I'm a newbie! !

I am new to here and wanting to start fishing for slabs. When I lived in LA it was Reds and Speckeled Trout. Now I live in KY. We have a camp down by Linton area (south end of Barkley) and have been tearing up the Bluegills need a new challange. Now I need to gear up. Help me out but I do not have a large fishing fund. What rods are best and should I go with baitcaster or spinner. What lenghth and action rods. I have a wide eye Humminbird on a 89 Stratos fish/ski.
I have found 3 areas with cappie stakes are those areas worth trying? Sorry so long but I am excited to get started and have read most of the latest posts and didn't realize that I could go through the winter. You guys have really motivated me to get started.

Thanks
Tony

In order to give a specific rod and reel it would be helpful to know how you are planning on fishing. I just bought a couple of spinning combo's for my dad from cabelas bargain cave at very good prices. I got him a 6ft ultra light and a 6ft 6in med-light combo's I figured this should cover any types of fishing he would do.

I really don't know.. Figured on starting with minnows and jigs. That seems to be the way most are catiching them. I have ultra lights but they are only about 5 ft or so. really short they are spinner combos bought at wally world. Been looking at shimano spinners with ugly sticks just don't know how long to get the rods.

Everyone likes different ones. I use 7ft rods for everything, minnows under bobbers, vertical and casting jigs.

You probably already have all the necessary rods/reels needed for Crappie fishing. :eek: :p

When I first started Crappie fishing, I was using 6ft fiberglass rods & spincast reels w/8lb test mono ... tightline fishing with minnows, while boat was tied to standing timber. Never used anchors, in my 50+ years of fishing :D

I'm currently using :

Two 5' spinning outfits - 4lb test mono
Two 8' FnF outfits (spinning) - 4lb test mono
One 7' lite action spinning outfit - 4lb test mono
One 7' med/hvy (IM8) spinning outfit - two spools (4lb & 10lb test mono)
One 6' lite action spinning outfit - 4lb test mono
One 6' med/hvy spinning outfit - PowerPro 10/2 braid

I rarely, if ever, take more than 4 of these outfits .... since casting jigs is my primary method. But, I can (& do) switch over to using minnows with them, when circumstances require it.

If you have some slip floats, clip-on floats, pinch-on sinkers (#4 & #5), and some lite wire #2 Aberdeen style hooks ... you're good to go, as far as using minnows. Tightline fishing is just fishing straight down over the side of the boat, without any float/bobber ... so rod length isn't a major factor. You "could" even use Bass equipment, though you might want to top off your reels with some smaller pound test line (something in the 4-8lb test range).

Casting jigs can be accomplished with most any length rod ... from 4' to 10' ... but, most use spinning rods in the 6-8' length range. As you can see from my "inventory" ... two of my outfits are actually Bass outfits, just converted to use for Crappie fishing by line choice.

What length & style of outfit you use, is determined by what type of cover you fish and how you want to/have to fish it. When I fished Barkley, it was usually from the dam area to the Prison ... in the Spring ... in the Buckbrush. Then, I used 10-12ft fiberglass "cane poles" ... 14lb test braid main line, with 6lb test mono leader ... slipfloat / #5 WaterGremlin sinker / #1 Gold Aberdeen hook. That was "specialized" fishing, due to the cover. Since then, and considering that I don't fish that type of cover (or that lake) any longer, I have switched over to casting jigs. On lakes with stationary docks (docks on poles/not floating) I generally use my shorter rods ... dock shooting.

Stake beds are usually pretty good areas for spawning Crappie (Spring) ... and can/may even hold a few fish during other times (like early morning Summer or late evening Fall). Submerged wood is always a good bet ... depending on water depth, time of year, etc.

And, in case you haven't seen it yet .... here's a good method to use, around most any standing cover &/or submerged cover : Crappie.com - Crappie Fishing Information and Adventure - Vertical Casting ... I use it as a "final approach/finishing off" method, once I'm convinced that casting has done all the damage it can ;)

.... cp :cool:

This is a really good read for when and where to generally find crappie by water temp...

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/archi...e-degrees.html

I fish the Linton area myself...here is the funniest way that I have found to catch crappie...use a 6 foot medium action spinning rod with choice of spinning reel...spool it with 6 or 8 lbs mono...then I use 1/16 ounce weedless jigs with a chartuese/sparkle curly tail, or white curly tail, or orange/chartuese solid body umbrella tube 1 1/2 inch long.
Now that you have your equipment ...its time to start fishing...idle around the points..even the fish ID bouys are good...main thing is find underwater brush on your graph in anywhere form 10 to 18 foot deep...when you pass over it throw a marker bouy out and stop the boat and fish it...stay back off the marked brush and throw past it letting your jig sink to different depths by counting it down...then reel very very very slowly....holding your rod in one place and still....normally when you pull free from a piece of brush you will feel a thump....Set the HOOK!

Remember don't pull the jig through the brush using your rod because it will be hard to detect the thump...just reel slow and set the hook when you feel a tick or thump or sometimes if the line goes slack in winter. Have fun and its is addictive.

Welcome tony. Man you left some good fishin' down in LA. You didn't end up in too bad of a spot either. ;) Hope you have some luck, you are on some famous crappie waters so the fish are there. Im sure a lot of guys on here can help ya out down there on KY/Barkley. Good luck and welcome to KY crappie fishin.

Hi Tony,
Have you tried the crappie in your "backdoor" below Calhoun Dam? I use a very simple rig to catch crappie in these areas. Med to Med heavy action Spinning rod with at least 12 lb test, tie 1/4 to 1/2 ounce weight on bottom, and then tie a crappie hook up the line about 12 to 16 inches. "Feel around" in the brush keeping your sinker just off the bottom. Line must be strong enough to bend the hook when you get "hung up". I like to hook the minnow thru the eyes so he can't see what is going to happen to him.

Tom

Tonyh,
Welcome to CrappiedotCom,
I live in Madisonville and fish N. KY Lake. I use 2 11ft. rods and hold them while hovering over the brush. I also cast 1/8 oz. jigs that I make. The most important piece of equipment I have is the GPS and maps. PM me and we can talk about crappie.

good info,but common knowledge to most

He is used to chasing saltwater fish dedawg, so were just trying to help him get started on catchin some slabs in KY.