Sardis Lake

[Pops]

Seems like the hot weather has everybody's reports on hold. I did get out last Friday before the storms came and trolled up a decent mess of crappie with Bandits.
The preferred color was red, and I only had a couple of short fish, best fish was about 15". I was trolling in the standing timber area below Hurricane.

I had tried the area a couple of times before, and got mostly small fish.

[sacalait steve]

Seems like the hot weather has everybody's reports on hold. I did get out last Friday before the storms came and trolled up a decent mess of crappie with Bandits.
The preferred color was red, and I only had a couple of short fish, best fish was about 15". I was trolling in the standing timber area below Hurricane.

I had tried the area a couple of times before, and got mostly small fish.

Pops i'm from Louisiana and would like to know what size bandids you use
for crappie trolling?

[PerchHead]

Seems like the hot weather has everybody's reports on hold. I did get out last Friday before the storms came and trolled up a decent mess of crappie with Bandits.
The preferred color was red, and I only had a couple of short fish, best fish was about 15". I was trolling in the standing timber area below Hurricane.

I had tried the area a couple of times before, and got mostly small fish.

I usually jig fish with B&M crappie poles, but I have been trying to learn more about trolling with crankbaits. What kinds of poles do you use with the bandits and what lb. test line. Are you trolling in open water or in stump fields?
I fish the Barnett Reservoir.

Thanks

[Pops]

O.K., here's my standard Bandit setup that seems to work on Sardis. I'm using 7' rods, any old casting reel with 10# line. I tried 8#, but catfish or stripes can break you off. I built a rod holder for the back deck that will hold (1) rod horizontally out either side, and (2) rods vertically in the middle. I just cast the Bandits a reasonable distance behind the boat, and pull them about 1.5 MPH with my trolling motor. I use a GPS to keep the boat speed fairly constant. If the action is good, or I'm making a lot of turns to go back thru fish, I am usually down to the (2) horizontal rods to prevent tangles.
The Bandits are 300 series with the metal ball in the bill. Best colors seem to be pearl, red/orange craw, chartruese, black, and a special Sardis color, pink!
When you start, just experiment with colors until you find what they want that day. It will vary with sun, clouds, water, etc.
I usually troll around timber in 18'-20' of water, but other folks troll in open water that is over 40' deep. Obviously some crappie suspend at the same depth all over Sardis lake. I think the Bandits are running about 10'-12' deep. Let me know if the technique works other than in N. MS lakes.

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

Do you recomend any particular areas for this time of year? Thanks!

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