Crappie Trolling, Getting Setup

When you are preparing to start crappie trolling, be sure to have several poles on hand. You can decide how many, but I would recommend at least four for a good start. Have several different weights on hand, from 1/4 ounce up to 3/4 of an ounce. Make sure you have some good crappie jigs ready to go as well. I would recommend having lighter colors to start with like green or white, with a green or red jig head.

Once you have your equipment lined out, get a topographical map of the area you want to fish, and look for structure changes, break points, and areas of cover. These areas are the more likely to hold fish. Then, grab the boat and the gear, set different weights on different lines so that you can fish some deep, some shallow, and some in between, and start trolling the areas you have laid out.

The Crappie Trolling Key

So here’s the key. Once you catch a crappie, you need to stop the boat. It is extremely unlikely to find a crappie all alone. So take the one fish that you have caught, and hook him on the end of one of your lines by the tail. Then give him plenty of line, and attach a bobber many feet (maybe 10 to 15 feet) above him.

The crappie that you have caught will inevitably swim back to the school, and because you are tracking him, he will lead you right to the rest of the fish. Give him plenty of line, and as slowly as possible, troll up onto the school of crappie and go fishing.

Once you have fished out the area, then just go to another area, and begin the process all over again. Now, I’ll encourage you, if you want to really get successful at this over time, to mark the spots on your topographical map or in a computer or GPS system, and record the date, time, weather conditions and water temperature. If you build a steady library of these statistics over time, you can become a tremendous fisherman, who rarely goes out without catching fish.

If you want to know more, check out these 7 great crappie tips.

The Deep Catfish Rig

You can get real fancy with some of the rigs out there, but I have found that using a good sturdy weight, and attaching it to the end of the line, instead of the hook on the end of the line, works out much better as far as avoiding snags goes. So take a good one ounce or so weight, tie it on to the end of the line with a palomar knot, and the tie on your hook about 12-18 inches up from the end of the line.

At this height, tie a dropper loop into the line to hold your hook and leader line. You can use a wired leader to keep the line attaching to your hook from getting wrapped around the line that attaches to your weight if you wish.

If you are fishing with shad or perch catfish bait and are looking for big catfish, use an 8/0 or 9/0 circle hook. You’ll find that the hook setting is a lot better and the fish will be less likely to straighten or otherwise escape you once it has been hooked.

If you are using chicken livers, worms, or dip baits and going after smaller channels or other catfish, then you can use a smaller hook, a number 2 all the way up to a 2/0 would be sufficient for this case.

The Shallow Catfish Rig

If you are looking to fish shallow, get some good catfish bobbers, put a bobber stop 2 to 3 feet from the hook (or however deep you are wanting to fish), just above the bobber itself, and then add a split shot or two between the bobber and hook, and follow the same guidelines as above for which hook to use depending on the bait and desired catfish types and sizes you are wanting to catch.

The Palomar Knot

In my opinion, this is the best knot available for attaching a hook, weight, etc. to the end of the line. It is simple to tie, and seldom ever has a problem with being pulled loose. Generally speaking, you’ll snap the line before this knots unravels.

Here’s a video to show you exactly how to tie the palomar knot.

The Dropper Loop

When you are looking to tie on a hook or weight above the end of the line, you’ll need some kind of loop in the line to attach to. The dropper loop is a great way to create this loop to tie to. Here’s a video to show you exactly how to tie it.

So that’s it. Again, you really don’t need complicated catfish rigs to get the job done. Just a simple weight and/or bobber with a sturdy hook and the right catfish bait, and you are good to go. So go out there and catch fish!

1. Crappie are Small Panfish

Because they range from just a few ounces up to a little over 2 pounds, these fish just aren’t big, so when you are looking for bait, concentrate on bait that is in the 1/2 to 2 inch size range. When you are jig fishing, use jig heads that are no larger than 1/8 ounce in size. Larger baits include larger hooks, and these small fish just can’t handle a big bait.

2. Crappie Have Paper Thin Mouths

Along with being a small panfish, crappie have delicate mouths. So when you feel the bump of a fish, don’t set the hook wildly like you see some fanatics on TV. You won’t do much more than ripping the hook right out of the fish’s mouth. A small, quick jerk of the rod is all it takes to hook this small game fish.

