Like his father Rusty before him, Jared Leverette wears many hats at their family owned fish camp located on Lake Talquin, a super crappie fishery in Northern Florida near Tallahassee. Make no mistake about it, at Leverette’s Lake Talquin Lodge fishing is a serious business. Here at this fisherman friendly camp the emphasis is on crappie fishing and southern hospitality. When he’s not guiding for crappie you’ll find Jared overseeing the family’s other business, Troll Maxx Rod Holders (Formerly River Road Rod Holders) which makes in my opinion, the best rod holders on the planet but more about them later. Jared’s specialty is teaching anglers the fine art of Long Line Trolling. Since I do a fair amount of trolling for crappie in my guiding business on Kentucky Lake, I wanted to see firsthand how another guide approaches this technique, so I jumped at the chance when I was invited by the Leverette’s to spend a couple of days fishing on Talquin with Jared. (Photo – Jared Leverette and my good friend Bill Hurle from Louisville, Ky with Lake Talquin Slab crappie caught while Long Line Trolling)
Long line trolling is becoming increasingly popular because it’s one of the fastest and easiest ways to locate and catch crappie. You can catch several fish at once and have lots of fun in the process. In February on Lake Talquin and in March on my home water Kentucky Lake, crappie will start staging in the deepest areas they can find adjacent to spawning areas. If you’re going to catch some good ones, February and March is the time you’re going to do it. The big ones will be the first to arrive and will congregate in the deeper water. Long line trolling can be a very productive way to catch pre-spawn crappie.
What is Long Line Trolling? This method of fishing requires having a boat that is equipped with a trolling motor, fishing rods and holders. The trolling motor is particularly important because it will keep you moving at a consistent speed while trolling. You need a motor that will move the boat slowly because the slower you move the better your fishing will be. (Photo – Jared Leverette preparing the rods for our initial troll). Long line trolling uses multiple rod holders and a series of rods of various lengths to cover a wide area and depths. The rod holders in the front of the boat are positioned on both sides between the bow and console. Using multiple rod holders, a 16’ rod is positioned to the outside, a 12’ rod in the center and an 8’ rod is placed closest to the boat. In the rear, rod holders are located port and starboard with 8’ rods extending directly behind the boat. I grew quite fond of the rods we were using for this type of fishing. They were made by Ozark Rod Co. (www.ozarkrod.com or 573-378-2220) Not only did they telegraph the most sensitive bite, they handled several Lake Talquin brute crappie as well. A 1/16 oz curly tail jig is the lure of choice and in most cases your favorite color will work. However, don't hesitate to experiment with different combinations of colors and sizes until you find one that seems to be getting the results you are hoping for. Line sizes vary but 6 pound monofilament seems to be the overall best choice. If crappie are located in deeper water or you’re fishing in windy conditions, you may want to consider using a #5 or #7 split shot between two 1/16 oz lures placed about two feet apart. This will help keep the lures in the strike zone.
Trolling Speed is more important than weight of the lure …
“When long line trolling, maintaining accurate and constant speeds is the key to constantly catching crappie,” stressed Leverette. “My boat speed controls the depth of the lure, not the weight. Relying on GPS speed, Leverette trolls .8 to 1 mph using a Minn Kota Terrova Auto Pilot which allowed hands free operation and kept us at a good steady speed and course. When he makes a turn Leverette speeds up to keep the lures off the bottom. On a couple of occasions when we sped up we picked up a couple of fish on the inside rods. This can be significant since the inside lines tend to drop on the turn and getting a hook up signals a slower troll speed or depth change might be required to increase the odds in your favor. However, if you pick up a fish on the outside lines when the turn is made, remember that those lines are rising on the turn and you may need to increase the troll speed or shorten up the lines in order to decrease your depth.
Keeping the lure in the strike zone … (Photo – Bill Hurle from Louisville, KY with a couple of pre-spawn crappie caught long lining out of the back of the boat) When long line trolling on Kentucky Lake I get asked quite often by my clients, when you do get a hook up how do you consistently return the lure back to the proper depth? One trick I learned a few years back is, once you hook a fish and before you reel it in, wrap a thin rubber band around the spool of the spinning reel. Doing so will mark the length of line that was out when the fish hit. When the jig is cast back out, the rubber band will stop the line on the spool and the jig will be exactly the same distance behind the boat and ride at the same depth. Make sure to use a small thin rubber band so the line will flow off the spool smoothly and not hinder the drag. This trick will work equally well for those of you that like to “spider rig” too!
Some Do’s and Don’ts … Don’t overextend yourself by trying to use too many rods all at once. If you’re by yourself four is plenty at one time. If you have other fishermen with you to help out you can troll as many lines as it is practical. Don’t stop trolling if you get hung up, if you do all the lines will get hung up. Don’t stop when you catch a fish … keep trolling. Do use a long handle dip net like the extendable Cumings C-120 fish saver net (www.cumingsnets.com). This net is very lightweight, extends to about 10 feet and with the opening being about the size of a drywall bucket, it’s perfect for reaching out and netting crappie before they’re able to tangle the other lines. Do keep your rod tip up when playing a fish; this will keep the fish coming heads up and away from the other lines. Do use light wire hooks in shallow weedy, snag infested waters so if you hang up all that is needed is a steady gentle pull and the jig will come free. Last of all but certainly not least, when sharing an area with a lot of boats be sure and work with others and DON”T CUT OTHERS OFF or obstruct their troll. Be courteous and most likely they’ll reciprocate.
Quality Rod Holders are the single most important accessory in this type of fishing! Since you will be using multiple rods and hopefully getting multiple hookups, I cannot over emphasize how important it is to use the best possible rod holders. The only rod holders I’ll use are the ones made by Jared (Photo) and his family, Trollmaxx Rod Holders (formerly River Road Rod Holders 850-627-3822). These rod holders are hand-made the old fashioned way. The reel holders and T-Bar support post are all stainless steel. The welds are flawless and the collar swivel attachments are alen-wrench adjustable so you can align the direction of the rods to meet your needs and then lock them into place. The base plate is high quality aluminum and the rod holder itself locks into the base plate using a stainless steel bolt and lock washer. All said and done you’ve got one tough and smart system that can be used in a variety of conditions and applications. There’s several sizes and styles to choose from and you can check these out online at www.laketalquinlodge.com/gallery/tackleshop/ I’ve used these rod holders a LOT while guiding on Kentucky Lake and quite frankly I don’t know how I’d ever do without them.
Long line trolling is becoming increasingly popular because is it’s one of the fastest and easiest ways to find and catch crappie. You can catch several fish at once and have lots of fun in the process. If you haven’t tried Long Line Trolling you’re missing a real opportunity to put fish in the boat. With a little seat time you’ll soon be catching fish like a veteran.
Randy Kuhens is a full time guide on Kentucky Lake and specializes in Long Line Trolling for crappie. Also he provides” On the Water” Sonar Training on High Definition Sonar Systems. You can email him at [email protected] or visit his website at www.kicknbass.net If you want to tal kfish’in or High Definition Sonar visit with Kick’n Bass at the Big Outdoors Show in Paducah, KY on Feb. 17-19 2012
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