• An awesome ten hours on the water with Wally Marshall

    I was invited to Lake Fork, Texas, to a Media event where new products were being introduced to us by Lews, Gene Larew Lures, Jewel Bait Company and Numa Sport Optics. I had an absolutely wonderful time checking out their products, mingling with outdoors writers and fishing with professional fishermen. One of those fishermen was none other than my friend Wally Marshall. I've had many phone conversations with Wally over the years, but I have never had the pleasure of meeting him in person. I did not just get to meet him, I was able to fish with him for over 10 hours. Yes, I spent 10 straight hours on the water Crappie fishing with Wally Marshall and no-one ended up in the drink! lol

    Just kidding Wally. I had a great time with Mr. Crappie and I've gained a new found respect for him as a fisherman. He really is a true master of his trade. A finesse fisherman that can out fish the best of them, and I'll tell you why, just read on. You can sit right next to Wally, fish the exact same water, with the exact same rod, reel and jig, follow every bit of his advise and he'll out fish you every time, just like what happened to me.




    It was a calm foggy morning. We arrived at our first fishing spot, bridge pillars in about 30 feet of water, and as soon as I threw my jig next to the pillar, Wally said to let it drop and tighten the line a bit so you can feel a strike. Bang, I caught a nice crappie. We even got some double headers, where both Wally and I caught fish at the same time. What a hoot.



    Instead of side arming our bait, we shoot it, just like you would dock shoot. We were using seven foot long, one piece Wally Marshall rods (of course). These seven footers were very nice and being one piece, when you shoot with them, they didn't separate as some 2 piece rods have done to me. They were flexible enough to shoot with, and were great fun when you caught a Crappie. Being from the North, and historically only using 5-6 foot rods this 7 footer was long. Although this was not a 12 ft. or 14 ft. rod, I've recently grown used to longer rods in general, and I like them. These seven footers had plenty of bend in them to take the fight out of a nice slab, and were sensitive enough to get a good feel and set the hook. I've actually grown very fond of these Wally Marshall Seven footers.


    The water on Lake Fork was very, very low. Normally all these stumps are under the water.


    Anyway, as the fog lifted, the fishing got a little tough, at least for me. Wally was still catching nice Crappie right in front of me. He did share with me all the information he could about how he was catching them. We used 2 Slab Daddys, one stacked about a foot above the other. We used a single pole, and shot the jigs as close to the pillars as we could. We were positioned at one end, right next to the pillar, and casting down parallel to the farthest pillar. If you got your jigs up within a foot, maybe two feet, from the side of that far pillar, waiting the prescribed time (15 seconds), kept a tight line as the jigs fell, and then reeled in slowly, you could feel a thump anywhere along that process. If you shot wide, or short of that pillar, you could forget about catching anything.
    If the jigs fell without getting that proverbial thump, you can sometimes give it the "Wally Wiggle", just shake the jig a very little bit (towards the water) to tease that onlooking Crappie into the thump. It works--it really, really works. Wally has this down pat. As the day progressed, we did fish the pillars of another bridge, in slightly shallower water, and we did the same thing only adjusting the time we let the jigs fall.



    I really liked Wally's setup. The all new Wally Marshall Tuxedo Black Rod and Reel. The Wally Marshall hi-visibility line in 6lb test, very limp, no memory, just how I like my fishing line. Plus the 1/16 oz Slab Daddy's. I always thought the Slab Daddy's I had on hand were a little light in weight, particularly for their size, but I think they are perfect when you stack them like we did. Slab Daddies have chenille on them. I like the chenille because if you use scent, it will stick to it longer. Although we did not use scent this time, I can't wait to try it.



    Did I say Wally is funny. Well, he is. I had a great time with him, just talking about everything. The day flew by. We worked hard, but we finally did catch our limit, 25 fish a piece. We went back and cleaned those 50 fish, plus 25 Wally caught the day before when he pre-fished alone. That's why you'll see 75 fish in this picture (actually just short of that cause it's not easy counting that many fish in a live well). We needed all those fish fillets because Wally was doing a fish fry that evening for everyone. We cleaned them, Wally fried them up, and it was awesome, everyone loved it.



