As a multiple national crappie tournament champion, Mike Parrott is no stranger to fishing when he has to. Competition anglers do not have the luxury of choosing when tournaments will be held.
Parrot said it’s best to follow the Boy Scout motto: “Always Be Prepared.”
March may be the best time of year to fish for big crappie, but it’s not always the best weather. The coming of spring means frequent fronts accompanied by strong winds. Though safety is always first, learning to tame the wind can help you catch fish in locations others can’t or won’t fish.
“No matter what time of year you’re fishing, wind is always going to be your worst enemy,” said Parrott. “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve put together a winning pattern during pre-fish days and then tournament day rolls around and the wind starts blowing hard. When there’s storms rolling through and the wind is blowing pretty hard, you still have to fish slow so the best thing to do to slow the boat down is put a chain out.”
Rather than anchor or troll against the wind, Parrott has found that a 10-foot length of logging chain attached to a 20-foot length of half-inch rope makes an excellent drag to pull behind the boat while he fishes with the wind from the front.
“If the wind is blowing hard enough, I’ll put two chains out, one off each side of the motor, and use 3/8-inch logging chain in 10-foot lengths,” he said. “That’ll get you slowed down where you can control the boat and having a chain on each corner keeps the boat from wanting to fish tail in the wind.”
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