Learn the techniques of four crankbait trolling experts and increase your summer crappie fishing success.
“And the Bandits Stroll Away” might sound like a country song title. Instead, it’s what Arkansas crappie guide Payton Usrey tells boat guests when the final trolling lure is in the water and it’s time for fish-catching action.
Bandits are a brand of shad-shaped crankbaits, popular with Usrey and scores of avid crappie anglers who enjoy summer trolling for the species. They rattle and have a wide wobble when retrieved.
Strolling, in fishing talk, refers to various slow-trolling techniques in which a boat’s electric trolling motor is used to move the watercraft along in a deliberate, controlled manner for presenting lures.
You’ll also hear “pushing” or “pulling” used to describe more specific crappie strolling applications, including the use of crankbaits. For pushing, rods are positioned forward at the boat’s front, and a weighted line is used to manage baits pretty much straight down. Pulling is when rods are either at the front or rear of the boat with baits being “pulled” behind.
The concept of intentionally catching crappie by trolling crankbaits nearly 4 inches in overall length is mind blowing to most crappie enthusiasts, who traditionally rely on minnows or jigs, but Mississippi’s Brad Chappell encourages anyone targeting crappie in water temperatures of 80 degrees or higher to give the technique a try.
“It’s a fun and easy way for anglers of all ages and skills to catch crappie; plus allows you to keep some air moving on the otherwise hot and muggy still days of summer. My clients appreciate the catching and the comfort. It’s also a great way to learn a new body of water or explore different parts of a lake or river. I’m always finding new structure while trolling and marking the spots for visiting again,” Chappell said.
Four accomplished crankbait trollers – Chappell, Usrey, Usrey’s fellow Beaver Lake guide friend Greg Robinson, and North Carolina’s Stokes McClellan – share their crankbait trolling knowledge in the information that follows to give you a head start to success.
