Trolling Question

[mroe]

I've always just still fished for Crappie. But I see people trolling and have read some articles about people who do it, but I still don't have a clear picture of how it's done. If your using a smail 1/8 or 1/16 oz jig, how in the world do you keep them down when trolling? These guys are saying, that they go around one mile an hour or so,.... it takes a 1/8 or 1/16 oz jig long enough to get down let alone trying to keep it at any depth when you are move. So how's it REALLY done?

[Jumping Cholla Jigs]

It can vary for each size jig you are trying to use but here is a very accurate setup that we use to great success...

Fish with 6 pound smoke fire line and tie two 1/8 oz jigs (we use Kalin's 2" grubs mostly on them) about 20 inches apart. With 40' of line out and trolling at 1 mph (gps) your baits will be at 12 to 14 feet depending on current and other minor variances in speed etc. 50' of line and your at 16'. This formula DOES NOT work with mono line as the friction from the mono will bring the bait more shallow and the mono has more bouyancy. The same speed and setup with mono and you may need 100' of line out to reach 12 feet. Heavy mono and you will not be able to get the lure down unless you slow way down in which case you will also not get as many bites.

[dwightparks]

The key to trolling is a variable speed trolling motor. You can slow down enough to get your jigs as deep as you want. The majority of the people who troll are using these motors. Best thing you will ever own on a boat.

[CrappieHusker]

Also besides varying the speed that you troll, you will find that you will get a lot of hits when you make a turn due to the jigs both slowing down and going deeper. This works for not only crappie but any other fish you are trolling for!

[Missed Again]

There's another Crappie Fishing site out there, Crappie Pro I think, that advertises several how to do it books for $10-$12 each. They are poorly written when compared to most, but are full of very good advice as the writers are Crappie fishermen. One is strickly on slow trolling, others on Crankbaits, etc. In the slow trolling one they suggest 1/2 oz sinkers to keep two jigs down.

[Missed Again]

It's Crappie Monster, get them all, they are full of good practical advice.

[SteveJ]

Here is one article from among others from the top of the page here. Plus the book about Capps/Coleman "Winning Crappie Secrets" about their method of slow vertical trolling is good. "Monster Crappie" had more than one style trolling in it, both are by Tim Huffman and can get them here: http://www.monstercrappie.com/Products.cfm

http://www.crappie.com/articles/spider.htm

[PanMan_VA]

I troll using a Capps & Coleman rig with a 1 ounce barrel sinker. I have 1/16 ounce jigs on both leaders and can keep them down 20 feet deep or deeper while moving .7-.8 mph and the line is 15° or less from vertical.

[Blue Duck]

I troll crankbaits and go slow. I mostly use a small Rebel Minnow with my electric motor on 1 or 2. The minnow goes down about 4 to 5 feet or add a large split shot and go down 6 or 7 feet. Deeper than that I troll a Bandit.

[jlaughlin72]

mroe, check out this thread, it may clear up alot for you on this subject.
http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=25941