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Watched a crappie masters tournament this morning and I don't like the spider rigging ten poles stretched out across front of boat and creep around the lake posing as a school of bait fish. I think tournaments by pros should be one pole per man in the boat any style that is legal. Show me you can find fish and make them bite with your opinion of the bait needed. If all we care about are numbers drag a net behind the boat.
Good point. I also don't like that Crappie Masters is only in the southern states. Like there aren't Crappie up north, or crappie fisherman.
Just as an FYI, they are limited to four poles per person, or what the state allows, which ever is lower. So you're really only seeing a max of 8 poles. But I know that's not your point. I always thought that was a ton too coming from Illinois where I fished every place had a two pole limit. But do take note, during those tournaments some entrants still don't come in with 7 fish. It's not as easy catching fish that was as you would think. I still love to one pole it and feel the thump, but now that I'm here in Florida, with no rod limit, I've had bad days on the lake where I'd only catch my one fish limit long lining with 7 rods just myself. I don't keep busy catching, but I do keep busy cleaning weeds off the lines! lol
This a single poler normal response and not knocking you but in these tournaments, especially in lakes that only have white crappie, a jig pole just won't get it. They also have had one pole tournaments but these tourneys only bring low numbers of entries. It's about money, plain and simple. A town or an area sponsors the tournament and they want as many people to enter as they can get, hence a large number of people falling in love with their area and returning time and time again. I personally fish places that I would never have fished if not being introduced to that area by Crappie Masters. Bait shops, hotels and resturants survive by selling their wares, plain and simple. I have caught them so many ways and mostly because of fishing the bigger tournaments, you have to adapt and conquer. They set the dates 9 or 10 months in advance, who knew it would be snowing the second day of the Crappie Masters at Grenada in 2016? Mike Valentine surely didn't, I am a better fisherman because of the bigger tourneys, just a fact and our sport is growing because of them too. This in turn will bring more management to our resources which in some cases is really needed across the country.
I mostly crappie fish with one or two poles but I have also long lined jigs and done a little spider rigging.
I believe that as long as I am using a legal method to fish and not keeping over my limit its none of anyone else's business how I choose to fish. It really doesn't matter if I troll through an area and catch a fish here and there or sit over a brushpiles and catch every fish off of it.
I have never fished any kind of tournament and its doubtful that I ever will but as far as the tournaments go if you don't like the way they do things change the channel.
Well ok then... guessing that you missed your meds today :yikesQuote:
Originally Posted by lowe rider
Lowe rider is spot on..if your doing everything by the book good for you...if you don't agree move on.
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It use to be people just classified certain types of fishing as "sport fishing" or not. There have always been people who fished with methods which weren't considered sporting. Heck I have snagged,netted,trotlined,and every other kind of fishing you can think of.
The thing about this spider rigging is it's considered by many to be sport fishing.
Now...as a participant in every kind of fishing just about known to man short of using dynamite.
If I hang more than one pole over the side or I troll ....in my mind I am not sport fishing anymore.
But...I am constantly amazed by what goes for sport fishing or hunting these days.
I mean...if I sit out a flock of turkey decoys...and shoot one at 60 yards with superduper shells and chokes. Or automated decoys for ducks and blast them with superduper shells and such...or shoot at a deer at a thousand yards,or electronics that put out sound to mimic fish, etc.
In my old mind and ways that's not sporting either. It may be legal,and accepted,and where the money is,and I may even do it once in a while.... but sporting?
I just wonder what will be the new norm in ten more years.
I mean the state of Missouri just legalized crossbows for deer for everybody. I mean for forty years or more it was not considered sporting except for the handicapped. But now within a year people are asking why you still mess with a regular bow.
Oh well....the one thing I take consolation in is nobody cares what I think about anything....believe it or not that's one of the things about getting older I enjoy. I just kinda do my thing...and watch and listen what everybody is doing knowing I ain't a factor in nothing.
It's sort of like I heard Phil Robertson say one time. " You boys have taken this thing way further than I ever would have".
I kind of feel like this strayed from the op's meaning. Maybe I'm the one taking it wrong. I feel his post was about competition fishing only, and the ability to match your SKILLS against others. Take spider rigging for example. It is less about an individuals skill than it is about who can eventually drag the most bait through an area with the most fish in it. Whoever gets the seat when the music stops is the winner ya know? :scratchhead
I personally do not spider rig, but i would like to learn it. It does makes it even more satisfying single poling it in a crappie tournament and beating out the spider rigging guys. Spider rigging does have an advantage over single pole. Seems unfair at times, but its legal and if you can do it and your comfortable and productive doing it then you might as well do it. Ill stick with the single pole for now pulling slabs out from under the brush piles!