Professional Crappie Anglers

[Mr.Crappie]

How many crappie anglers post or look at this site Crappie.com on a regular basis that fish crappie tournaments? How many actual anglers out there travel more than 100 miles to fish a tournament? How many crappie anglers would fish for 30,000.00 per tournament that would pay down 15 places 15th paying 500 cash first paying 10,000.00 cash? How many anglers would pay there entree fees up front at the start of the year to protect your investment and guaranty a pro spot in the trail. How many days do most crappie anglers have time to take off to fish tournaments or travel to another state or states? The maddness behind all of this is that i would like to see crappie anglers acroos America make a statement that we have a real professional Crappie tour. you would have to earn your way to classic and it would be rewarding and prestigous to make the Classic. I really don't get a great feeling when someone mentions crappie tournaments, it's a jack pot tournament every week and you just donate to the local angler that lives on the tournament lake. But when you pay your fees up front and have several tournaments though out the year then a classic. You protect your investment because everyone is on the same playing field. yes I'm Wally Marshall and i would just like to see a actual Pro crappie tour just like BASS and FLW, i know tournaments are not for everyone and i support weekend fisherman just the same, but i would like to see our sport grow. I have been fishing these jack pot tournaments for several years since 1986 and it's all still the same , if you have any comments about a professional Crappie tour you can contact me at [email protected] i would like to thank all the crappie anglers out there that support this site. Best Fishes Wally Marshall

[FalconSmitty]

Thank you for your hard work in promoting my favorite sport fish. The sport is growing but has a long way to go to get to the status of any of the major bass tours. Those guys and the Bass men of our favorite lakes still have a stigma about crappie fishing. We are looked at as second class fishermen/women. This is far from true. The average crappie fisherman doesn't have a new shiny boat with a powerful motor, fifty dollar rods, Auto pilot trolling motors, or custom rod holders. They are just people that love to catch those silver beauties. Some only know how to catch them in spring and fall. This website is a great tool for those of us that fish for crappie. I for one have learned with each visit and I am sure others will tell you the same. Some of the greatest fishermen/women in the world contribute to this site. That is what makes it so special. Most of us can only dream of fishing a pro tour because of the money it would cost us and the time away from what we do for a living. You yourself have kept your day job and benifits. You have worked hard to promote our sport and have been a spokesman. You, if anyone, can get this tour started. The only negative I see is maybe the best crappie fishermen/women will not be on the tour, only those that have the cash to invest in the sport. Money is the machine that drives the sponsers and they have to know they will see a large enough profit to justify the expense. Look at the fishing shows on the tube....Most any fish except the rare crappie show and then it is only a small segment of a show. Like you eating minnow flavored vienas. The big dogs you need for this kind of tour are slow to put the money behind the crappie.Good luck Mr. Marshall.
Tight Lines to ya!
Smitty

[FalconSmitty]

