The Mississippi forum has the "Cranking 101" post. We need to start a Spider rigging forum where everyone posts some of their likes and dislikes. What do yall think.
Printable View
The Mississippi forum has the "Cranking 101" post. We need to start a Spider rigging forum where everyone posts some of their likes and dislikes. What do yall think.
Being a "newbie" to spider rigging, I would very much like to see a thread devoted to nothing but this method of fishing! Sure would shorten the learning curve for some of us. :yikes Wouldn't have to re-invent the wheel, and could save a lot of grief by avoiding some of the "don'ts" for those just starting out. We have some experts on here that I feel could really help a beginner like me.
Me to Ski. I've been doing it for about a year now and just can't seem to put it all together. I've jigged fished for about 20 years now and still don't like using minnows and don't see me doing that in the future. I love the thump as much as the next guy but I also like watching the twitch on the end of that pole. It's a lot more to it than just setting out some poles and catchin fish. I believe it's a different fish that you're fishing for than the fish in a top or mat. This fish is out schoolin around.
I have only been riggn for a couple of years myself. But, i can tell you, COLD=SLOW!!. Weather its drift socks or chains....or BOTH, be equiped to slow ur boat to .3 or less , or you might as well stay home.
.3 or less when it's cold or all the time. I'm not arguing the point because a lot of good riggers say "when your going slow, slow down some more". But at the same time they longline jigs at 1mph all the time so you would think going .5 or .7 might be good. Do any of you rig during the summer and if you start early morning do you start shallower or start in the deep channels? If you use jigs do you always use crappie bites?
The fish will tell you what speed to troll. I occasionally use 5oz weights at over 1mph. Changes day-to-day.
We was on butla last summer and we didnt get a hit until we bumped it to .6 -.7Quote:
Originally Posted by mb4850
The correct speed is what the fish want. It is hardly ever the same! !! It can change on the same day .but in the colder months is usually slow (.2 - .4)mph and warmer weather (.5 -.8) mph these would be a good starting speed then adjust if needed, you also need adjust your weight according to your speed and depth.
I normally start off slow and gradually increase my speed until I figure out what they want. Lots of days I will play with variances in speed and direction change. Sometimes you can trigger a strike with a quick jerk to the left or right, or a sudden speed change.
What he said!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Cmj
I've seen this a few times before. Sometimes you can tell when you turn if you need to speed up or slow down. Carol and I had a day that the fish would always hit the outside poles in the turn. We started moving at .9 and all poles caught. This doesn't necessarily mean that they want it faster every time it happens. Sometimes you are fishing too deep and speeding up will cause your bait to run shallower. If this is the case, shallow up a couple feet and continue to run slow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cmj
Seems like the best way to get a bite is LOOK OFF then look back pole will be in the water!!!!!lol
These are just some of the things that make spider rigging difficult. What size jigs to use, what color jig, what speed to troll, what depth and most of all where to troll.
I don't use jigs much spider rigging I use minner critters which is a weightless jig with a 1/2oz egg sinker on my c&c rig.on colors if you use pinks,oranges,charts,blacks ,blue and whites combination you can't go wrong. Look for fish over cover,ledges and over flats one of the key thing is shad if you can find the baitfish you have found the crappie!!!
.
I forgot to say I alway use minnow on my critters also!!! Hope this helps!!
Great help, Jerry. And coming from one of the best in the business! Thanks, man! :ThumbsUp
Every time i get up to get a beer one of those damn strippers gets on and destroys everything so move the beer within arms reach. That's my pro tip of the day.
If you are fishing with strippers and beer I figure you don't worry about catching fish anyway.
Fish? :donoQuote:
Originally Posted by Gomer Snerd
Yea hes not worried about feesh at moments like that when the only thing necesary to perfect is a beer within arms length
I ordered me a variable speed Minn Kota maximize for my trolling motor. It should be in this week. Maybe that will let me get down to the right speeds. Right now I do about .6 mph on the lowest setting of my trolling motor. Wouldn't it be nice if it was that simple?
Speed is one of the main factors for sure !!!! You will enjoy being able to control your boat better!!
Just cause your fishing in 20 ft of water doesn't mean fish 16 ft deep. Biggest problem I see is people staying below em especially early in the spring and on cloudy days
Summertime I look for the thermocline , that will give you a pretty good idea how deep they will be, most of the time the crappie are right at or a few feet above this depth! Good starting point anyway !
How good of a depth finder do you have to buy to see the thermocline?Quote:
Originally Posted by Crappie Greg
I think you can see it on most any , I've had real cheep ones that I was able to see it on
Do I have to adjust the gray scale, as well as, the sensitivity?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MEATGETTER
Speed, weight, and depth are the main factors. Get these right and you will catch fish on most anything. I use 1/4-1oz weights mainly depending on wind and depth.