3. Crappie are a Schooling Fish

At times, you can find these fish in schools of the hundreds. They stay together, and even when there is a disturbance of anglers pulling them out of the water, they’ll still hang around. So when you catch one, stop the boat and fish the area thoroughly. If the action is slow, change up your colors and baits and see if you can get it going again. One trick I use is to add a crappie bite to my lure, to provide a little scent and taste to the fish for an extra enticement.

4. Crappie Like Warm Water

Following a similar pattern as bass, crappie prefer the warm water. They can handle the water a little bit cooler than bass, but you’ll find them in the shallows in early spring during the crappie spawn. When it gets too hot during the summer, crappie will find medium depth areas to congregate. In the fall, the water temperature is even, and crappie will look for areas of clear water and lots of oxygen. The winter months will force crappie deep, to escape the cold surface temperatures.

5. Crappie Need Lots of Oxygen

Again, like bass, these fish need lots of oxygen. You may already know that these fish don’t last long on a stringer. So during fall months where lake turnover limits oxygen, look for crappie in clearer patches of water and near the surface. In the summer months, look for the fish to be in the thermocline (the layer between the hot surface temperature water, and the deep, cooler water) where oxygen is the highest. In the spring time, as the surface water warms, you’ll find them in the shallows looking to spawn.

6. Crappie Like Small Baitfish and Grub-Like Worms

So if you’re looking to use live bait, get you some 1 to 2 inch minnows, hook them through the upper and lower lip, put a split shot or two on the line, and test the water. You can also put them under a bobber, if you have a good idea of the depth the crappie are schooling at.

If you prefer crappie lures (and I do) start out with some tube jigs like marabou jigs. Start with a 1/16 ounce size, and go to a 1/32 ounce size if needed. Focus on colors like yellow, white, and chartreuse/green to begin with. Use a vertical jigging motion to bounce the lure up and down in front of the fish.

7. Crappie Love Cover

Look for schools of crappie under docks, bridges, fallen tree limbs, stumps, bulrush and grass areas, and other cover that would offer some protection. This is where the food is, and likewise the crappie. A little bit of shade is good too, as the crappie can see a little better in the shade.

That’s the seven crappie tips that will shotgun you to successful crappie fishing. Remember to check back here as often as you can, as I reveal more and more secrets to fishing effectively, and bringing home the “bacon”.

The Crappie Jig

By far the most widely used and effective crappie lure, the crappie jig is a small chenille, hair, tinsel, or feather crafting attached to a 1/16 or 1/32 ounce painted or unpainted jig head. Often couple by a skirt of the same material, the crappie jig has been proven to catch fish over time.

The marabou jig has been the most effective jig over time. Behind it, the curly tail and rooster tail jig have been effective as well. I like using white colors the best with my crappie lures, but using chartreuse, yellow and green also work well in clear waters. If you find yourself in murky water, go for darker versions of purple, black, orange and green.

Soft Plastic Crappie Lures

A small, soft plastic lure of less than 3 inches long on a 1/8 ounce or smaller jig head is probably the second best crappie lure to throw. Stick to grubs, small worms, sassy shads, bassassins or other shad-like body styles for plastic baits. Again, I like white, but other colors like yellow, green, chartreuse, and black will work as well.

Crappie Spinnerbaits

You can also use small straight shaft or bent shaft spinnerbaits as well. Stick to small, single blade spinnerbaits with a small jig or worm. Again, stick to the basic colors mentioned above.

Crankbaits for Crappie

If you think the crappie are running deep, you can throw a small shad style or minnow style crankbait at them. Something like a 2 inch Rapala minnow or shap rap will work great with a deep running lip. Stick to basic colors like white, green, and natural shad or minnow coloring.

Crappie Flies

For the fly fisherman, you can do really well with crappie flies. Some of the better flies for crappie fishing are Crappie Candy, Clousers Or Minnow Imitations. They come in a variety of colors and styles, so just stick to good basic water color and time of year colors (as I talked about above) and you’ll do very well with these crappie lures.