below is the link and the story about Mr. Marshall. He truly wants our sport to grow and has worked a long time to get it where it is today.
They Call Him Mister Crappie
written by Ray Sasser
For 15 years Wally Marshall has worked to elevate the status of the unsung fish species he loves to catch. Over 75 items in the Bass Pro Shops Master catalog have "Mr. Crappie's" name on them. Wally Marshall was walking into Bass Pro Shops in Grapevine, Texas, one day recently when he met a shopper coming out the door, carrying one of Marshall's signature "Mr. Crappie" fishing rods."That's a nice rod you've got there," remarked the affable Marshall."I'm proud of it," admitted the total stranger. "I generally fish for bass, but the bass fishing has been kind of slow and the crappie are biting.""I'm Wally Marshall," said Marshall, sticking out his hand. "I designed that rod."The fisherman shook hands, then looked at Marshall's signature on his newly purchased rod, then looked back at Marshall. "Are you really?" he asked, though Marshall, not exactly a shrinking violet, was wearing a Mr. Crappie cap and a Mr. Crappie shirt.
It's not unthinkable that Marshall wouldn't be recognized by a fishing fan, even one who had just purchased a Mr. Crappie product. Marshall looks more like a plumber than a fishing pro. In fact, he is a plumber. For 16 years Marshall has been a plumber for the Garland Independent School District. These days, he's the plumbing supervisor, but he's never been known as Mr. Plumber.The new Bass Pro Shop catalog includes 75 different items marketed under the Mr. Crappie label. Why is the biggest name in panfishing still holding down a regular job?"It's like they used to tell new country-and-western singers," said the pragmatic fisherman whose accent that would be right at home in Billy Bob's. "Yeah, you can sing, but don't quit your day job. I ain't quittin' my day job."Professional fishing is dominated by high-profile bass pros. For 15 years Marshall has worked to elevate his personal status and the status of the unsung fish species that he loves to catch. Explaining why they would not pay him for an endorsement, a major tackle company as recently as 1996 told Marshall that he wasn't exactly Bill Dance. Dance is a former tournament bass pro whose long-running Bill Dance Outdoors is the most popular fishing show on television.Fishing promotion is a classic game of economics.Bass fishermen pay $30,000 for a boat, $400 for a rod and reel and $7 for a single lure.Crappie fishermen are more apt to fish from a flatbottom aluminum boat with a cane pole for tackle and a bucket of minnows for bait. An expensive crappie lure is a 50-cent jig. An expensive crappie rod costs $50.Bass fishermen catch-and-release. Crappie fishermen catch and eat. High-profile tournament trails like the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society have made stars of Dance, Roland Martin, Rick Clunn, Denny Brauer, Larry Nixon and Kevin VanDam.The National Geographic Society published a book about Florida tournament pro Shaw Grigsby's insightful approach to bass fishing.Spring is Marshall's favorite time to fish for speckled panfish.When Marshall paid his own way to a 1988 fishing tackle retailer's show in Las Vegas, nobody knew who he was.Manufacturers kept mistaking him for bass pro Woo Daves, who shares Marshall's bowling ball physique.
Joe Hall was one fishing tackle manufacturer who immediately recognized Marshall's potential. Hall owns Blakemore Lures and saw in Marshall a unique talent."There was just something about Wally that made me confident he could help us," said Hall. "I worked a deal with him, and I went to Bass Pro Shop the next spring and told them I wanted Wally to do a seminar during their big annual promotion in Springfield. They'd never heard of Wally Marshall, and they said no." Hall encouraged Marshall to attend the Springfield event, anyway, then watched the seminar schedule for an opportunity. When a vacancy came up, Hall used his influence to get Marshall in front of the crowd."Not only did Wally do a great job with the seminar," said Hall, "but when the demonstration was over, he led the crowd down the aisles and across the store like the Pied Piper and started selling them lures like there was no tomorrow."Wally looks like a good old boy, but he has a mind like a elephant he never forgets a useful piece of information, and he has an amazing understanding of the fishing public. He understands the fisherman better than anyone I've known in this business.
