Duringthe week I had prepared for this day and finally it was here: Saturday Morning.The boat had been outfitted with all of the necessary additions to make thismilestone possible, all of the rods had been paired with reels and rigged toperfection (or mediocrity). I awoke past the crack of dawn (720), this was bydesign to ensure my body and mind were ready to execute the task at hand. WithNASA-like precision I completed loading the boat, checking to make sure all thematerials were present to complete our mission. My young assistants wouldrequire large quantities of the finest boat snacks for today’s adventure, itemafter item was loaded and lastly the bait was taken away from the aerator wetstone (it’s a plug in not battery operated) and placed in the boat. All systemsgo, onward to the ramp. As the children bantered softly in the backseat I couldonly ponder if this accomplishment would change my perception of crappie fishing.Enough thinking time for some fishing. After launching the boat and a shortboat ride I began painstakingly process of executing the goal: successfullyrunning 30 rods, through a combination of spiderrigging and longlining, keep inmind there’s no trolling motor on this boat. Proper boat control and speed are achievedthrough bump trolling the 200hp E-tec. Luckily my oldest son is proficient inthe art of quickly (and non-grindingly) bumping the boat in and out of gear tomaintain the proper boat speed 0.8-1.2 mph so my longlines do not drag bottom. Theyoungest helps with bait procurement and the juvenile crappie release program. Ran31 rods pretty much all day from around 830-400, with one person it takesawhile to put out that spread as well as bring it in. We left the house with 32rods…… At the end of the day when I was bringing in the rods in the back of theboat, my youngest son was playing in the front where the primary PVC front rodholder is located. I utilize a scuba diving weight belt on the front PVC rodrack to counter balance the rod holder so the rod rack doesn’t surge forward dumpingthe rods into the water. Well he moved the weight belt and the weight of therods dumped the rack forward… We had 2 causalities and one rescue, one of therods floated with the reel and I netted it! The other 2 are at the bottom….. Sowe returned home with 30 rods… there cheapo’s so I wasn’t too worried. Kept 22fish with the largest 7 right at 8lbs and the big fish of the day went 1.5lbs.I guess the takeway is secure you (S) stuff better, also now that 30 rods havebeen done do I want more, of course. That’s what makes Florida great, no limitson rods, having fished in other states with more restrictive rod policies makesme appreciate Florida more. With another adult and a couple more holders Ithink we can push this operation to 50+. What is the point of diminishingmarginal returns with respect to # rods? Probably 18-20 rods. That allows youpush and pull effectively. So why run so many? Even if I don’t catch anything Iderive a sense of accomplishment of handling a perpetual Chinese fire drill.Pics of my apprentices’ and the spread of rods. Additionally when I was out a coupleweeks ago I saw this under the Lake Susan bridge. Unfortunately it now rests inthe water adjacent to the bridge.
