Maybe more so than any other species of fish, crappie anglers have a language all their own when it comes to how they fish for their favorite quarry. In fact, some tactics go by different names depending on what part of the state or what part of the country you’re standing in. Below is a brief guide of what these tactics mean and how to use them.
Casting – The simplest of all crappie tactics and generally a horizontal presentation of the bait to the fish. Casting means tying a bait to the end of your line and using the rod to launch it to a specific location using a whip-like motion of the rod. Baits can be artificial like jigs or live like minnows and may or may not immediately be retrieved back to the angler. Floats or corks are sometimes added to determine the depth of the bait or it can be “counted down” as the bait sinks before retrieving.
Jigging – Jigging is similar to casting but the inference is that jigging is a vertical presentation to the fish. Jig poles are generally long, 8 – 12 foot rods that provide more reach to place the bait in locations further away from the boat without having to cast the bait. Jigging is also known as hand fishing, dipping, or long poling.
Long Lining – One of many trolling tactics, long lining is used to pull baits, generally jigs, behind the boat. An electric trolling motor is the most accepted means of trolling and the depth of presentation is a combination of trolling speed, jig weight and the mount and diameter of line out.
Shooting Docks – Like casting, dock shooting is a single pole tactic, but instead of casting the rod over hand or side arm, the rod is used to slingshot the bait, again typically a jig, into hard to reach spots that can’t be reached by casting or jigging. Shooting is generally required when the only way to get the bait to the target is skipping it across the water under tight overhead structure.
Side Pulling – Side pulling is similar to tight lining in that it is a multiple rod, trolling tactic where baits are fished more or less vertically to the fish. Instead of the boat moving forward, it is allowed to drift or “pulled” sideways using a side mounted electric trolling motor. Side pulling has a number of advantages over tight lining when fishing more then two anglers in the same boat.
Tight lining – Also known as spider rigging or just trolling, tight lining is a multiple rod, vertical presentation of baits using a bow mounted electric trolling motor to “push” baits forward. The name spider rigging was given when rods were stuck all over the boat, giving it a spider looking appearance when viewed from above. Over time, tight lining moved all the rods to the front of the boat, even allowing two anglers to fish side-by-side from the front with multiple rods held in rod holders.
Trolling (crank baits) – Trolling crank baits and long lining are essentially the same thing although different baits are used and the method of propulsion is split between an electric trolling motor, the main outboard with a trolling plate and a “kicker” smaller outboard mounted to the stern. The biggest challenge with trolling crank baits is experimenting with the amount of line out, trolling speeds and diving depth of the crank bait to fish the correct depth level.
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