Draglining for Crappie, putting the bait in their mouth

I been experimenting in high winds with one pole. That is all I could manage. I scouted around with the si/di and found more fish concentrated in the 15ft range, hugging bottom. Once I determined the fish were more plentiful in the 15ft depth, I eased out a rattletrap using a 6 foot pole equipped with the Okuma line counter reel. I knew from the "G" chart that I would should see the rattle trap with 2d aft. I had a 4 foot leader tied to a 3oz weight. The line you see on the graph is the rattletrap, not the weight. When the weight and rattletrap were in the 2d coverage, the line was thicker, not 2 separate lines on the graph ( weight and rattle trap) like what I expected. So, I concluded the rattle trap was not very far below the depth of the weight. The rattle trap was 2 1/2 inch 1/4 oz type. Speed was 1.5 to 1.7 mph.

Here are some snapshots.

how did you get MY way points ???

Enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing.

Tom , this is why I consider my 2D unit to be equally important to my GPS Mapping unit when pulling cranks. Much of the time I run a "dropper" rod off each side of the boat in addition to my pulling rods. I use a 4-5 oz sinker on the dropper with a 3 foot leader back to a shallow running crankbait. That way the bait is directly under my boat and the 1st thing the fish see. The 2D unit (x510c in photo has been replaced by a larger screen X26 unit) lets me track the depth of my sinkers. I know how much deeper than the sinker a particular bait is running so I put the bait right in their face. There are days the droppers will out fish the pulling rods.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps628eb250.jpg

Two lines (like your graph) was what really expected to see on sonar, but the line only got fatter. The lure was a light weight rattletrap.

I am a primer at the lure pulling stuff, but I darn well know how to use my graphs. Well, I believe I do anyhow.:dono Good tool for this pushin cranks technique. I was getting near bottom when the fishes were hanging out. The sonar takes the "maybe" out of the equation.

I also did some trig calculations on the actual distance from the rod tip to the lure when pulling (based on the the theta angle). With 85 feet line out, the lure is at about 82 feet from the rod tip. I can't judge distances over water. Not many people can, they just think the can. ( I learned this in Sea - Air - Ground survival training while in Navy). So, to get an idea of location, I let out another line with a bobber and weight attached. At 85 feet, I could not see a 2 inch round bobber. I need a bigger bobber, but, that is all Brenda had in her purse. Experimenting for fun.

If you look closely at the pic of the 510 you will see and intermittent line just below the darker lines. I think that is at the level my cranks were running. Some times I lose track of which line represents which side rod. A 1/2 crank on the reel handle solves that real fast.

We are going to have to take care to not over-think our way out of catching crappie. I do feel like I left my pants at home if one of my 2 console units is not working like I want it to.

Do you find carrying a trig calculator out in the boat to be extreme?:scratchhead:scratchhead

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

Do you find carrying a trig calculator out in the boat to be extreme?:scratchhead:scratchhead

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For you? Not at all. For me? I'd have to find out what it is first. Come to think of it, I seem to remember the term trig from my electronics schooling 40 years ago. I think the Texas Instruments calculator I paid $300 for had them on it. Of course that same calculator was $12.95 a year later.

SR-50.