Do I have to start trolling jigs ?

Hello Everyone,

First I would like to say THANKS for all of he helpful tips and knowledge shared on his forum!!!!! It's good to see people sharing information and different tactics (GREAT ONES AT THAT)!

Okay, so the reason I'm writing this post is to ask the question "Do I have to start trolling jigs to have consistent success and number?? " I grew up fishing the Oconee river along with a lot of ponds and most lakes in GA. First I would like to say that this is no disrespect to any anglers or there methods. I personally like to catch my fish with the old cork and jig/minnow method but it seems that these days the fish don't bit as they did when I was growing up and I'm only 35... So..My question is am I not holding y mouth right or what. . Prime example is I was at the Hill this Sat doing just that and caught 0 crappie but there were 8 other boats in the cove and one guy limited out n 2 hour no more than 200 yards from us trolling. Not sure how long it took the rest because after 3 hours of seeing them put a hurt on them I couldn't take anymore and my son was so hurt I couldn't bare to see him like that we packed and left. Please help... Should I breakdown and join the club or just keep fishing hard. I hate taking my son and spending lots of money to see his face that way, but at the same time I would like t show I'm the reward of hard work in the long run...

Not from Ga, but I know here in fall when the fish are scattered in open water, fishing a minnow under a cork will get marginal results vs longlining. But now come spring through summer fishing a jig around structure or weeds or a minnow under a cork in same scenario will give better results than longlining. Not much help to you other than if you see someone catching fish and your not, adapt and catch fish. No shame in longlining or spiderrigging. After you have done it a while you will learn there is more to it than simply tossing a bait out and turning on the trolling motor. Still have to read water and locate fish and feeding fish, dial in on jig weights and colors like any other fishing method. Just covering a bunch of water. But to answer your question, no you do not have to do it. But your son would probably be a bit happier catching fish than looking at a minnow dragging his bobber around endlessly.

In my opinion, the technique doesn't matter as long as you can get the bait in front of the fish. Personally, I mainly longline troll with fairly good results. But this is my preferred way of fishing. I feel confident in what I am doing so I stick with it, even when the guys spider rigging are catching fish 3 to my 1. When the fish go to the lilly pads and everyone is catching them with a cork and minner, I am trolling...Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Stick with what you feel confident with and change up your presentation if the fish are not cooperating. That guy 200 yards from you may have been trolling over a trash pile that was holding fish. Gotta be on the move to find the structure or food source that attracts the fish....Good Luck!!

TNT hit the nail on the head. I had the same problem until I KNEW the depths of my jigs. You can type in jig depths on CDC and get a wealth of information on depth control of your jigs. There is a speed/weight chart that someone took the time to do and post it on CDC. I wish I had it 30 years ago. Download load it, print it out and take it with you. Crappie will not go down for a bait. It has to be above the. You were probably fishing too deep.

You will figure out colors while fishing.

Long lining is a great way to go, try to stay around 7/9mph and remember the father you throw out the line the deeper they go. Use 1/16oz jigs in a double rig, 35' out = about 4 to 6'., 70' out 10 to 12' deep. +-

Doodie, if you feel that having 12 or more rods out is more like seining than fishing just troll 2 out of the front and two out of the back. I have always liked to troll, sometimes successfully other times not so much. Over the years I have shot docks, pushed minnows and jigs over brush piles or timber, pitched to the bank or around structure, fished around dock lights at night, put out lights in the timber at night, trolled corks in shallow water and single pole jigged. Trolling is still my number one tactic followed by pushing and dock shooting third. Basically I do what ever it takes!!

I love trying new ways to catch Crappie, Almost as much as catching them. My favorite is longlining & single casting a single jig. Love the thump.

Look....fish of all species on occasion scatter over a wide area. Sometimes in multiple schools,sometimes just a lot of fish individual or smaller numbers over an area. It may be a large flat or it may follow some contour on the bottom,like a drop off or hump or around points or whatever. And it's not just crappie about every species will do this a portion of the year. If they are doing that in large numbers on any given day then trolling or another similar method is going to be the most productive. Look at how they troll the oceans and the Great lakes,and the larger lakes of the world. Many anglers over the years who intentionally handicap themselves to increase the sporting level would not troll precisely because it was too effective at times.

