Is Spider Rigging Worth it?

Just getting into crappie fishing and I am wondering is it really worth all the money to buy the special rods and the rod holders and all the gear to go along with it to spider rig, or can I consistently catch fish year round with just a single pole and jigs or minnows? Just seems like every show you watch or tournament you see on TV that's what everyone does so is it worth it and how many of you go out and catch crappie consistently with out it? I live in Alma and mainly fish backwaters off of the Arkansas river but plan on hitting up Blue Mountain, Nimrod, Hinkle and possible some Oklahoma lakes close by. Any advice helps! Thanks in advance!

I started spider rigging a couple yrs ago with the help of Whiskers on here I really like it with that being said when one of our Ky guys on here puts up a fruit jar tourney he has whipped us first 2 times single polling . But give it a try don't go full speed ahead get one rod holder that holds four rods and pick up 4 14 ft rods used and give it a go . Plenty ppl on here willing to help.

It has it's place, I REALLY enjoy taking older folks and young kids doing it, they catch a LOT of fish and don't have to constantly be hung up jig fishing. When I go by myself I normally single pole, 2 rods and jigs but I do enjoy taking new and older fisherman Spider rigging.

At times it can be very productive but I don't like it . I catch all the fish I need jig fishing . It costs quite a bit to set up the way most do . Back in the day we made our pole holders and used cane poles . I like to feel the thump and usually catch plenty verticle jigging . It takes less knowledge to be successful but it does work. It can be a problem keeping minnows and they can be quite expensive . Last few years spiderrigging has grown in popularity . Are you interested in just catching fish to fill the freezer or just a sport fisherman mainly ? Never have figgured out why most tournaments for Crappie are spider rigging unlike Bass Tournaments . Seems over kill to run 8 poles with double minnow rigs (16 hooks baited with minnows ) to catch a limit which was 20 but now 30 here . Some folks do use less poles and hooks . Some use jigs or spinners . There are other methods too like line lining jigs or trolling crankbaits . To each his own but I love the thump on a jig fished on a jig pole . You will have to make the call how you fish , what types of rigs you buy and if you use minnows or jigs . Bottom line is what you like and what you can afford .

I enjoy fishing all methods and learning new ones , it's is good to be versatile and not just get hung up on any one method as it will make you a better more well experienced fisherman but single poling visible structure, docks , cypress trees, flooded willows , submerged brush is my favorite way and where I grew to love the sport of crappie fishing, pick a style that you can afford learn the technique and then venture out from there, good fishing and good luck with what ever you choose!

I would rather catch 1or 2 crappie, Jigging or spinning verse 10 on spider rigs, but during late spring and summer, spider rigging has its place in open water.

I have four grandsons in the 8 to 11 year old range and they absolutely love spider rigging. I'll have two of them up front manning the rods and running the trolling motor while I sit in the back and watch the fun. Personally I prefer single poling so I can feel the thump.

Thanks guys for the advice, I feel better about holding off and perfecting the single pole technique and learning more about finding the fish before stepping into spider rigging. Plus that will give me time to save up and buy a good set up and not have to worry about if I'm going to have gas money for the truck and boat!! I'm sure I'll be back for more advice when I do take the plunge, lot's of great folks with great knowledge on here!

We use 12 to 16 12 ft. Cheap rods and zebco reels. 4 driftmaster t bars with 4 holders apiece. We fish 4 people alot of time. Friends
, grandkids. We catch limits of fish. Easy enjoyable. Fairly inexpensive. If you don't get to go
Alot and you like to catch fish spiderigging is the way. It doesn't matter what time if year. Summer is best for us. It doesn't matter what time if day. Spiderigging is the most efficient way to catch alot of fish in a short time.I don't get to fish all day or every day. We still catch alot of fish.

oh, if you need a bunch of fish for a fishfry. It is the way to go, we all are not "wizards" with a jig pole like some......:fish

It's just like everything else...you either get something from it or you don't. I usually do something for a while then get bored with it and do something else. You can start with a three rod rig and do that for a while and then figure out if you want to expand. I got hung up a few years ago on casting and I just can't seem to quit. The only way I will do anything else is if the casting pattern is dead for a while.But it's just a personal thing....if you are running a bunch of poles to just load the boat then thats commercial fishing in my book not sport fishing,but if it's legal and that's your thing then do it. Sometimes you just have to try something to know for sure.