"Wally will never try to sell a fisherman a bad product. I've seen him turn down a reel endorsement that would have made him a considerable amount of money. He turned it down because the reel was a piece of junk, and Wally didn't want his name on a piece of junk."Marshall wears a stainless steel Rolex watch that was a gift from Joe Hall, a fishing industry veteran not known for lavish displays.Marshall was born in Linwood, Calif., but his parents moved to Garland in 1959, when he was 3. Both his mother and father got jobs with Texas Instruments. It was Marshall's grandparents who taught him to fish. Before Lake Ray Hubbard filled, he roamed the creeks between Garland and Rockwall, generally fishing with a cane pole and a red bobber. Marshall learned to wade for crappie at Ray Hubbard, Lavon and Tawakoni with his mentors, Jack Caldwell and the late Truell Peacock.Now, when Marshall fishes for crappie at Ray Hubbard, he does so from a fancy bass boat with a 200 horsepower Mercury outboard. If he had to buy the rig, it would cost over $30,000, but the boat is furnished to Mr. Crappie for free.On an April day when the wind wasn't blowing at Ray Hubbard, Marshall stopped at the ramp to give advice to a fellow crappie fisherman. The fellow was using a Mr. Crappie autographed rod. Marshall knew most of the six or seven anglers wading for crappie in the cattails near the boat ramp. He likewise knew the fishermen crowding around one of the lake's better-known hot spots north of the ramp. Spring is Marshall's favorite time to fish for crappie. He likes to wade, jigging Road Runner jigs with a rod and reel that he designed. Marshall calls the technique "Wally-socking," a personalized spinoff of the term "doodlesocking," a style of long-rod jigging used for a variety of species.Marshall has won several tournaments by Wally-socking, which requires a deft touch to catch fish that are spawning in water as shallow as 2 feet. In fact, he was Wally-socking when he won the first crappie tournament he entered, a 1987 Crappiethon USA tournament at Cedar Creek Lake.Crappie tournaments are two-angler team events. Since 1992, Marshall's regular tournament partner has been Jeff Heuman of Oak Point. They've qualified 19 times for various crappie classics.The problem with crappie tournaments is that tournament circuits tend to come and go. Industry support for crappie tournaments is not on a par with bass tournaments, and prize money is a fraction of what anglers win in a big-bass tournament.Marshall and his partners have won a dozen tournaments. His biggest tournament payday was $10,000. Though Marshall enjoys fishing for anything that'll bite, he decided to specialize in crappie after the response to seminars he did for Barlow's Tackle Shop in Richardson."Those seminars drew standing-room-only crowds, and I realized that crappie fishermen were starved for information about their favorite sport," said Marshall. "Crappie fishing is like a secret religion that people keep for themselves. Fishermen don't release legal-sized crappie. There's only so many crappie to go around, and the successful fishermen don't like to share their secrets."
In 1993, Marshall started calling himself Mr. Crappie and sold a few jigs under the Mr. Crappie label. In 1996, he trademarked the name. Back when Marshall was laboring in anonymity, a fishing tackle rep called him "a legend in your own mind." Mr. Crappie shrugs when he tells the story. If you're not legend in your own mind, he figures, you'll never be a legend in other people's minds.
Wally Marshall at a Glance
Age: 44
Hometown: Garland.
Nickname: Mr. Crappie.
Profession: Plumbing supervisor for the Garland Independent School District, tournament angler and fishing promoter.
Wife: Amy, married 10 years, sometimes answers to name "Mrs. Crappie"
Favorite lake: "I've got a bunch of them, but if my life depended on catching a crappie tomorrow, I'd choose Lake Fork."
Favorite fishing style: Wally-socking -- wading for springtime crappies.
Biggest crappie: 2 pounds, 15 ounces (twice, once at Lake Fork and once at Lake Tawakoni). Both fish were 17.5 inches long.
Best fishing day: Lake Livingston in a 1992 downpour when Marshall and his fishing partner caught 20 crappie that weighed 27 pounds and won a tournament.
Tournament victories: 12.
Seminars per year: 30
Theory on limits: "I think the crappie limit in most states is too liberal. Take my home state of Texas, for instance. Instead of 25 fish per day with a 10-inch minimum size, the limit should be 15 per day with an 11-inch minimum size. You'd see a lot bigger fish."
Favorite sports other than crappie fishing: Quail and dove hunting a .410, and varmint hunting.
Favorite television shows: Professional bull riding, Jimmy Houston Outdoors, Bill Dance Outdoors and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? "My childhood hero was Don Wallace, who had an outdoors show out of Oklahoma called Wallace Wildlife. I used to watch Don Wallace every week and hope he'd draw my name out of his hopper. I didn't realize you had to send your name in before you could get drawn."
Favorite music: Country and western and Roy D. Mercer humor tapes.

