How to troll crankbaits for summertime crappie - by Brad Wiegmann

Forget about spring, fall and winter when it comes to crappie fishing. Summer is the best time to go crappie fishing. Crappie have migrated to offshore structure where they will stay until fall and are easily caught trolling crankbaits.

Successful crappie fishing trips begin with fishing in the right location. “During the summer months once the water temperature get about 80 degrees in June or July, an angler should always fish the main channel of the lake in the deeper water. That’s where the crappie have moved to and where they feed,” said Beaver Lake crappie guide Peyton Usrey.



For Usrey it’s easy to pick a lure when it comes to summertime crappie fishing. His go-to lure is an Arkie Lures (www.arkielures.com) Crappie Crankbait in the 350 series. Crankbaits are easy to fish and even easier to keep alive than minnows in the hot summer months.

According to Usrey anglers should pick what color crankbait depending on water clarity. “When the water clarity is murky, I will use a bream color pattern with chartreuse, blue, gold, orange and even some red hooks on it so crappie can see it better or the red craw color pattern. In clear water or on bluebird days, I like to use chrome colored crankbaits like chrome clown,” said Usrey.

When trolling crankbaits, Usrey trolls with his electric trolling motor around 1.5- to 1.9-mph with 85 feet of line out which will keep an Arkie Lures 350 Series crankbait around 15 feet deep. Usrey uses a baitcasting reel with a built-in line counter. This helps him and his clients put the correct amount of line out every time. Normally for line he uses 12 pound test monofilament, but will go to a lighter monofilament like 8 pound test to get the Arkie 350 crankbait down to 20 feet deep.

Usrey uses several different rods and lengths of rods when trolling crankbaits. In the bow, he uses two rods on each side. He puts a longer rod ahead of a shorter rod on both sides to keep the lures and rods from tangling. Out the aft of the boat, he uses short 6- or 6 ½-foot rods.

One popular rod when trolling crankbaits is B’n’M Poles (www.bnmpoles.com) Pro Staff Trolling Rods. These have been redesigned with new Dyna-Flow guides for better performance and stainless inserts means guide inserts will never pop-out. Lightweight and durable Pro Staff Trolling Rods are available in 8-, 10-, 12-, 14- or 16-feet in length.

Usually, Usrey will troll with 4 rods when by himself on the bow of the boat, but will add additional rods out the aft when clients get in the boat. He employs two Driftmaster (www.driftmaster.com) #T-250-H series T-bar system. This system has a super strong 1 ½-inch diameter vertical stem tube and T-bar where four #210-H Li’l Pro Rod Holders are attached. In the aft, Usrey uses a T-5100 Troll Master it’s able to hold several rod holders as he trolls.

During the summertime the thermocline determines where crappie are located. Seeking the cooler water temperatures and schools of baitfish around a thermocline crappie will suspend over the main river channel. In the summer months a thermocline will appear on most marine electronic units as a cloud like echo, however, the depth of a thermocline depends on the body of water you are fishing.

One last thing about trolling crankbaits to catch crappie in the summertime is that anyone can do it out of any boat making it the perfect way to spend a day out on the water with the family.