It really depends on what you enjoy. I would try to go on a trip with someone that spider rigs to see if you enjoy it before you make the investment. We started spider rigging because when the weather gets hotter and the fish suspend in deeper water it was a way for us to keep enjoying fishing. Spider rigging allowed us to keep some air moving and cover more area verses sitting still in the blistering sun. We spider rig some now in as shallow as 3 foot of water with a 1/4 jig during the spawn, just depends on what the fish are doing and how we decide that we want to fish for them. We may even change during the day. Start a lot of days in early summer spider rigging and then switch to our cranking poles and back pulling rack. We starting pulling crank baits about 4 years ago and have been doing some long line trolling the past 2 years. I'm taking clients wade fishing this March on Grenada(all time favorite lake), water levels permitting. This will be my first time to wade fish for crappie, I'm really excited to give this a try, I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas right now! I have never tried side pulling but watched Roger Gant doing this on Grenada while he was pre fishing for the Crappie Masters last fall.

I typed all of this to say I'm with Greg, I enjoy learning and trying new techniques. My wife and I fish a lot together, her favorite is pulling cranks and spider rigging for her is a close second, as for me I love it all! which makes it more expensive! Haha!

I'm not sure where you live but you are welcome to go spider rigging with me sometime. I'm by no means an expert but I have a heck of a time trying. I live in SE AR mainly fish in MS, SE AR, and a little in NE LA, I can get to these lakes quicker than Central AR lakes. I'm sure that you can find someone close to take you spider rigging if not send me a pm sometime.

If you like catching a crappie It is well worth it, all lakes are different, some fish better with different methods, the more methods you learn the better off you will be to catch crappie anywhere they swim. Learn all methods from single poling too dock shooting and you will soon be able to just look at a lake and have an idea on what to do. Now get out there and start learning and you can Thank me later...

I LOVE spider rigging! Sometimes it depends on your very first trip. My buddy hates it but we didnt do well and now he is negative towards it mentally. We smoked em on my first trip so I love it. If the spider bites ya, you will be buying gear. Just do yourself a favor (and not do like me) buy exactly what ya want the very first time. It may be a little more expensive on the front end but definitely cheaper later on. I tried and re-geared 3 different times before I settled in on what I think is the best equipment. New I wanted the equipment (I now have) from the very beginning. I tried to cheap out and it ended up costing me alot of money! lol. Single poling is very effective! Im not saying that it isn't. But the more tricks you have up your sleeve the more consistant you will be. Now I need to follow that advice myself and learn the art of single poling!

Thanks again guys for all the info! I feel like I am probably going to take the plunge eventually but gonna save up like LowePro said and buy what I want the first time. In the mean time it looks like I will be going with a single pole. I'm not looking to just fill my freezer until I cant shut the door but I do like to eat fish and crappie seem to be the best so far, but I was brought up to only take what you can eat while fishing/hunting with my dad. Crappie were always a mystery fish growing up bass fishing with my dad and he always said he wished he could catch a mess of crappie but we never could, I just want to be able to repay my dad for all the tangles and lures of his I lost growing up by taking him and catching a mess of crappie!

Is it worth it? Sometimes... The first time you hang up 5 poles in a brush pile, you may think not.

X2 on buying quality equipment. You'll thank yourself later. Good luck with your crappie fishing adventures.

Going to Red Lobster once a week, and spider rigging cost about the same by the time you buy fish finders,trolling motors and so on. Just eat at Red lobster every week and enjoy....:cheers2

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Originally Posted by crappie cowboy

Going to Red Lobster once a week, and spider rigging cost about the same by the time you buy fish finders,trolling motors and so on. Just eat at Red lobster every week and enjoy....:cheers2

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What is a pound of minnows now ? 13 to 15 bucks most places after tax ? Bait alone will set ya back price of a good meal cause most spider riggers use a pound and using 2 lbs in a day is not unheard of !:yikes

Nimrod, it's only money, green paper, if ya have it, it ain't no big deal. If ya don't some think it is the holy grail.. Me, I just wanna go fishin.

Try it all, see what you like. Spider rigging is work to me . I go fishing to relax and enjoy the THUMP. I catch plenty fishing a pole in each hand. I tie my own jigs and have just ordered stuff to build my first pole. There is not a wrong way to catch fish, but some are much more enjoyable. For me, simple is better.

I'm a single pole jigger and dock shooter. Can catch a lot rigging, but it's too much work and you never get to feel the "thump". Rather catch one with the thump than ten with my cork going under or my pole shaking without me holding it. Each to there own though. In my opinion, fishing with more than two poles at a time should be banned unless you have a commercial fishing license!

Here we go....:hatchet:.....:popcorn

I prefer vertical jigging in my boat or a dock. It's fun bobber fishing also for gills, crappie, etc. Nothing beats the THUMP!