[Roberta]

Make it one man/one pole like BASS and I'll applaud your effort. We dropped our membership in the ACA because of spider rigging in tournaments. Anyone can catch fish if they throw out enough lines. Making it a finesse sport might get crappie fishermen some respect, IMO. - Roberta

[jigdragger]

Here we go. This will turn into a fuss.

[GABoy]

Make it one man/one pole like BASS and I'll applaud your effort. We dropped our membership in the ACA because of spider rigging in tournaments. Anyone can catch fish if they throw out enough lines. Making it a finesse sport might get crappie fishermen some respect, IMO. - Roberta

Not need for it to be a fuss, we are allowed to have difference of opinions about the sport. I have never ONCE abuse a creel limit or rod regulation at any lake. I am pleased that Crappie USA has reduced the rods to 8 per team, but I don't think it needs to go to the extreme of 1 rod per person. I completely disagree. I completely respect your opinion, I just a different mindset of the sport.

Not anyone can catch fish if they throw out enough lines, you have to know the patterns of crappie and given that pattern the best presentation to get the bite. Some people don't even understand where to look to find crappie, so they can have out 50 lines and still not catch one. Of course, they wouldn't be on the tour to begin with, but that is another story.

In order to be a successful crappie fishermen, IMO, you must be able to adapt to what the fish are doing. Which would involve including several different tactics to your arsenal.

Not any one tactic may work on a given day, you have to let the fish dictate what they want that day.

Some tactics that I use tournament fishing are:

Long-line trolling (Pulling)
Spider-rigging (Pushing)
Dock-shooting (Pitching)
Fly-n-Float (Livebait)

I actually believe it would make a crappie tournament more fun to watch to see all these different tactics being employed, and not only that but with more than one rod when trolling. It would help to see how the "Pro's" handle multiple hook-ups, and see how quickly the lead can change if you land a few good fish at the same time. I believe it makes it more interesting.

Just my opinion for what it's worth.

[rango]

Make it one man/one pole like BASS and I'll applaud your effort. We dropped our membership in the ACA because of spider rigging in tournaments. Anyone can catch fish if they throw out enough lines. Making it a finesse sport might get crappie fishermen some respect, IMO. - Roberta

You should have joined the spider riggers in the tournaments. its a fantastic way to catch crappie. It aint like they slaughtering the crappie populations. theres limits set in most cases and in some cases states dont have limits on crappie. they are a very prolific fish. bass fishermen have small limits and fishing with one rod will make the day last longer. bass are not as prolific as crappie so they need to be regulated tighter. trying to compare bass fishing to crappie fishing is a loosing effort..theres no comparison. spider rigging, trolling and night stalking are all methods that evolved because fishermen are allowed to use multiple set ups. I think the guys that live in states that allow you to use multiple rigs are extremely lucky and if youve never fished using the above methods you have missed out on a really fine fishing experience. here in sc we are allowed multiple set ups if fishing out of a boat.. i think the bank anglers are limited to two rods each. Thats one i cannot figger but thats the way it is here. I cannot imagine being in a state that restricts you to one rod per angler in use at any given time. here in the south, where so much of our crappie fishing is done using the above methods it would probably cause riots if the game depts tried to make crappie fishing a "finesse" sport and limit us to one rod per angler. Its nauseating to think of something like that happening...

[fishintiger]

Not anyone can catch fish if they throw out enough lines, you have to know the patterns of crappie and given that pattern the best presentation to get the bite.

I can agree with that. I spent 3 days at Reelfoot crappie fishing last year and I think we caught a total of 10 fish. We couldn't get a bite to save our lives.

Now as for the crappie tournaments. I would be interested but the money would keep me out of them. Well I guess my lack of knowledge to catch crappie outside of spring/spawn might also keep me from placing high but you have to learn some time right? Would you be allowed to use live bait or would it be a artifical tournament only like BASS and FLW.

As for Wally Marshall's rods and reels. I have one and I loved it. I got a snag last year with it and stupidly tightened the line down real tight and striped the handle seat so now it's just hanging out at home not being used.

[Barnacle Bill]

I don't fish pro tournaments and have no desire to. I also fish with multiple poles spider rigged because the states I fish in says I can. But, if one of these powers to be for crappie tournaments says, OK, you can use 8 poles per team. Isn't that like a slap in the face for those states that limit you to less. They can't have a national tournament. Or do they modify the pole limit for them? Just curious.

[GABoy]

I don't fish pro tournaments and have no desire to. I also fish with multiple poles spider rigged because the states I fish in says I can. But, if one of these powers to be for crappie tournaments says, OK, you can use 8 poles per team. Isn't that like a slap in the face for those states that limit you to less. They can't have a national tournament. Or do they modify the pole limit for them? Just curious.

You have to modify your regulations to follow the state/lake regulations. For example at some lakes in AL, you can only fish with 3 rods each for a total of 6 instead of 8. Crappie USA goes with 8 rods, unless the lake dictates otherwise, then the lake regulations overrule their precedent.