# Trolling for Crappie



## Lundfish

We're heading on a men's trip at a local lake later this week. I was going to try trolling for the crappies this year using my electric motor. I plan to do it when the bite is slow such as during the day to cover more water.

What are some good rigs? My plan was to set up 6 or so rods off of the back using my regular light poles varying in length of 5' to 11'. The plan was to rig up a 3 way swivel with a 12" leader with a hook and minnow. Then tie another piece of line with a heavy split shot or 3/8 ounce or so egg sinker with a longer than 12" leader with a 1/32 jig.

The plan was to troll super slow like maybe .5 mph or just enough to give my jigs some action. What do you think a good speed is.

What do you think about my system here? I plan to be in 5' -10' FOW.


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## MassillonBuckeye

I caught one after trolling about 15 seconds on a blade bait about 20ft behind the boat. Was probably .6-1.2 and about 10 FOW. I would think .5 would work. I don't think theres a magic number so to speak. Watch your fish finder for marks and let a smallish bait out behind the boat.

Your three way rig will work for about anything. Tie whatever you want on that leader and catch fish! Again, watch your fish finder for marks and where the fish are. Adjust your depth accordingly.


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## Bucket Mouth

In Fisherman had a good article on trolling for craps 2 magazines ago. The guide they had the story on would spider rig 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz heads w/ crappie tubes something like 50-80 ft behind the boat and basically said the lures would run 1-2ft below the surface and he'd target water that was around 6 or 7 ft. (drawing this off memory). I can't recall the trolling speed but .5 mph sounds like it's in the ballpark.


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## RebelWithACause122

I do a lot of trolling for crappie in the summertime. I do it from my kayak, which is a Hobie... rigged with fish finder and rod holders... not to mention the convenience of the foot-pedal propulsion. I catch many good sized crappies on crankbaits trolled from .75 to 2 mph (according to my little hand-held GPS) depending on time of year and conditions. I mostly use Bandit 200 series crankbaits, and experiment with various colors and depths (usually just by varying the amount of line out... sometimes by using the 100 or 300 series crankbaits) until I figure out what they'll bite. I don't catch incredible numbers of fish this way, but the average size (at least in my experience) is better than any other method of crappie fishing I know of. An overwhelming majority of the crankbait crappie I catch are over 10", and I've gotten multiple 14"+ crappie each of the last 2 summers (which is how long I've been employing this method).


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## Lundfish

Bucket Mouth said:


> In Fisherman had a good article on trolling for craps 2 magazines ago. The guide they had the story on would spider rig 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz heads w/ crappie tubes something like 50-80 ft behind the boat and basically said the lures would run 1-2ft below the surface and he'd target water that was around 6 or 7 ft. (drawing this off memory). I can't recall the trolling speed but .5 mph sounds like it's in the ballpark.


My understanding is that it's supposed to be a vertical presentation. Not behind the boat 50-80 feet.


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## Bucket Mouth

Lundfish said:


> My understanding is that it's supposed to be a vertical presentation. Not behind the boat 50-80 feet.


The article is called "Crappie Guide Tactics" from the March/April issue. 

One of the featured guides is trolling as you're describing (within 15 degrees of vertical) using 1/4 oz jighead w/ tubes and a 3 inch minnow. Doesn't really say speed although it's acheived through trolling motor and dragging chain in the water.

The other guide featured talks about longline trolling 1/24-1/32 jig w/ plastic 90 ft or so behind the boat running at .7 to .9 mph.

I guess I merged the two tactics in my first post. It's a good article w/ some pretty good detail.


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## Wow

At extremely slow speeds, barely a drift, use roadrunners, beatle spins and curly tails. Not vertical, but fast enough to move the bait and pass over or through them. Maybe only 20 ft. back, and 10 ft. down. You'll mark many schools along the way.--Tim


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## crappiedude

Lundfish said:


> My understanding is that it's supposed to be a vertical presentation. Not behind the boat 50-80 feet.


There are actually 2 trolling presentations.
*VERTICAL TROLLING*= often fished off the front & sides. In some states where unlimited rods can be used it could be referred to as "spider rigging". Some people use a heavy weight 1/2 or 3/4 oz egg or bell sinker to hold the line near vertical and use dropper lines to attach baits to. Speed are slow to keep the lines near vertical, .5 or less
*LONG LINE TROLLING*= normally people fish jigs trolled in a more conventional manner behind the boat. Distance behind the boat can vary depending on depth and activity of the fish. One tactic is to very jig colors and weights (1/32, 1/16 or 1/8) until something starts working. Speeds are often .6 - 1.3 depending on depth, lure weight and mood of fish. 

Crankbaits can be used with either method but that's a whole different story. Of course variations or combinations of both of these methods work too.


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## Big Joshy

google "spider rigging" tons of good info. Deadly on crappie. and since you are trolling you can learn good areas on the lake faster.


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## Lundfish

I attempted to troll and did fair. The bite was super slow for 2 days. Then it really heated up and I caught a ton on jigs and had no reason to troll. Out fished the guys using minnows 2-1 at least. It was a great trip and now the freezer is pretty much full.


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