Where to start....

[supertech1979]

Hello Everyone,

I live in central KY and recently decided that I wanted to focus on Crappie fishing. I grew up fishing for bass and other fish in the sunfish family so not new to fishing, just new to crappie fishing. I almost always used spinning reels and have never learned to use baitcasters as I could do what I wanted to with the spinning reel from the bank. Fast forward to now, I have a boat and am looking to outfit it with some gear to help with my goal, my goal is to keep some fish in the freezer and have a lot of fun with family and friends fishing with them.

My current setup is a 2019 Starcraft 2000 Limited 20ft deckboat with a 175hp SHO Yamaha outboard. It has 2 fishing seats up front with a live well between them. I have a 24V Powerdrive trolling motor with an onboard charger. There is a HDS Live 9 at the helm that has 2D sonar, down imaging, and side scan. The boat has pole holders already installed randomly around the rails of the boat as the last person used it for catfishing. These do not allow for adjusting, they can only be pointed outward in 1 direction and are fixed. I did buy a T-100 driftmaster spider rig (4 pole) T post recently and thought about installing in the front of the boat for spider rigging. We did a test run with 4 poles out the front this weekend, double minnow rig on each and the only action we got was losing our double rigs to snags on the down timber in the water.

What would you suggest for me to start before I spend more money?

Approach:
-Spider Rigging?
-Slip bobber fishing?
-Single pole fishing?
-Long Lining? (I find this one most interesting for covering large amounts of water quickly)

Electronics:
-Do I need a fish finder at the bow? I would assume I wouldn't if I were Long Lining but would for spider rigging??
-Should I look at forward facing sonar already or wait?

Common Issues:
-I have a hard time marking fishing and then staying on them, any advise?
-How do you go about locating Crappie? Side Imaging?

I appreciate all your help.
Nate

[6poundtest]

Welcome to the board, Nate. I single pole cast to cover when riding on my partners boat, working weed edges and cover, probably similar in concept to the bass fishing you're familiar with but with crappie baits rather than bass baits.
When in my own rowboat I'm a troller, I think what they call long lining, but I just call it trolling.
3 rods leaned out over the back seat and transom while I row around, covering lots of water and looking for fish. I do have a side imaging unit in front of me as I row along and often move the boat over to hopefully drag my baits over any schools I find.
I'll leave it to the others to offer opinions base on your great info above. Thanks for putting all that relevant info in your post; it really helps us understand where you're at.

[supertech1979]

Appreciate the feedback and thrilled to be part of the group. I look forward to the wealth of knowledge of this forum.

Welcome to the board, Nate. I single pole cast to cover when riding on my partners boat, working weed edges and cover, probably similar in concept to the bass fishing you're familiar with but with crappie baits rather than bass baits.
When in my own rowboat I'm a troller, I think what they call long lining, but I just call it trolling.
3 rods leaned out over the back seat and transom while I row around, covering lots of water and looking for fish. I do have a side imaging unit in front of me as I row along and often move the boat over to hopefully drag my baits over any schools I find.
I'll leave it to the others to offer opinions base on your great info above. Thanks for putting all that relevant info in your post; it really helps us understand where you're at.

[CrappiePappy]

Considering where you live, I'll assume you'll be fishing at Green River Lake a large portion of the time. That said, for the most part (as I've seen) Spider Rigging is a year 'round method, as is Single Pole pitchin' (w/ Livescope) ... while Long Line Trolling seems to be more of a "early season" (pre-spawn to spawn) method.

I would give much consideration to "forward facing sonar" ... but, in lieu of having that, I'd spend a lot of time with the sonar unit you already have and mark brushpiles you come across.

When you're fishing a pile and get blown or drift away from it ... having placed a marker buoy well off to the side of the pile would help you regain your position.

I don't "spider rig" ... but, if I were to start, I wouldn't go with double minner rigs. Single minner rigs are gonna get you just as many fish, IMHO. Whether you rig with hook/sinker/minner, jig/minner, or jig/plastics/minner is your choice. With a 1/2oz or 3/4oz weight on the main line above your rigging, you can drop that line down real quick and the heavy weight of the sinker can sometimes pop the hook free from the snag.

I'd also advise you to post further questions on the KY Forum, for more related info concerning how to fish Green. My most recent post there will give you some insight as to what the fish are doing currently ... but, cooler weather bringing on cooler water temps will likely kick the feeding mode up a notch or two.

to Crappie.com, and Luck2ya on your upcoming adventures.

[supertech1979]

Appreciate the help, hopefully I can start catching some fish lol. I peeked at the KY forum and it looks very good, I think I'll go over and post a new thread over there to get some specifics.

Welcome to the board, Nate. I single pole cast to cover when riding on my partners boat, working weed edges and cover, probably similar in concept to the bass fishing you're familiar with but with crappie baits rather than bass baits.
When in my own rowboat I'm a troller, I think what they call long lining, but I just call it trolling.
3 rods leaned out over the back seat and transom while I row around, covering lots of water and looking for fish. I do have a side imaging unit in front of me as I row along and often move the boat over to hopefully drag my baits over any schools I find.
I'll leave it to the others to offer opinions base on your great info above. Thanks for putting all that relevant info in your post; it really helps us understand where you're at.