Originally Posted by
possum1
Trolling is probably as different as the people and places that people fish. I will be glad to help you if I can, just remember that these are my methods, they are in no way meant to be the only methods. I am sure others will chime in with helpful tips.
Basically trolling with crankbaits is an excellent way to locate fish (not just crappie), and cover a lot of water. Find an area you know to have crappie, choose lures that will run at various depths, say 6-16 ft., Bomber, Norman, Rapale,Rebel and others all make good lures for this. Color is a matter of what works on the water you fish, generally whatever color of tube baits you catch them on is a good place to start. Chartreuse, shad, chrome all are favorites.
Rods and reels are a matter of personal preference (I use 6-7ft. medium action, with baitcasting reels, run upon a lot of stripers and Big catfish doing this, and 8-10 lb. test line). Try to run as many rods as possible, different lures and colors, speed will vary, sometimes they want it fast as much as 3-4 mph, at other times as slow as you can go. I generally run 1-1.5 mph, vary line length as this can greatly affect depth. Above all experiment, see what works for you.
I have found this to be a very good way to catch keeper fish, I hardly ever catch a non keeper, 10in. in East Tennessee where I fish. Above all have confidence. It WILL catch fish!!! Hope this helps, if I can answer any questions let me know. This is a great board, the knowledge of these guys is amazing. Possum1