Dipping, Dabbling, Doodle-Socking & More

I learned to pole fish long before I owned a boat,” claims Wally Marshall, noted crappie tournament angler and tackle designer from Texas. “I'd wade the backs of shallow coves with a pole, easing among flooded bushes, poking the tip into the cover, and dropping a little jig into pockets.

“It was deadly and still is. I've won several crappie tournaments by wading, when the other competitors were running all over the lake in boats.”As Marshall notes, the appeal of pole fishing is its effectiveness and its simplicity.

In the southern reaches of crappie and bluegill country, pole fishing is common. It includes from family groups on the pond bank hoisting bream and crappie tournament anglers spider-rigging over meandering creek channels with more than a dozen poles deployed. In much of the northern region, pole fishing is practiced far less for reasons based mostly on tradition.

POLE PRESENTATIONS

Spider Rigging: There's no arguing the effectiveness of spider rigging. Boats rigged with rod holders can present poles nearly 360 degrees around the craft. A veteran 2-man crew can run 16 or more poles, often arranged so the longest ones (sometimes 16 feet) jut from the middle of the gunnels, with progressively shorter ones toward the bow and stern.

Spider riggers gaze at sonar units to follow creek channels, submerged roadbeds, fence rows, or other submerged structure that holds crappies when they're off the bank. During the Prespawn Period in large reservoirs like Lake Weiss and Kentucky Lake, crappies typically stage in large groups.

In many northern states, regulations prohibit more than one or two rods to be used. Ohio allows just 2 poles per person, but the father and son team of Bob and Rick Jones finds spider rigging effective to locate and catch crappie.

“In our home waters, we fish four 12-foot poles set off the bow. To rig, we tie a bell sinker at the end of each line,” Bob Jones reports. “We vary the weight from 1/8 to 1 ounce, depending on time of year, depth of fish, wind, and how choppy the lake is. The sinker serves to stabilize the bait, so you increase weight in rougher conditions or deeper water. We favor the B'n'M Sam Heaton Signature Series Poles for their sensitivity, as well as durability.

“About 18 inches above the sinker, tie a loop to hold a hook or jig, then another loop 18 inches above that one. Rick and I always run two baits, experimenting with depths and bait types until we find what works best in that situation. Where 3 poles per person are legal, we run a 14-footer and a 16-footer directly off the side of the boat, rigging four 12-footers off the bow.

“The long poles are for what we call “longlining,” as we run 50 to 75 feet of line out to drag baits behind. On these poles, we slide an egg sinker up the line 18 to 36 inches and wrap the line around it two or three times to secure it. Tie a bait to the end of the line and another one about 18 inches above the sinker. The egg sinker can be easily adjusted up and down the line. Trolling allows you to test several variables at the same time -- depth, speed, and lure color, which can't be done so easily if you're rod and reel fishing.

“Bait selection can be critical, too, and we rig with crappie tubes and jigs from 1/64 to 1/4-ounce. On a tough bite, we pack the tubes with wax worms, which really turn on finicky crappies. Two- to three-inch shiners lip-hooked on an Eagle Claw BP 022 or 214 EL hook is another staple bait.”