Throttle It Back When Power Trolling by Brad Wiegmann

Power trolling is all about speeding and going fast to catch crappie; however, there are times when throttling back on the speed you have your lures moving will catch more crappie. When to throttle it back is based on water temperature and the migration of crappie back towards spawning areas. Mississippi crappie angler Les Smith renowned for power trolling is also the first to admit slowing down can produce better fish in the early spring than increasing the speed and power trolling.


“Let’s just put this out there,” Smith continued, “Wading in lakes is just not for me, however, I’m also not one of those guys that feels like you have to have minnows to go fishing in the springtime. The right lure presented correctly will catch just as many and as big.”



Smith noted he was normally on one of the big 4 Mississippi lakes which is Grenada, Enid, Sardis or Arkabutla. Usually Sardis in the springtime, but he also likes Arkabutla if the water level is up. The main thing Smith is looking for is water temp and water levels. He will start fishing by heading back into spawning areas up the creek channels than off on to the flats. Most flats Smith is fishing are 3- to 4-feet deep and don’t have much for cover to get hung up on when trolling.

Electronics play a major part in his success, but it’s not what you think. Amazingly Smith doesn’t have forward facing sonar on his boat, but he is planning on rigging one up to see if it will help him identify species of fish, cover and baitfish. Instead of relying on forward facing sonar Smith’s success catching crappie, he uses his Humminbird LakeMaster Chart to find and catch fish. LakeMaster charts are detailed, high definition maps with depth contours between 1- to 3-feet or 3- to 5-feet.

When throttle back power trolling Smith will use the same rods as he does with power trolling. He uses eight of the 18 foot B’n’M Poles Pro Staff Trolling Rods (B’n’M Poles) rigged with B’n’M Poles Pro Series 100 spinning reels. These poles are spread out in the bow area of the boat covering a massive area.

Main line from the reel to the leader is 15 pound test Gama High Vis orange glow and 8 pound clear monofilament for the leader. As for the leader section, Smith builds his own double rigs. The 2 lures are separated about 2 foot apart to keep from tangling and will allow the lures to target different depths.



As for lures, Smith uses a ¼-ounce Crappie Magnet Fin Spin jighead (crappiemagnet.com) with a Crappie Magnet Slab Curly soft plastic body lure for the top lures and the same setup for the bottom lure. When the crappie won’t bite the Fin Spins he will change up to just jigheads. Smith has favorite color patterns when it comes to his Slab Curly lures, but his all time favorite is black and orange.

One important thing about throttled down or fast power trolling in general Smith noted was the length of his 18 foot B’n’M Poles Pro Staff Trolling rods. “It’s amazing what difference the 4 piece 18 foot long makes when trolling,” Smith went on, “The wide span allows an angler to get a long ways away from the boat and keeps you from spooking a crappie.”

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