Reply With QuoteAll the top finishers at the Crappie USA Lanier tourney were dock shooters or trollers. Most of us casters were in the middle or back of the field!
Likes: 0
Thanks: 0
HaHa: 0
Crappie Wall Hanger II
Tournament question
I was wondering if anyone here knows of anyone that has fished some of the major crappie tournaments and won or finished high by shooting docks or casting of some sort to structure? Or is it all trolling or pushing in some sort of fashion now?
Crappie.com 1K Star General
All the top finishers at the Crappie USA Lanier tourney were dock shooters or trollers. Most of us casters were in the middle or back of the field!
Crappie.com 3K Star General
Crapster, I personally feel that a shooter or caster is more fun. To win a tournament in this fashion really means that you are the best.
Crappie.com 1K Star General
Yes!
Pope and Pruitt are tournament anglers that I believe ONLY dockshoot, and they have many wins under their belt.
Also - there are many instances where it just makes sense to dock shoot, and the winners are the ones that are on that pattern. So, yes!
I won't be at work........I'm feelin' crappie today!
><)))*>
Crappie Wall Hanger II
Pope & Pruit has won the Southern Crappie Classic the last 2-3 years along with several local tourneys , I was amazed when I was talking to them once & Noticed the jig that was on one of thier reels hook was broken off, when i told Him about it, he said while Prefishing they cut the hooks off & just feel for big fish instead of hooking them, that team has thier act together , esp for post spawn fish !
Super Moderator - 2013 Man Of The Year
* Crappie.com Supporter
Location & timing .....
are key factors, to whether or not casting, trolling, or dock shooting is the most productive method. I've never fished a "major" Crappie tournament ... but I did fish the Crappie tourneys I helped start/run, on Watts Bar Lake in East Tenn.Originally Posted by crappster
The Spring tourneys were on various weekends in April ... the Fall tourneys were in mid Oct. In both, the majority of the top finishers and ALL of the winning teams, were dock shooters (except my win :rolleyes: ). My "win" came at a time when the lake was rising, and the docks were all but impossible to shoot under
... my partner and I won that tournament with a non-limit catch of 7 fish (limit was 10/boat), and they all came from a bridge pilon. That particular tourney was in late April ... and following tournies were "requested" to be earlier in the month (while the Black Crappie were coming in to the docks). On that lake ... Black Crappie come shallow from late March to late April, depending on water levels and weather. White Crappie come to the shallows in late April to mid May, and tend to hang around brushpiles, blowdowns, and shoreline wood ... much moreso than around the docks.
There was some "minnow" fishing going on, but not much trolling. Neither method was productive enough to warrant using, at that lake or during those time periods. Casting to submerged wood, and shooting docks were the productive methods ... due, in no small part, to the species/time/location. And we had several people participate in our tourneys, that fished the CUSA trail and other $$ tourney trails. They shot docks, on Watts Bar, because that was the most productive method (for the time/lake) ... regardless of what method they had successfully used on other lakes
Had it been another lake, another time ... it may have been a totally different story !!
........ cp
Posting Permissions
