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Reply With QuoteAbsolutely !! You can also Push/Pull jigs/cranks, longline troll, & slow troll/drift flats or open water. (depending on pole length/strength, as it may vary some between these methods)Originally Posted by 1barnabus
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Keeper
spider rigger and trolling questions
im brand new to crappie fishing and have a driftmaster crowfoot on the front of my bass boat with six rod holders. i know spider rigging is primarly for sitting over brush piles but can i also troll slowly out the front as well?
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Absolutely !! You can also Push/Pull jigs/cranks, longline troll, & slow troll/drift flats or open water. (depending on pole length/strength, as it may vary some between these methods)
Keeper
im using 16 ft southern crappie rods.so what is the advantage of running the baits out the side of the boat
Crappie.com 3K Star General
Pulling out the side is about the same as pulling out of the back it gets the lures farther away from the boat. If you are pulling from the front of the boat setting a couple rods off the side lets you cover both pushing off the front and pulling / long lining simultaneously. Clear water, crowded fishing conditions and spooky fish are some of the reasons pulling baits 90 to 100 feet behind the boat works better than pushing them within the distance of the length of your poles from the bow.
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Yeah, and not only what Lonnie says ... but, you also avoid the lines getting into the trolling motor prop when you're going at a good speed.
If I'm going to be Pushing jigs kinda slow (say 0.4-0.7mph) I may use as little as 1/2oz barrel sinker on the main line. If I'm gonna have to Push them a bit faster, I may go up to a 1.5oz barrel sinker. My speed + weight + keeping the main line at about a 45deg angle means I can Push out the front w/o the main line getting into the TM prop. If that isn't working or I have to go faster ... I angle the rods out towards the side of the boat. And if I have a crank or two on my lines, I always angle the rods out so that there's at least 3-4ft of distance between lines. (even if I have to use varied rod lengths)
The biggest advantage in Pushing, over Longline, is being able to control the path of the jig better in shorter turns & S pattern runs. When you have 100+ feet of line out behind the boat Longlining, and you make a S pattern run thru an area with brush piles, by the time your jigs get to the spot where your boat was turning to avoid the brush ... the jig is still running straight forward towards where the boat currently is (and that could be right over or into the brush pile). When Pushing, you have weights on the line to gain depth & not nearly half as much line out ... so boat path control = jig path control. Spreading the rods out just gives you a wider path of jigs, keeps the line away from the TM prop, and more separation between lines (which may result in less tangles on turns & when reeling in fish).
Last time I took a pic of my boat/rod holder setup, I was Pushing jigs & cranks at about 1mph with 1.5oz sinkers. As you can see in the picture below, I had a 14' & 10' rod out the left side & a 14' & 6' rod out the right side. Even with 1.5oz weights, at that speed the lines were running at a angle that would have put them in the way of the TM prop if they were running out the front of the boat.
When Spider Rigging, you're not going anywhere near that fast & the weights you use are just to keep the lines as straight down as possible when moving ... so the rods can be pointed more forward & be closer together.
Keeper
spent 8 hours today and caught 12 good keepers and threw several back. the fish were on the bottom at 20ft. im running 3/8 oz sinkers but im not sure they are heavy enough for pushing.
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Depends on what speed you have to be going to get bites ... but, yeah the smallest I've used to Push with is 1/2oz (& heaviest is 1.5oz). I don't think my 1/2oz weight is quite enough for the 0.5-0.8mph speeds that I normally push jigs at, so this year I will likely use 1oz of weight as a minimum.
My buddy, Chucky, is a die-hard Spider Rigger ... and he uses 3/4oz weights just to Spider Rig with. When he Pushes (cranks) it's 2oz weights, period.
Keeper
what is the typical speed of pushing with a spider rig set up.im fishing from a bass boat and have no depth finder that can tell me speed,its just a motor guide with 1-4 postions.
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My typical speeds for "Pushing" are 0.6mph - 1mph (which on my 42lb Motorguide 5spd is #3 - #5) ... and that speed range depends on if I'm just using jigs, or if I'm using jigs & cranks. And of course my settings depend on how much wind there is & if I'm going from it or against it.
BUT, with no GPS/speed capabilities ... you would just have to test your speed settings to where your lines were at a 45deg angle (considering what size weight you're using & how much line you have out) so that you can determine at what depth you're jigs are running. If you can get a speed that keeps the lines at a 45deg angle, then to find out about how deep your jig is running you multiply the length of line out (below the surface) by 0.6 ---- so if you hold your rod up and let the weight come down to the butt of the rod, that's 16' ... then set your rod tip just about a foot off the surface of the water, which means you have 15' of line below the surface ... and if the angle of the line at the speed you're going is about 45deg, then your weight/jig would be running at about 9' deep. (15x0.6=9)
If you wanted the jig deeper, you strip off 1ft of line for every 7" of depth you want to gain. Or you can do the math in your head, like I usually do, and add 5ft of line out for every 3ft of added depth (20x0.6=12) (25x0.6=15)
I like the 5ft increment measurements for a couple of reasons : easy to do the math in my head, and the fish are subject to having at least a 3ft depth range (or more) in their schooling area ... so my jig will likely present itself to some portion of the school.
Now, none of these figures are "exact" ... so don't fuss at me if you hang your jig on the bottom in 13fow, when you thought your jig should be running 12ft deep.
Trophy King
Are you guys using an egg sinker for the weight or other types. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on some Southern Crappie Rods and I think pushing will be something I will want to try. I am not to good at sitting still, I like to move.
