• Long Lining Early Springtime Crappie by Brad Wiegmann



    Early springtime crappie fishing trips can be frustrating. Crappie are just starting to migrate from winter habitat and staging to prespawn areas. Often these crappie will be out in the channel following schools of shad moving to the back of creeks.

    Few techniques are more productive for catching crappie during this period. Long lining happens to be one that not only catches numbers of crappie, but big crappie. “Long lining is my favorite technique during this period because it lets me cover lots of water with several lures fast,” said Lee Pitts (www.weisslakecrappieguidealabama.com), Bobby Garland Crappie Baits pro and Neely Henry Lake, Weiss Lake and Lake Guntersville fishing guide.

    “Crappie are following and suspending around the bait as it moves towards the backend of coves in creek arms. The key to catching them is intercepting them as they get there. Here on Weiss Lake in North Alabama, there are several major creeks where crappie will go before moving up to spawn, “said Pitts.

    Pitts likes long lining once the water temperature starts getting around 47 degrees. “Crappie will really get to biting and catching limits here on Weiss Lake is easy,” said Pitts. A limit of 10-inch crappie on Weiss Lake is 30 per angler.

    During late February and March, Pitts noted that 2- to 3-pound crappie will be caught on Weiss Lake (www.northalabama.org) long lining. “More and bigger crappie seem to be coming out of Weiss Lake, I think that’s because of the 10-inch length limit,” said Pitts.

    When long lining, Pitts isn’t really looking to fish stumps, lay downs or brush piles. Instead, Pitts is focusing on the schools of shad and watching for crappie. Once he finds them, Pitts will put the lures at the same depth. “During this period the crappie aren’t in the wood, but seem to use it more as an ambush point if there is any around,” said Pitts.



    Depending on which boat Pitts is guiding out of, he will pull the lures from the front or back deck of his boat. “I will typically long line with nine foot rods with Lew’s 100 Speed Spool reels rigged up with High Vis 6-pound Gama fishing line in Driftmaster rod holders,” said Pitts.

    As for lures, Pitts uses Bobby Garland Crappie Baits (www.bobbygarlandcrappie.com) Baby Shad or Sla Slay’R. “I like to use Blue Grass, Monkey Milk or Cajun Cricket in the Baby Shad and Bubble Gum Chartreuse, or Black and Chartreuse in the Slab’R,” said Pitts. (Click on http://youtu.be/ocSEZ2RLDec to see Youtube video with Lee Pitts long lining on Weiss Lake in North Alabama for crappie).



    Depending on how fast the current is and depth, Pitts will use a 1/16- or 1/24-ounce Mo’ Glo Glow-in-the-Dark jig head. “Obviously, I use the heavier jig head in deep water, but the heavier jig head will also keep the lure in the strike zone when trolling fast to cover water or in any kind of current. Depending on the conditions, I will also use two 1/24-ounce jig heads spacing them out about ten inches apart,” said Pitts.

    One thing Pitts does to his lures before fishing with them is put some Mo’ Glo Slab Jam on every lure. “Mo’ Glo Slab Jam entices the crappie to bite when they are just kissing. Once they get a taste, crappie will really lock their lips down on a lure and hold on,” said Pitts.

    Normally, Pitts likes to troll around .7- to 1-mph when long lining. “The key to getting crappie to bite when long lining is put the lure right on the crappie. Once you get your lure at the right depth make sure you’re watching for the bite. Sometimes it will be a hard pull taking your tip down or other times just a light tap on the end of your rod tip,” said Pitts.

    The best part about long lining is it’s easy to do. Find the shad and crappie in the creek channels then set out the rods with heavy enough jig heads to keep them in the strike zone. For Pitts, long lining in early springtime is a great way to load up the boat and limit out on crappie.

    Here is the video mentioned in the article.


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    Comments 23 Comments
    1. Dave and Lynn's Avatar
      Dave and Lynn -
      Great info.
    1. RogerA's Avatar
      RogerA -
      Nice article. Will try as soon as weather warms up!
    1. jackie53's Avatar
      jackie53 -
      Thanks Good info.
    1. Scouts Out's Avatar
      Scouts Out -
      thanks
    1. Billbob's Avatar
      Billbob -
      good read
    1. Eagle 1's Avatar
      Eagle 1 -
      nice job .
    1. Luvfatslabs's Avatar
      Luvfatslabs -
      Thanks for sharing this info
    1. theygotaeat's Avatar
      theygotaeat -
      Thanks love me some LL
    1. Speckie's Avatar
      Speckie -
      good information thanks
    1. jeff1979's Avatar
      jeff1979 -
      Great info. Gona give it a try ad soon as this ice gets off my local waters
    1. RetiredRR's Avatar
      RetiredRR -
      Haven't found an open launch ramp in the DFW area in a while. Thank goodness I'm a kayaker. Lakes are drying up.
    1. Muskrat's Avatar
      Muskrat -
      Good article - thanks.
    1. CUonthelake's Avatar
      CUonthelake -
      Learned a lot thanks for post an video
    1. timmyinneb's Avatar
      timmyinneb -
      Thanks very good article gonna try it.
    1. Drifty4's Avatar
      Drifty4 -
      Come on spring, I am ready to go.
    1. kickingback's Avatar
      kickingback -
      Nice!
    1. Bowhunter2's Avatar
      Bowhunter2 -
      Thanks, going to try that this year.
    1. specktacklure's Avatar
      specktacklure -
      Great article!
    1. G Daddy's Avatar
      G Daddy -
      nice article ,i love long linning fishing .
    1. PatrickDominick's Avatar
      PatrickDominick -
      Watching fishing videos when snow is falling and longing to fish.
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