It was simpler and we caught a lot of crappie years ago. Back in the 70s I had two older gentlemen that took me fishing almost every Sunday afternoon. We fished out of one of the guy's 14 foot jon boat with a 3 hp johnson outboard. No trolling motor, just paddles. We fished with three cane poles, corks and minnows in laps or tree tops. We caught a lot of very large crappie. Probably more than I do today in my $20K boat, 10 poles at $100 each, two $750 fishfinders and $1000 in lures. lol. Makes me want to go buy some minnows and corks.