New to crappie fishing on a boat. Jordan Lake NC

Hello everybody.

My name is Lawson and I have recently bought a 13' aluminum v hull with a tohatsu 9.9hp 4 stroke motor. No trolling motor but can troll at 1.0-1.5 mph.

That being said this is my first boat and my full fishing experience has been from the bank, surf, pier, and walking streams. Crappie fishing to me has been to take the light bulb and float it around the dock at night and cast minnows on bobbers around it.

I've been on crappie.com for weeks reading about how yall are fishing these cold weather months on lakes. I've been trying some of your advice at Jordan Lake NC with limited success. I know its me because I have saw folks pulling them in. I have a small lowrance fishfinder that I use an it seems to provide good picture, but still somewhat confused about how to relate the structure on the screen to the water around me.

I'm trying to determine if I need to locate structure (or what appears to be) and drop anchor or try to setup a few rod holders for a slow troll. There is not currently a deck at the front of the boat for setting up and watching over the lines.

I have 4 colors of plastic that I am trying on unpainted jig heads 1/32 & 1/8 tipped with minnows. Chartreuse, Orange, Black, Pumpkin. I have 1 each 6' 8' 12' light action rods with 6 lb. test. I've tried slip bobbers, Single Jig, and double jig. Have a few capps and coleman style rigs but haven't trolled yet.

I'm looking for any and all help about how I maybe able to catch a fish fry on Jordan Lake before it gets warm and the lake is full of boats and jetskis.

Hey from Illinois :welcome...

First off WELCOME TO THE SITE!
I'm far from an expert on Jordan but from the information available your best bet for this time of year would be around the 64 bridge. Fish minnows, start a foot off the bottom and move up a foot at a time till you connect.
That being said, with your rig, it could get pretty hairy out there pretty quick. With the current water temps a dunk could be very bad news.
If I were you I'd focus on some smaller waters which are less susceptible to wind and boat wakes. The Eno ain't that far from Jordan - as things go- and can be very productive. Minnows on jigheads or C&C rigs work fine. From my experience in these temps slow ain't slow enough .. sometimes an almost dead minnow produces better than a lively one. Also I've found that the fish stick tighter to the bottom than most other times of the year, so when you mark fish(or think you have), drop to the bottom and bring the bait up a foot or 2, repeat till you get bit.

Lastly, I realize that budgets are tight these days, but a trolling motor is at least as useful to a crappie fisherman as the depthfinder. If I had to fish with a cane pole and just a handful of tackle in order to afford one I'd make that choice.

Welcome from Mississippi

Welcome Aboard

Thanks to everybody for their greetings.

Papadave,

You couldn't have said it better about how choppy it can be near 64 bridge. Thanks for suggesting h Eno. I live in Hillsborough, but only thought kayaks could use the water? I will definitely give it a shot this weekend weather pending. Out on Jordan my current rig is not making it to the bottom near the main channel bridges with weighted jig heads and split shot. Do you think I should use a 1/2 to 3/4 oz. egg sinker above my hooks or use a casting weight of same size below my hooks? Another older man I know through work recommended Mcintosh Lake for smaller water in Burlington for bass and crappie. Does anybody have experience up there on the smaller water?

Sent you a PM

Look up the Caps & Coleman rigs, you can use as much weight as you need to get that sort of rig down

Welcome from Sanford NC.

Welcome from Sippi. Hope you catch em all. One thing I have figured out about crappie is that there are LOTS of ways to catch em, and everybody has their favorite. My advice to you, spend time on the water. Let experience be your teacher. You will get better and better at catching crappie if you just go fishing!

Thank Tony and Iwannafish for your greetings.

Tony, do you fish Jordan Lake or Shearon Harris more often for Crappie?