Some lakes because of their and structure and architecture are going to be conducive to trolling more than others. You can get your feet wet learning to troll some without a lot of specialized equipment . If you get the right lure or bait at the right depth at the right speed fish are going to bite it ,they don't know what's on the other end of the line.Start with a couple of your regular rods out the side or back of the boat and catch a few.

At some point even on lakes where crappie are susceptible to trolling a large portion of the year, at some point they will concentrate in the shallows and around structure and be more susceptible to vertical or cast fishing.

Learn as many methods as you can and learn when and how to utilize them. If you dislike one of them enough and you would rather not catch fish then use that method then so be it. Some people do that. If you do then concentrate on getting the best you can on your chosen methods and when and where they work best.

I have sit in a single spot with one or two poles,a bucket of minnows,bobbers,split shots, and crappie hooks and caught so many fish It actually started to get monotonous. But does that mean i should or could do that everyday on every lake....of course not.

Longlining is my preferred method of fishing all year, it allows you to cover alot of water fairly quickly and find aggressive feeding fish. I also shoot docks (2nd choice for crappie fishing), but will also spiderrig, toss a cork n jig to the bank, and from time to time minnow fish a treetop.

No one technique is perfect, learn a little about them all and then apply them when needed. And you dont need a passle of rods to longline with and catch crappie...I longlined for years with just 4 rods out the front and caught livewells full of crappie.

As long as I am fishing I am happy...the way I catch them is secondary.

In my forty years of crappie fishing, I have never trolled. I just like casting jigs.

Thanks for all the info and the pep talk everyone. Seems like I may have just been over thinking the whole situation. I will take the info and research found and try them again this weekend.

I have been known to dip a jig in a treetop or two also. I just have quite a few crank baits left from my green carp days and want to try them out on crappie.

Troll, troll, troll is all I've ever done. Cork, sinker, minnow; tightline in the front, longline out the back. Jigs without minnow, jigs minnow tipped... troll fast or troll slow but keep the bait moving! If something you are doing isn't working, change your approach/presentation.
'Never give up...never, ever give up!' JIMMY V

That should have been your first lesson. If you are fishing banks and docks and not getting bit but long line trollers are catching fish what does that tell you. The fish are not on the banks or are not feeding. Majority of the crappie are suspended over deeper water and feeding. This is where being versatile will result in taking fish home or going home with an empty live well. On a trip to greenwood recently my buddy and I were targeting different depth. He was trolling shallower water and I was trolling deeper water fishing 1/8 oz jigs right on the bottom in 15 to 20 ft water. When we met about 1 pm I asked him how many fish he had 2 in live well. As we were talking I caught number 20 to fill my limit with all fish being over 10 inches. Being able to change technique easily will make a difference in catching fish or not. On my boat I am set up to carry trolling, tight lining, dock shooting and jigging pole at the same time. If I get to the lake and the wind is blowing to hard to tight line then I change to trolling or what ever it takes to put fish in the boat. You do not have to have 20 rods to troll with. You can do okay with 4 rods. You can go to a different technique when your first choice is not working. Remember being versatile is the key to consistently putting fish in the boat

I use to be "Old" school and nothing but cork/minnows. Now I 90 percent only troll. If the fish are in the pads, I'll fish early morning flipping minnows until the sun gets up. Than , I'll back-off and start trolling. Took time to learn how to do it but catch more fish on constant basis.

Let me know if you need any rods for long lining. I got a bunch I'm about to put on the classifieds section. I'm revamping my rod setup and going to 12ft. rods like lcookie mentioned in his video. Selling rods from 8ft-12ft. Mr. Crappie, BnM, and Crappie Maxx for the most part. Need to make some room and get wifey off my back!

I started off night fishing with very good success. Switched to spider rigging with marginal success at first and then great success after a learning curve. Then started longlining. Lots to learn at each stage but after mastering longlining I believe theres no better way to put ALOT of fish in the boat than with this method. Now that said, I've been told that by putting out ALOT of brush at different depths in the fish "highways" you can double the amount of fish caught from longlining by single pole jigging. Dont know, cant tell ya because I've never went thru the work of putting out the brush and learning how to single pole jig. Too much work for me. I'm sticking with long lining.:)