• The Bandits are coming for your crappie by Brad Wiegmann

    The bandits are coming to your lake and there’s nothing you can do about it. They are going to hook, land and keep your legal sized crappie. There’s nothing you can do about it.



    Beaver Lake crappie fishing guide Greg Robinson is leading the charge of crappie anglers venturing out and trolling with Bandit Lures, however, it’s a combination of tackle, techniques and skill that continues to put keeper crappie in Robinson’s boat. For Robinson it all starts once the water temperature gets to 75 degrees around June till the end of September. Early in June, Robinson will fish where the water is 12- to 15-feet deep then move to deeper water once a sustained thermocline sets up in 85 degrees or hotter water temperatures.

    On Beaver Lake the thermocline will normally be around 22-feet deep. Robinson likes to keep his crankbaits about 5 feet above the thermocline since crappie feed up on lures.


    To keep his Bandit Crankbaits (www.banditlures.com) in the strike zone Robinson will let 75- to 95-feet of line out from his reels. Depending on how much line he lets out will determine the depth a crankbait will dive. “Speed and amount of line let out from the reel will determine how deep a crankbait will dive,” said Robinson.

    Robinson utilizes mostly B’n’M Poles Trolling Rods (www.bnmpoles.com) when trolling crankbaits. He uses 6 rods with 3 on each side. The longest on each side 16 feet then 12 feet and a short 7 foot rod. The longest rod will have the longest length of fishing line out normally around 95 feet then the 12 foot rod with 85 feet out and 75 feet out on the 7 foot.


    Speed matters when trolling crankbaits for crappie. “I like to troll at 1.2- to 1.8-mph when trolling crankbaits for crappie and hardly ever vary from that speed,” said Robinson.



    When selecting colors, Robinson will pick more shad color crankbaits on sunny days. He especially likes chrome colored crankbaits after the sun gets up. Before the sun gets up, Robinson will fish with solid white or more shad colored crankbaits. During low light situations or in stained water, Robinson likes pink and other bright colored crankbaits.


    One tip Robinson gives is to use a snap by Thundermist Lures. “A snap allows the crankbait to have more movement when trolling and lets me change the color of crankbaits quicker,” said Robinson. Robinson also utilizes his Lowrance Gen3 touch unit linked into his MotorGuide trolling motor to control the boat’s direction and speed.


    It may be hot outside this summer, but don’t let that stop you from crappie fishing this summer. All you have to do is load your boat up with some Bandits and start idling around the flats early in the summer and then the old river channel as it gets towards the end of summer. It’s a great way to hook, land and keep some legal sized crappie.

    Comments 6 Comments
    1. gravelman6's Avatar
      gravelman6 -
      Some good information on cranking thanks for sharing the info and pictures.
    1. Redge's Avatar
      Redge -
      Thanks, I enjoyed the video and the information.


      Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com
    1. scrat's Avatar
      scrat -
      Wow! Lots of good cranking information. Thanks for sharing the video.
    1. jordanjones's Avatar
      jordanjones -
      I really like to hear other anglers thoughts on crankbait colors in the summer
    1. Mike1234's Avatar
      Mike1234 -
      Thanks for posting good information


      Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com
    1. Slab's Avatar
      Slab -
      Great article. Thanks for the write up.
  • .

BACK TO TOP