First shot at spider rigging

Hello everyone,
I am planning on going up to Tillery Friday to try my hand at spider rigging for crappie. I was wondering, what kind of rigs do you guys use most of the time? I was thinking bout using jig heads tipped with minnows, and some jig heads with curly tails. What size jig head would you use? Also, how many people just use a plain hook with a minnow? As far as the weight to add to the line, I have some 1/2 oz egg sinkers and may get some larger ones, but would the 1/2 oz work ok for most conditions? I have read where some people just use 3/4 to 1 oz weights for most applications.

Well I'm no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I use a bait attached to 12-18 inches of 4 pound test leader. Tie that to a swivel, put an egg sinker on the main line then tie the leader to the swivel. So the rig is:

1. Mainline (8lb test or better)
2. Egg sinker
3. Swivel
4. Leader
5. Bait

The reason for the light line leader is any snag is easily dealt with by leader breaking off just tie another leader to the swivel.

The reason for the free moving egg sinker is the fish won't feel it as much.

You can put any bait you want on the end. Sometimes it's just a minnow on an aberdeen, sometimes I use a tube jig, sometimes a jig-minnow combo. Most anything will work.

As for weight, I try to use the least amount needed to keep the bait pointed straight down. So based on depth, wind, etc I'll adjust up or down. In winter when I fish 30+ feet I used one ounce. In spring with little wind to bother the boat and fish are 15 or less, I'll use as little as 1/8 ounce. The less weight the better in my opinion. The fish don't feel the weight when they bite, and the lure is more realistic.

There are lots of Youtube videos on spider rigging. Do a search for them and lots of good information.

I have watched a bunch of the videos, I was just wondering what was the most popular rig, I know everyone has their favorite but they also usually know why it is their favorite.

If you had come to the tournament on Saturday, you would have seen just about every boat with rods fishing different ways. There are those that use live bait and those who use jigs only; those who tightline and those who longline. All are successful on any given day, but some days one bait seems better than others. One of the best things is to call Monk and go visit him over in Liberty. Spend an hour with him in the trailer and he can teach you a lot while showing you the different methods to fish. Don't forget that from season to season the conditions change and so must your crappie tactics.

I would like to second the motion to visiting Monk. He's got everything you will need and will give you advice on how to use it.

Liberty is quite a drive from where I am, well both locations where I am during the week.

personally i'd longline tillery right now