    Thanks for the invite, and the opportunity to fish with the best products and pro's at:
    www.Lews.com | www.GeneLarew.com | www.JewelBait.com | www.NumaOptics.com









    Comments 26 Comments
    1. hollidas's Avatar
      hollidas -
      That's a great read. I bet it was awesome spending time on the water with Mr. Crappie and learning his secrets
    1. "G"'s Avatar
      "G" -
      Dang Bro....thats awsum fishing with Wally. I would like to do that myself sometime. Thumbs Up I can't wait to try some of his new rods out.
    1. frank lawhead's Avatar
      frank lawhead -
      Great reading--Wally is one down to the earth crappie catcher
    1. BarryG's Avatar
      BarryG -
      Ed, Sounds like you had a good time!!! Next time your coming this way.....maybe you could bring your new fishing buddy!!!! LOL Great story!
    1. STUMP HUNTER's Avatar
      STUMP HUNTER -
      Sounds like you had a great time fishing with Wally. Enjoyed the write up and the pics Thumbs Up.
    1. Little Skeeter's Avatar
      Little Skeeter -
      Great story Slab! Wally is a good person to fish with but also just a good person period. He will give you pointers or answer questions about crappie fishing every time you ask. Not many do that anymore.
    1. birddog one's Avatar
      birddog one -
      were do I get the fornt seat set up that he has?
    1. bugman's Avatar
      bugman -
      Sounds and looks like you fellas had a ballThumbs Up
    1. Slab's Avatar
      Slab -
      Quote Originally Posted by birddog one View Post
      were do I get the fornt seat set up that he has?
      Do a Google search for "Mr. Crappie Double Down Seat base". You'll see them, in fact, some of the results will be from crappie.com member posts. It amazes me how many times my own site comes up in searches.
    1. BigRiverMarine's Avatar
      BigRiverMarine -
      Quote Originally Posted by birddog one View Post
      were do I get the fornt seat set up that he has?
      I sell em if ya need one. Send me a PM.

      At least ya had one good fisherman in the boat!!! HaHa. Great Day, Great Fishing, and Great Company!!!! That's what it's all about.
    1. barrelslime's Avatar
      barrelslime -
      That is an awsome story Ed
    1. alamancecreek's Avatar
      alamancecreek -
      Nice story! Thumbs Up
    1. Special K's Avatar
      Special K -
      Very nice read and I'm sure a great experience for you Ed.
      Thanks for sharing the experience and the pictures with us.
    1. barrelslime's Avatar
      barrelslime -
      Which WM rod were you using?
    1. Slab's Avatar
      Slab -
      Quote Originally Posted by barrelslime View Post
      Which WM rod were you using?
      You should see the new Wally Marshall rods available on the www.lews.com site soon. They are all new. The one I like, and Wally seems to like most is the 7 Foot, one piece, Wally Marshall Signature Series, and I think it says Tuxedo Black on them as well.
    1. bee's Avatar
      bee -
      I need to get him up here in Maine for some fall slabs ice fishing style.
    1. Blackhawk19's Avatar
      Blackhawk19 -
      I'm jealous, looks like it was a great day!!!!!
    1. Danny W's Avatar
      Danny W -
      Quote Originally Posted by Blackhawk19 View Post
      I'm jealous, looks like it was a great day!!!!!
      Ditto that me too. I want to meet the crappie master.
    1. barrelslime's Avatar
      barrelslime -
      Quote Originally Posted by Slab View Post
      You should see the new Wally Marshall rods available on the www.lews.com site soon. They are all new. The one I like, and Wally seems to like most is the 7 Foot, one piece, Wally Marshall Signature Series, and I think it says Tuxedo Black on them as well.
      Ed if you look at Grizzly site Mr. Crappie they all say signiture series, but ther is no 7 footer in the black tuxedo rods ?????
    1. Slab's Avatar
      Slab -
      Quote Originally Posted by barrelslime View Post
      Ed if you look at Grizzly site Mr. Crappie they all say signiture series, but ther is no 7 footer in the black tuxedo rods ?????
      We'll see, they should be on the Lews site soon. "Mr. Crappie" and "Wally Marshall" rods are different I believe.
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