Well I think fishing the spawn should be banned

:popcorn

I think Vertical jiggers should be banned because... it is an unfair advantage to go out and GPS 100's of brush piles then be allowed to let your bait slip down through the brush right in front of where the bigger fish are feeding, spawning. feeling secure with pin point accuracy. Only minnows should be allowed because plastics and jigs pollute the environment when broken off and stay forever in the environment, kill fish and put unnecessary lead in the water. Spiderriggin is much more fair to the fish because most of the time you steer clear of the brush trying to catch them around or over the cover or in open water and not putting a bait right down in their habitat... where they are most likely to bite. Probably best if a Vertical Jigger not be even allowed to have a commercial lic because the tactic is so deadly. Just my 2cents;)

Multiple rods and holders cost a bunch, but so does good electronics. Seems like you need good electronics to maximize single pole fishing...or you could troll with multiple poles to find fish. If you don't have good electronics, a lot of poles covering more water is good.

I don't know a single person that does not playing the game "Whack a mole" at chucky cheese. Thats what I would compare spider rigging to! lmbo! Pole goes down you snatch it ASAP. Only time it sucks is when ya aint catchin! And even then its pretty relaxing to me! I love the thump as well. I'm just not as familiar with verticlly jigging personally.

Funny how things have changed. Was a time when being FREE to live how we choose was an important ideology. Now, if you don't do something the way other folks think it should be done, it should be BANNED! Sad, terribly sad. Small minded people, always feel superior by trouncing on the rights of others.

This has already been done before.

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Originally Posted by creekslick

Well I think fishing the spawn should be banned

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Some lakes actually have too many fish so it would not help some .

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Originally Posted by LowePro

I don't know a single person that does not playing the game "Whack a mole" at chucky cheese. Thats what I would compare spider rigging to! lmbo! Pole goes down you snatch it ASAP. Only time it sucks is when ya aint catchin! And even then its pretty relaxing to me! I love the thump as well. I'm just not as familiar with verticlly jigging personally.

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It can't be too fun when 16 hooks on 8 poles finds a brush pile or stump !:Rofl

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Originally Posted by Idunno

Multiple rods and holders cost a bunch, but so does good electronics. Seems like you need good electronics to maximize single pole fishing...or you could troll with multiple poles to find fish. If you don't have good electronics, a lot of poles covering more water is good.

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You put in your time and/or build your own cover if you single pole . . I used to fish using cheap depthfinder and cheap etrex gps . Caught as many limits as everyone else on my home lake and more than most . But if you fish new waters, high end electronics are worth a lot not matter how you fish .

I love the thump too. That's why I keep my hand on a t bar with 4 poles on it. I get to feel the thump 4 times as often.lol Really though I feel the thump through the tbar all the time.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

Some lakes actually have too many fish so it would not help some .

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I was being sarcastic, it's just that about every 6-8 months we have this same argument. Some single poler will get on here and say he thinks trolling, spider-rigging, yo-yoing or any other type of fishing that is not his type of fishing be banned. Why does it matter to the single pole fishermen how another man fishes. Are they afraid the trollers are gonna catch some of their fish? If that is the problem put y'all name on the side of all your fish and we will release them when we catch them. We don't need more regulations from our socialist government telling us what we can and can't do. Come on guys it does not matter how a man catches his fish as long as he stops when he gets his limit. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Originally Posted by creekslick

Well I think fishing the spawn should be banned

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interesting, I agree with that as well.

You bet.

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Originally Posted by SlabMeister

It really depends on what you enjoy. I would try to go on a trip with someone that spider rigs to see if you enjoy it before you make the investment. We started spider rigging because when the weather gets hotter and the fish suspend in deeper water it was a way for us to keep enjoying fishing. Spider rigging allowed us to keep some air moving and cover more area verses sitting still in the blistering sun. We spider rig some now in as shallow as 3 foot of water with a 1/4 jig during the spawn, just depends on what the fish are doing and how we decide that we want to fish for them. We may even change during the day. Start a lot of days in early summer spider rigging and then switch to our cranking poles and back pulling rack. We starting pulling crank baits about 4 years ago and have been doing some long line trolling the past 2 years. I'm taking clients wade fishing this March on Grenada(all time favorite lake), water levels permitting. This will be my first time to wade fish for crappie, I'm really excited to give this a try, I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas right now! I have never tried side pulling but watched Roger Gant doing this on Grenada while he was pre fishing for the Crappie Masters last fall.

I typed all of this to say I'm with Greg, I enjoy learning and trying new techniques. My wife and I fish a lot together, her favorite is pulling cranks and spider rigging for her is a close second, as for me I love it all! which makes it more expensive! Haha!

I'm not sure where you live but you are welcome to go spider rigging with me sometime. I'm by no means an expert but I have a heck of a time trying. I live in SE AR mainly fish in MS, SE AR, and a little in NE LA, I can get to these lakes quicker than Central AR lakes. I'm sure that you can find someone close to take you spider rigging if not send me a pm sometime.

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Your taking clients wade fishing and you yourself have never been? That sounds real unsafe to me. Maybe you should get out there and learn wth your doing first???!!!

Yes