and what I've been using is a 1/32 ounce jig with chatruese body with some sort of sparkle to it. I also heard tri-colors are good too. On depth finders I'm big on Hummingbird and I really like Uncle Buck's deluxe 10ft crappie poles. You'll also hear alot about Wally Marshal poles too. As for line, I am fixing to buy me some Spider Wire Super Mono line. Heard it is real good stuff for jigging. As for Overcup, it is really low right now with them fixing the dam and adding new brushpiles. They won't finish that up till around January. I figured after it fills up, it'll be good again. Right now probably isn't the best time for Overcup, at least it wasn't for me. I won't go back there until they are finished with all the work. Once again, I'm not much on adivice but I'll give ya my two cents on what I like, lol. I'm sure you'll get a few responses from some of the veterans on here, these guys know their stuff. Welcome again!

I have crappie fished since I was 12 yrs old, 68 now. Bull shoals( as much as I love that place), is a whole different world with that clear water so I can't tell you how to catch crappie there. But here, my main tools are a few light weight spinning rigs loaded with 10# high viz yellow powerpro line. I use these 90 percet of the time. You dont need expensive rods or reels. A depth finder is essential. Don't have to be high$ either. I bought 2 EaGLE FISHMARK 320S from Cabelas for $105 each. They are just fine but they closed them out. I mostly use 1/16 jigs now but will probably downsize to 1/32 when the water gets down to about 50 degrees and below. I will fish 3 or 4 days a week all winter and most of the time you will find me on the cut between the arkansas river and Piney bay on lake Dardanelle. There are lots of expensive equipment out there that is nice to have but not necessary. My best advise is to ask around in your area for the best areas for crappie, then learn where every log, brushpile, creek bed and structure is. Learn that area like the back of your hand. Also, a $100 GPS is a big big help here on Dardanelle with all this open water....Good Luck to you..Ray

Hey guys thanks. I want to plan a trip to come down and try out some real crappie fishing.

Welcome. I have never fished Bull Shoals. But, Arkansas has some diverse waters. I really love Conway this time of the year until about March or April. Read up on all you can about spider rigging. But, I have also been very successful casting and retrieving jigs.
I have my boat rigged with a HB535 20 degree cone depth finder on the bow and a (can't remember model; not expensive) dual cone on the stern. When I mosey over a brush pile I mark it on my GPS when I can see it on both screens. I like the way the 20 degree narrows my feild of vision for a more precise boat placement.
I fish with jigs, minners, and cranks. Get your feet wet with the minners and jigs first. God help you when you start investing in cranks for crappie. Creekslick has the best advise on those....when you buy, buy five of the same color. There is a 50% chance you will get it back when you hang it.
DP

I've been look around at the closest place to with a high numbers of crappie and conway would be the closest for me I think. I made a spider rig set for my boat it will hold up to four poles I figered it would be good for spider rigging. I really like fisihig with minnows, but have never fished with jigs. I tye my own fly for fly fishing so I think if I would tie some and catch some slabs with what I've tied that would be great. I for the finder there lots to research.

If I lived on Bull Shoals I would attack it with #6 minnows with slipbobber rigs/Spider rigs 15-20 feet in creek arms over brush or in timber. I would use jigs with natural looking colors/try tipping with a minnow and you would never see me using less than an 1/8 oz jig head. I would never ever use a Hi Vis line in that Clear Water. Conway right now Gold n Caney creeks is a Verticle bite in shallow water, or cast a jig/minnow n bobber very shallow around cover. Gold Creek is almost exclusively a verticle bite along the main creek banks and cove banks, you bess be well tuned in verticle long poling right now if you go there right now. Here very shortly the open water pool in Gold Creek will be on fire soon and the initial anglers who discover it first will hit the Lake Conway Motherload. The most important key word in crappie fishing is (Persistance)...Go Go and Go as much as you can and you will find SIlver Glory on the water I promise ya.;)

Hey thanks for the info. I'll try this and see what happens.