We had about 2.5 last week. Predicting up to 3” or more thru Friday. We don’t need any more friggin rain.
the Cat is never going to get to summer pool.
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We had about 2.5 last week. Predicting up to 3” or more thru Friday. We don’t need any more friggin rain.
the Cat is never going to get to summer pool.
Cataract Slabmasters cancelled todays tourney at Cat and at Monroe. I don't think we had tourneys until June last year. Maybe one of these days, I'll get back out there. My chiropractor did invite me to go to Geist to fish off his brother's pontoon. Sounds like a deal for me.
Cevans....love reading your post, if you don’t mind me asking, what are the best all around trolling outfits for crappie and other Indiana lake species., I think you mentioned Okumas before what models and what kind of rods would be good, make, model and size length later, ThanksDanQuote:
Originally Posted by cevans
Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
Lots of reading about rods, reels, line if you do a search on the main forum. I use Okuma DX 20 line counter reels, but started and still have the Okuma DX 15’s which are a tad smaller. I just feel the 20’s are smoother. You can do a google search for them and find them for around 40-45.00 each. Lots of crappie members use the Shakespeare line counter reel and if you google a price 25-30 each and work just as good. If your more into a classier some what top of the line, Diawa makes a line counter reel that quite a bit mor in price. Fishing out of a 1648 size jon boat, I will use 2-12 rods out the side then a 10’ or 8’ even sometimes a 7 depending how close I want the baite to run as close to center of boat. Any rods work as Imstarted out using 6’s and 7’ and over the past 8 - 10 yrs grandually worked up to using the 12’s but 8 did get a 14’ ft this winter and now using it off and on. I stagger rod sizes on one side to not tangle baits. When turning or drifting with wind and wave action, will change rod sizes to help in boat control which is a personal preference of mine. I am sold on Power Pro Slick Braid 10 lb gives me a foot or so more depth when I want to run deep, but I have some reels with 20 way I fish on them also. I don’t loose as many baits with the braid. I started using Bandit 200’s, then later as the Mississippi guys switched to 300’s so did I, but when I do occassionally want to go super shallow 1 to 5 ft deep, will even put on a Bandit 100 as I have a dozen of them. Then later Arkies was the craze due to pricing and color and also, Arkie is a sponsor on crappie.com. I like their colors and size is 350 series. Now I think the best bait is the PICO crankbaits. Great colors, but, the thing that I think is the killer to the PICO is the dimpled body like you have on the round golf ball. It does run a foot or so deeper than a bandit or Arkie but the dimples I think give off maybe more water vibrations as they are pulled thru the water over a smooth bodied bait especially in stained to muddy water. PICO is a sponsor of crappie.com. You will find, any decent crankbait will work if you get that crankbait at the depth the fish are. Average speeds are 1.4 to as fast as 2.2. But in the cold water, this spring, I love to experiment and while longlining jigs, water temp was 48 and switched to cranks, dropped the speed to 1.1 to 1.2 mph..slow,,,,and have been using cranks since as the water warms up. I have always been a structure fisherman and not as much a bank fisherman, maybe it’s just the way I fish, but I do catch bigger fish off structure and same goes with using cranks for me and way less small fish. Rods,, They all work,,some just are built better and for cranks. I really love the Southern Pro rod so have a half doz of them, but have used west point, b’n’m. Mr. crappie has some, Lews also. Take the time to read what I followed and learned from, I call it the holy grail of crankbaiting and it will definitely teach you everything and answer all your questions and is still an active thread in the Mississippi forum. https://www.crappie.com/crappie/miss...-cranks-101-a/Quote:
Originally Posted by Dklakamp1966
Here is a pic of crankbaits I have in the boat.
Attachment 339852
If you want a really fun way to long line jigs and crankbaits and are not slammed by boats around you, try plainer boards also. Featured Products has 2 really good light weight boards one for jigs and their bigger one for crankbaits. Easy to use and get the bait away from the boat using even short med action rods. Easy to use at Crappie Reaper.