Thread: Deep or Suspended Crappie

Interested to see reply. I am new to boating and have been a shore guy all my life. Also interested to see what "DRIFT Socks" are.

I longline 99% of the time so I not much help as I assume you are vertical jigging right? I use heavier jig weight or add weight to get down to the suspended fish.

A drift sock is a funnel shaped device made from various materials used to slow down a boat, whether drifting or under power from a TM or possibly the big motor, but at only at low rpm's. search for a drift sock at cabelas, BPS, etc, and you will find pictures. You use a rope to tie/attach it to the boat.

Jimp so when you long line trolling with heavier weights do you increase your trolling speed to keep the bait at the depth you want?

When the fish are in the channel at Lake Talquin, I use #4 lead and decrease the speed to .5 to .8 to get the 1/16 or 3/32 lead headed jig to the desired depth.........Sometimes I use two pieces of lead when the fish are sure enough deep.......but also how much line you have out is another big factor to the depth of jigs. Lot is trial/error until you start catching a few and then hang on........

I longline most of the time too and the guys have that covered, but when the bite isnt there for longlining I slow everything down and go to spider rigging with minnows on long poles. On breezey days I keep the boat headed into the wind as much as possible, watch the graph to determine depth of suspended fish and move at a snail's pace if I'm seeing fish on the graph. If I aint catching I move to different places looking for active fish that'll bite.

Originally Posted by TByzzle

Jimp so when you long line trolling with heavier weights do you increase your trolling speed to keep the bait at the depth you want?

I don't use "heavier" weights, usually one or two jigs with grubs on 'em. If using only one jig/grub, anywhere from 1/16 up to 1/4, depending on how deep I want/need to get, and may add a splitshot weight 12-18" up from the jig. If I use 2 jigs on the line, I go down in weight since you have 2 jigs which equal 2x the weight. I may use caribou jigs tipped with fake minners looking for some xtra color or the right color combo. I control my depth via speed, lenght of line out and the size of the jig(s). I use 6lb hi vis on all my rods now so no matter what rod (all rods are identical in setup) I pickup to rig or re-tie, I'm consistent in the presentation. I also may mix a 1/16 with a 1/8, or 2 1/16 or even 2 1/8ths, trying to find the right package. During the hot part of the summer I was using only 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 jig with a blk/chart grub, then had to add a size 3 splitshot later in the summer to get the right presentation.

I see so basically the speed is what controls the depth. The slower you run the deeper the jig, trolling faster will bring the jig higher. So to add to my learning curve I have a 46lb motoguide thrust with preset speeds, now the light is on I see where variable speed control comes into to play.

Lightwirehooker pretty much covered the way I fish...But 1 thing I have figured out and it helps me to find a starting point if I want to get down to a certain depth. From experience, I know that if I throw out 50-60 ft of line with a 1/16th oz jighead and a curlytail jig with a #4 splitshot about 18" above the jig and troll at 1.2 mph, I will be pulling my jig at a depth of 10-12 feet deep (probably closer to 10). Thats alot of variables in the equation,huh? I was trolling in 12 feet of water 2 years ago in September and catching fish this way. Every now and then I would bump bottom, but stayed off the bottom for the most part....I use this application when I want to fish deeper, but I adjust my speed slower to get deeper, or change how much line I have out and like Hooker said, go with more weight when the fish are really deep. Its mostly trial and error and you gotta have confidence in what you do...Ain't nothing like experience to gain the confidence..I think we all ask ourselves at one point or another if we should be trying something different... Hooker is one of the best at catching fish on Talquin (but don't tell him I said that)Thumbs Up and I have heard him say this...And I quote...."I know alot about fishing for crappie, But here lately I don't know anything about catching!".....We are all always on the learning side of fishin!!!!