Aaron Barton Guide & Outfitter • Mississippi

Crappie Spider Rigging Gear List

Crappies are highly sought-after table fare for their excellent flaky white flesh and general ease of catch. In North Mississippi, home of world record crappie producing Enid Lake and "Land of the Giants" Grenada Lake, catching them is such serious business some folks make it their full-time year-round job.

No matter what time of year you visit the Big Four flood control reservoirs, you're likely to find a large percentage of anglers using a specialized trolling technique known as spider rigging. This style of fishing involves fishing many different rods at the same time on either the front, back, or both ends of the boat. This allows anglers to cover large swaths of water as the poles can sometimes extend 16'+ off either the side of the boat, present many different bait/lure options (we regularly fish 16 rods each with two different lures or jigs, and it helps anglers locate fish and increase the harvest.

Being successful at spider-rigging for crappie involves having the right gear for your boat, having the patience and competence to practice in different conditions and locations, and the willingness to learn from your past success as well as what the fish are doing on any particular day.

Strict regulations govern how spider rigging is performed on the Mississippi Big Four Flood Control Reservoirs as they are stringently managed to take advantage of ideal conditions conducive to producing trophy crappie. But many other lakes in Mississippi do not limit the number of rods that can be fished at one time. Check your local regulations before participating in any sporting activity.

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Rod Racks

Having a quality trolling rod rack will greatly increase your success and decrease frustration as you are able to better manage fishing multiple rods at the same time.

Millenium Marine R-100 Spyderlok Gen 2 Rod Rack

I use four R-100 Spyderlok Gen 2 racks by Millenium Marine (one in each corner of the boat) that allows me to fish the legal maximum of four rods per rack.

Millenium Marine R-400 Spyderlok Rod Tree

The R-400 Spyderlok Rod Tree is also commonly used and works great, offering almost infinite rod adjustments, but can only fish three rods at a time.

Rods

While almost any rod will suffice, specialized trolling rods designed to push or pull heavy crankbaits or downrigger weights while maintaining sensitivity even at lengths of 20' is the realm of crappie trolling rods.

We will typically fish either a stagger of 10' 12' 14' 16' rods off the front of the boat, and straight 10' rods off the back. Having different rod lengths allows us to achieve a desired 2' rod tip to rod tip spacing essential for managing a multi-pole set-up to avoid crossing lines.

We fish both B'n'M Buck's Pro-Staff Trolling rods and B'n'M West Point Crappie Rods. The Pro-Staff rods are a little pricier but available in longer lengths and offer replace end sections for about $20. The West Point Crappie Rods are no-frills workhorses that if broken won't hurt your feelings when you go to replace.

B'n'M Buck's Pro-Staff Trolling Rod

B&M WPCR11 West Point Rod

Reels

Again, any reel capable of retrieving your offered bait with a fish up to five pounds being pulled from 20' of water 150' from the boat will do, but some reels are better suited than others. When we're pulling crankbaits, line counter reels take the guess work out of lure depth optimized for strike zone presentation. Through experience and available published resources, we know that certain baits run at certain depths based on either speed, amount of line out, or both. Having line counter reels allows us put our baits out either at an exact depth or range of depths to target or locate active fish.

Shakespeare ATS Trolling Reel

The Shakespeare ATS 15 or 20 with line counter is a great reel for those getting started or looking to upgrade their current reel. It features a line counter, on/off.

Trolling Motor

Having a quality trolling motor with GPS/autopilot capabilities will free up your hands and attention to catching fish. Windy conditions often present on Mississippi Reservoirs mean you'll need something not just big enough to push your loaded boat 1 – 2 mph, it will have to be able to do it into at least a light wind.
I like the Minn-Kota Terrova or Minn-Kota Ultrex, both of which come with foot pedal control, an iPilot Remote, and spot-lock anchor/autopilot capabilities. These trolling motors are 24V motors, so you'll need two dedicated batteries to avoid potentially drawing down on your cranking battery.

Minn-Kota Terrova Trolling Motor

Minn-Kota Ultrex Trolling Motor

Optima OPT8016-103 Batteries D34M BlueTop Starting and Deep Cycle Marine Battery

Trolling Seats

Watching and fishing 8 rods in no easy task, and is often (and legally only) done with two anglers. In order to economize space and maintain angler comfort, all of the dedicated crappie boats in my fleet have Millennium SideKick Fishing Double Seats with Millennium Marine B-100 vented seats.

Millennium Marine B-100 Gray Seat

Millenium Marine Sidekick Fishing Double Seat – D-200-00

This two angler set up can be fished off the front or back of the boat, and is compatible with the Millennium Shadetree Aluminum Fishing Umbrella.

Lures

While certain lures perform better than others at various conditions and times of the year, minnows and small jigs are year-round effective crappie fishing tools.

Slow Trolling Minnows

If I'm slow trolling minnows, I'll use Eagle Claw Crappie Rigs size 2 or 4 with 1 to 3 oz casting sinkers at the bottom.

Eagle Claw Crappie Rigs

Slow Trolling Jigs

If I'm slow trolling jigs, I'll do a Carolina rigged 2 oz egg weight above a barell swivel, then tie Beetle Bou Marabou Crappie Jig in Chrome tinsel on a loop knot 6 inches below the swivel, and other jig using a clinch knot 18" down on the same line.

2 OZ Egg Weight

Barrel Swivel

Beetle Bou Marabou Crappie Jig

Crankbaits

If I'm pushing or pulling crankbaits, its hard to go wrong with Bandit 300 deep diving crappie crankbaits. These lures are available in a variety of colors and are durable with extra sharp concave treble hooks.

Bandit 300 Series Crappie Crankbait

Line

The line you select is less important than how the line impacts strike sensitivity, load bearing, abrasion resistance, and memory.

Ultralight line allows you to cast lighter baits, but has low abrasion resistance and high memory. Braid offers acceptable strike detection, has high tensile strength and abrasion resistance, and low memory, but has such a small diameter its difficult to spool large trolling reels on braid alone. Depending on time of year, I will fish either 12lb mono or 20lb braid.

I like Ande Back Country Blue or Back Country Green Envy if I'm fishing 12lb mono and Spiderwire Stealth if I'm fishing braid.

Ande Back Country Monofilament 12 LB Fishing Line

Ande Envy Back Country Bright Green Monofilament 12LB Fishing Line

Maps

Unless and even if you are very familiar with a lake, I like to have a purchased copy of the FishSmart by Humminbird Contour map for every lake I guide on. It allows me to pre and post fish at home by looking at objective areas or comparing what we saw on the water to what is published about what is below it. These are one time purchases and compatible with iPhones and Android phones.

Fishsmart App by Hummingbird

Aaron Barton Guide & Outfitter • Mississippi

Guided Crappie Fishing On Sardis Lake and Enid Lake starting at $325 call 469.763.1885 to book

*NOTE: The links to purchase certain products I recommend in this gear list may result in me being paid a small commission. I appreciate your support!