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Thread: Longlining Questions?

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    Default Longlining Questions?


    I have fished all my life, but have never really longlined, I have mainly stuck to the tightlining and jigging. I am planning on fishing some this weekend and want to experiment with the longlining some on Greenwood to hopefully cover more water and find some bigger fish. My plans are to tightline in the mornings and once the sun gets up and the fish start to move try the longlining. I know alot of yall on here do alot of long-lining so was wondering if yall had any tips for me. I understand the basic set-up with staggering your rods, my biggest question would be is how to judge the depth on your rods? Do you put bigger pieces of lead to get your baits down deeper (I know I generally try to stay away from heavy weights if possible)? I know it takes alot of experimenting, but I know from seeing the "jigging thread" that this site can take away some of the experimenting. Also what type of jigs seem to be better, we generally only use tube or split tail jigs. In the past I have rarely ever used curly tails, but are they the way to go for long-lining? Any info would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance yall!

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    S-town,


    You've started something that mainly takes practice, practice, and more practice; will only answer I bet no one does it the same exact way but here I go:

    I mainly troll only jigs with moving tails
    speed along with weight of jig head (mostly 1/16th or 1/32) is my main sizes, not to mention round heads run different depth than minnows heads, different than bullet heads
    line size make difference ( i mainly pull 6lbs test)

    yes you can cover more water longlining but if you're under the fish or way over them then you want get bit.

    every lake is different in when and how you'll troll, best of luck and there's way more to it but one more thing the colors you catch them on tubes start with them in curly tail or slider type jigs.

    Or get crappiegobbler to take you and in 1 day you'll have it down, he's a great teacher!!!!!!!!!!!
    If you don't get hung every-once-n-a-while you ain't jigg'n it right..:D
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    gabowman is offline Super Moderator * Crappie.com Supporter
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    I'd set up with he same size line & jigheads on all my rods. Try to set all your rod tips about an even distance from the water. Pick a spot on your lake that has a gradual taper towards shallow water (preferrably snag free). Start in the deeper water and get your speed set and all your rods casted out to approx. the same distance (a long throw works for me). As you are trolling to the shallow water (a good starting point would be .8 - 1.0 mph) watch your rod tips until you see them bouncing as your jigs begin dragging bottom. Check your depth and you'll know how deep theyre running.

    Do this again with only a half cast....switch jighead weights and do it again...short cast again...adding a splitshot...again...again...

    I hope you get the picture on how we know approx how deep our jigs are running. These experiments wont take that long and the info gained is invaluable for you as a longliner IMO. Nobody can tell you how deep the jigs off your boat will run as everybody set's their boats up differently. Next, watch your graph and go find some fish. Preferred locations for me is water 20' deep or less as I can get my jigs down there for the fish to see if need be but I havent really tried catching fish in water any deeper than that. Remember to run your jigs a couple feet ABOVE the fish and the agressive fish should take your offerings. If not then dont waste a whole afternoon...go find some more fish and hopefully they'll bite.

    Fish will hit the tube and split tail jigs as I fish a good many tied jigs from time to time. I do prefer slider and curly tail grubs as the main jigs in my spread as there's more aggressive movement to the jig which IMO aggrevates the fish into biting.You'll want several different colors as you never know from day to day (sometimes hour to hour) on which color works the best.

    Just a precaution though...longlining is very addictive. Once you get used to covering so much water in a day's fishing trip it will become VERY HARD to slow back down and fish any other way. And...longlining put as many (if not more) fish in the boat as any other method of fishing. Good luck with your fishing.
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    If you need to go really deep, (and this takes more experience) let out more line and maintain your speed to get down to the depth where the fish are holding. Or you can double up on the jigs (2 1/16 jigs spaced about 12-18" apart). Don't be afraid to try something "out of the box". Sometimes I'll have close to 50 yds of line out when the fish are deep. Takes a long long time to reel 'em in but sometimes the big 'uns are deep.
    GO BIG ORANGE !

    I meant to behave, but there were just way too many other options available at the time.

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    S-town, DONT DO IT....just kidding. Lot of good info already on this thread. Will add that you can add meat to your jigs also. Depending on water clarity and water temps, the live bait will be the difference. Also, the sliders will offer better action when you are running on the slow end of the spectrum than the curly tails (for example going .6 vs .8 & up)...roadrunners also have their place in longlining. Lot to digest, but once you decide to commit to this method, it can be very addictive as Butch stated. It also can put lots of fish in your boat when you find the right speed, color, jig weight, and depth. Good luck.....
    "Stumphunter's Crappie Jigs" Prostaff
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    Im am not going to add any more tips as there will be many on here that give advice. I will say that I truly believe the bigger fish are caught trolling than any other method. I believe that bigger fish dont hang as close to cover as often as the smaller ones. There are not many fish in the lake that are going to go after a 2.5 or 3lb crappie, yet a 1lb to 1.5lb fish is an easy target for a flathead, blue, or striper hence their natural tendancy may be to hang closer to cover to look for food and or protection. I have fished all different ways and open water trolling catches bigger fish than any other way i have seen. I have fished numerous tournaments and trolling wins them 9 out of 10 times. Whether its pulling fast or pushing slow, I like to troll. Take Mississippi for example, those big 3lb fish arent caught jiggin brush piles, they are mainly caught out in open water pullin or pushin jigs/grubs/crankbaits. I guess my point is that longlining is an awesome way of fishing and if you are in the south where everyone else does it and you plan on fishing tournaments, you need to know how to do it to hang. This is just my personal opinion. I am sure I could longline all day on Santee for a year and Inkdabber will outfish me everytime jigging. Hes an expert on that lake. But if you go to a lake your not as familiar with, longlining will help you find fish alot faster than any other way there is.....good luck. It seems you are a good fisherman so it shouldnt take no time and you will have it down....
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    Great info being provided here. I'm learning a lot on this thread. Past 10 years I've mostly targeted striper. Just really getting into fishing for crappie the last couple of years. I will say that "longlining" for crappie is real similar to "free lining" for striper. I guess that's why I'm taken with it. I do know the bigger stripers are mostly caught on free lines and planer boards that get the baits away from the boat. The argument above makes good sense to me.
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    I have fished hand tied jigs 99% of the time while longlining over the past three years and believe me you don't always need a lot of movement to catch the big slab crappie. Sometimes the biggest fish will be caught on the smallest jig too. There are so many things to learn but the best way is to get on the lake and start pulling 1/16 jigs of any kind and learn what works best for you. Like already said each fisherman is different but each good fisherman will find out what it takes to catch fish. It is addicting, I have been spider rigging for many years before I started longlining and you will catch fish both ways but it does pay to know how to fish every way you can because there are days you need to use all your weapons to catch em.
    You are a good fisherman and you will catch on quickly. Thing will fall into place after some times is spent pulling the jigs. Good luck
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    It also helps to have a trained dog to watch your poles.
    Mark 1:17 ...I will make you fishers of men
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeaRay View Post
    It also helps to have a trained dog to watch your poles.
    Someone has to catch em hahahaha
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