I have what I call my Go to speed and that is CREEPING. Guys nothing in nature maintains a constant speed in the water. SO it stands to reason your best bet at producing a natural presentation
Is creeping along...bumping your trolling motor 10-20 feet and stopping for a bit letting my baits rest. Then bumping my trolling motor again. Some times with erratic turns to the left or right to give my baits a natural looking movement in the water.
If I see that I am getting more bites when bumping the trolling motor ill keep moving till I dial in the speed too what they want.
If I see I am getting more bites when the baits are still. I slow to a crawl. Most of my bites come as my baits come to a rest or as I start another bump on the trolling motor. If wind will allow... this is my most productive method of catching fish when spider rigging.
If you are new to spider rigging this is the way to start learning. And I will bet that CREEPING will become your Favorite speed too. Tight Lines.
What about rod options? Looking at Capps and Coleman. What lengths to buy?
I use 14ft. I use b'n m I like the bgjp better than c & c they have the same tip but a little more backbone. I also fish the 14ft ozark when I need a heavier weight. You can't go wrong with either!!!!
I really want to get me some new rods. All i have now is two 12' and the rest 10. I want all 14'ers. '
What is the advantages of using 14ft rods?
most of the tournament guys here in the carolina's fish the southern crappie rods, google them then give ed a call, made from carbon and kevlar, tough as fiberglass but light as graphite, super sensitive tip.
you can get hung up 2 feet farther from the boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by C_McKinney
Most all of the top of the line rods have their place. If you buy cheap, you pretty well get what you pay for. I started out with a mix of different kinds of rods. We were on the lake and my wife would pick them out and say to get rid of them because they weren't acting right. I gave and traded all the odd balls away. I then went to straight B&Ms. I started with BGJP's and even pulled cranks with them. I decided that to finish out my set of 8, 12' b&ms for spider rigging, I would just buy pst's. I fished the mixed pst's and bgjp's for a short time and discovered that lots of days I couldn't see the spider rigging bite on the pst's, but the psts worked better cranking. I finally just broke down and bought enough poles to finish a set of bgjp's for spider rigging and a set of pst's for cranking.Quote:
Originally Posted by C_McKinney
I haven't got to use all the top of the line poles out there, and wouldn't dare push one brand over another brand until I got a chance to use them all in different kinds of fishing. I would go with the longest length I could handle. I have run some 16's this year and have had good success, but they can be a handful. We normally run 12's which is an easy length to become accustomed to. One thing that will help offset the pole length problem is to get the rod holders and seats as far toward the bow as possible. I am currently working on a solution for this on the boat I am rigging. Pics will follow in the boat rigging thread before long. This serves 2 purposes with the number 1 being you are fishing further away from the noise of the trolling motor. The second thing it accomplishes is making the bow heavier. With a heavy bow, your poles/baits will hold steadier in the water and not be jerking around due to the boat bouncing in choppy water. I think the fish like the presentation better and you can see the bite better as well. Don't be afraid to put batteries in the front storage or even dipping up 5 gallon buckets of water to ride the bow on a rough day. The ultimate fix for this is to go with a glass boat, but as I have mentioned before, every piece of equipment has its place and time that it is the perfect fishing tool, but no rod, boat, jig, trolling motor, or fishing style, is perfect in all situations.
BTW, I have never used a capps and coleman rod but I think they are a good dual use rod that is somewhere between the bgjps and psts as far as backbone and sensitivity from what I have read and heard about them.
I'm spending 3 days on Beaver this weekend and I guess I going to try using some minnows. I've tried to avoid it but I'm going to have to see for myself. I'll be spider rigging and think I will try 1/2 and 1/2 which I'm sure some have already tried.
I would have helped you on Beaver had I seen this sooner.
Boy I could have used some. I fished for two days and caught zero keepers spider rigging. I caught two pulling cranks for a while. I just cant seem to catch many spider rigging but Im not giving up. LR are you catching some on beaver now?
Ok, falls coming what is the first transition move for the crappie on a large reservoir lake like Beaver? I've always jigged in the fall and I would start in 12 to 15' brush tops. Should I just be spider rigging over these same tops?
In the fall I fish the deeper flats off the main river channel. I have been catching them this summer pullin cranks in about 24 FOW off the river channel. Best color has been orange crush Bandit's. I have gotten a limit my last 6 times out.
I have not been in two weeks because I bought a new Xpress. I should have all my rod holders on the boat tomorrow night. I will go Sat morning if all my stuff is on the FedEx truck tomorrow.