Looks like your ready for some big specks.
Decided to wing it this morning and give it the ole college try. Took my oldest daughter with me to our little 200 acre lake. It's a great lake for testing new things. It's got average to small crappie, huge bluegill and shellcrackers, and pathetic bass
Rods
- Six 14' Southern Crappie Rods, one 14' CrappieMaxx IM6, and one 12' CrappieMaxx IM6 *NOTE* CrappieMaxx had a little more backbone, but both brands performed very nicely
Rig
- 6lb Hi-Vis mono main line on spinning reels. 1 oz barrel weight followed by a glow-in-the-dark bead to a swivel. 2 foot leader of Trilene 4lb test mono in low-vis green.
Jigs
- Combination of 1/16oz Roadrunner and a couple 1/8oz painted round jighead (no spinner)
Lures
- Used my same go-to - Kalin curly tails and Southern Pro in my confidence colors - Acid Rain, John Deere, Blk/Blue/Chart
- Tries some new ones - 3 inch Bobby Garland Slab Slay'R and the 2.5 inch Scented Wiggl'R
- Crappie nibbles - the ones with the darn sparkles that I mistakenly bought and will never get again
Results:
The surface temperature was 61 degrees and it was foggy, overcast, and the occasional light drizzle. We caught 18 speck in just over two hours on all rods, including two double hook ups. Definitely more challenging landing them compared to longlining. We found them on the deepest contour, closest to the shoreline. The cool thing was we kept seeing them chase the bait schools breaking the surface. It was neat being able to turn the boat on a dime and go right to the spot and hookup. We were able to range in speed from 0.4 to 0.9, so still could cover some ground.
While I still much rather enjoy the excitement of longlining, I do plan to employ this technique more this year. Specifically on certain smaller bodies of water or in instances where I want to focus on a couple of isolated spots that I can repeatedly circle.
Lessons Learned:
- "Tactical Backwinding" - When a shallow bite occurred, < 4ft deep, found it effective to slowly backwind while maintaining pressure to be able to net and land it.
- I'm happy with the 1oz heavier weight, lets me use the speed of my choice. This was especially true to impart action on the roadrunners - 0.4 seemed the slowest speed to cause a decent spin.
- Going to have to put my rod rack holders back on the boat. 8 long rods was not fun to manage across the middle of the boat deck.
- Going to stick with single jigs. With 8 rods out I can cover the water column effectively without dealing with the tangles and stresses of a double rig.
Hope this helps someone wanting to give this method a try!
A man remembered never dies.
Danbo LIKED above post
Looks like your ready for some big specks.
Great report, thanks.
COURTESY,LOYALTY,SERVICE, & HONOR
Sounds like your ready to go good luck
CG1 "Dances with fish"
You faired better than my attempts so far. Nice report.
What brand of rod holders are those?
They are SpyderLoks from E-Z Poleholder over in the member sponsors. 3rd brand I've tried and by far my favorite.
A man remembered never dies.
GLAD YOU GOT OUT! 1 OZ IS ALOT OF WEIGHT! THE THING YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER ON THAT IS WHEN IT IS CHOPPY...YOUR ROD TIPS WILL REALLY REALLY BOUNCE WITH THAT MUCH WEIGHT SLINGING UP AND DOWN.... YES...DOUBLE HOOKS ARE A PAIN IN THE BUTT! I'LL DO A FEW WHEN IM FISHING MYSELF...BUT GUIDING...WHEW...14 FOOT RODS ...SOME INEXPERIENCED CUSTOMERS...= MESS !!!!! TURNING ON A DIME IS BEST ASSET ON THE PUSH!!!
Crappiedaze guide service pro staff, Jiffy Jig pro staff
Seapro 19v CC, Lowrance Gen 2 touch, Driftmaster holders
LIGHT WIRE HOOKS JUNKIE!!!
Good point Golfpro, I didn't consider the wind factor. I was lucky it was a calm day, but that makes sense.
A man remembered never dies.