me no can spider rig

I was suposed to call Jerry when I arrived Saturday. But, I did not have "service in the area" so I was on my own for an hour or so. I could see a secondary creek from the boat ramp through the fog, so I started fishing there. I just about had all eight lines out when something started hitting any pole I didn't have my hands on. I must have missed about 6 good bites when all of a sudden the two poles in the front and to the starboard side swung around and broke the handel out of the lead pole. Man they were hung big time. By the time I got that side straightend back out, my minnows were gone from the port side poles. All I did for about the first hour was rebait or re-tie my hooks. While all of this was going on, a squirrel hunter let em have it with about four shots. He couldn't have been more than a couple hundred feet from me. I hollered out "I hope you got him". He replied very casually "Nope". As my mother used to tell me "My nerves are a jangeling". I started trolling around and mercifully found Darrel. I hope he and his party didn't see all of that. If they did, they were able to keep a straight face.
The day ended up better. I finally found Jerry and he graciously put me on some spots. I caught a few fish on one of them after he abandoned it. He then invited me to tag along. About all I did then was watch his clients catch fish. They landed a big bass that had attacked a bream on one of thier hooks. He hit the bream as it was being led to the boat.
I can't wait to do it again.
DP

Maybe at crappie camp Jerry and I can spend a little time teaching what we call "hovering." You got a good look at it Saturday and it's pretty effective when fishing isolated brushpiles.

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Originally Posted by Darryl Morris

Maybe at crappie camp Jerry and I can spend a little time teaching what we call "hovering." You got a good look at it Saturday and it's pretty effective when fishing isolated brushpiles.

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After watching you two, I will be moving all of my rod holders to one side of the boat. But, I still aint' gonna try more than about three at a time.
DP

Hey DP, keep trying at it. It can be a headache at times, but it can be awesome other times. When it gets to be too much, downsize a few poles and then add 'em back when the action slows back down. I usually stick with 5-7 poles. A few other tips...

1. Don't go too fast. You really just want to keep the baits moving at a snail's pace. On the majority of days, it will take me about an hour or more to move a hundred yards. When they are very aggressive, you may do better moving a little bit faster.

2. Don't be afraid to get hung up. You still have plenty of baits in the water. Like my grandfather always said, if you ain't getting hung up, then you ain't doing it right.

3. Use thin wire, long shank #4 or #6 cricket hooks. When you do get hung, they will straighten out. This allows you to get your rig back without retying.

4. Have some type of system. It doesn't matter what system, just figure one out for yourself and stick with it.

5. Here is a link to a pretty good general description of slow trolling. http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=25941


Keep trying. You will get on them eventually.

We used to troll as many as 18 poles from one boat on Nimrod. We always set lines just about depth of top of stumps. Trolling the baits rise a bit and stopped settled around the top of stumps. Some long line troll diving baits such as bandits or rattle traps. I gave up trolling for vertical jigging long ago. Something about feeling the strike. It's great to catch loads of fish trolling , but I perfer jiggin.:D I have to spend lots of time and effort building condos, but it's worth it to me.:cool:

I too used to spiderrig 6 to 8 poles with jig/minnow combinations. It can be frustrating at times when the wind is blowing and you're constantly hung up but there is no better way to put a lot of crappie in the boat in a short time!

Like NIMROD, I have spent a lot of time and effort building various condos and brushpiles and find it very rewarding to pull up to a top that I built and pull up a big slab while vertical jiggin'.:)

I agree that you should use a hook that can be straightened easily if hung up. A heavy or good quality line is a must also. Also a reel that has some sort of a drag system so you won't snap a hung up pole if you don't see it in time.
Out on the lake is not where you want to have to be re-rigging your poles all day.

My Father-in-Law uses a real heavy line,he says he's either goin' to straighten out the Roadrunner hook or he's goin' to see what he's hung on!!;)

I aint' quitting. I have seen the results in person before. Thanks for all the tips.
DP

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Originally Posted by DRPEPPER

I aint' quitting. I have seen the results in person before. Thanks for all the tips.
DP

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Good thing for me if I never start I cannot be considered a QUITTER, hahaha! Hey, I hope you all have fun at crappie camp, so jealous I can't go....we should have one up here in NWA too....I'll get around to organizing something sooner or later (like when I get a new boat)! GRRRR!!!!