MORE ON CRANKBAITING FOR CRAPPIE AND OTHER KENT DRISCOLL
TACTICS
The Depths Driscoll Runs Crankbaits
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Kent Driscoll of Cordova, Tennessee, has enjoyed
fishing for crappie for 30 years. He's fished in crappie
tournaments for 10 years, winning numbers of local tournaments,
several one-day tournaments and finishing third in 2000
and fourth in 2002 at the North American Crappie Classic.
Each spring and summer, Driscoll fishes the Crappie
USA Circuit, Crappiemasters and the new Crappie Angler's
Association, using a wide variety of tactics that produce
crappie all year long. Let's learn how Driscoll finds
and catches crappie.
Question: Kent, the depth at which a lure runs is not
only determined by the size of the crankbait, the size
of the line and the amount of line let out behind the
boat. The speed at which the boat's moving also plays
a major role in how deep the crankbaits run. How are
you determining the speed of the boat and adjusting
that speed to fish different depths?
Driscoll:
I've found that the ideal speed to troll crankbaits
for crappie in the summer months is 1.7 miles an hour
to 1.8 miles an hour. I obtain this speed by trolling
with my 50 horsepower Mercury motor and not using my
trolling motor. I determine the speed of my boat by
using my GPS receiver. No speedometer I know of will
give trolling speeds down to 1/10 of a mile per hour.
However, the GPS receiver will break the speed down
to those small increments. I've learned that if I'm
trolling at 2 miles an hour or faster, the crappie have
to be really aggressive and really hungry to chase down
a bait that fast. If I'm trolling the crankbaits at
speeds slower than 1.5 or 1.6 miles per hour, then I
don't get the action or the wiggle out of the crankbait
that seems to attract the crappie. Therefore, I've found
that 1.7 miles per hour or 1.8 miles per hour seems
to be the best speed to produce the most crappie when
I'm trolling crankbaits.
Another
device that I use to maintain the speed on my big motor
when I'm trolling is a trolling plane. Most crappie
fishermen, especially in the South, are not familiar
with a trolling plane, because this is a device primarily
used in the North by walleye fishermen to slow down
the speed at which they troll. The trolling plane is
a flat piece of square aluminum that fits on the foot
of your outboard and can be adjusted so that it blocks
the prop wash in front of the propeller.
I use a four-stroke outboard motor, which is highly
fuel-efficient and is extremely quiet. It's also very
low on emissions.I use the Happy Troller trolling plate,
an all-aluminum plate that's extremely durable. I have
modified this trolling plate by using a grinder to add
two slots in the plate, which allows me to have three
different angles on the trolling plate. Most trolling
plates have only one slot, which makes the trolling
plate hold at a 90-degree angle to the propeller. But
the way I've modified my trolling plate, I can raise
it up two more notches to increase the angle so that
I can gain a little more speed by having the prop wash
hit the trolling plate at a greater angle than 90 degrees.
The advantage to having those two extra notches on the
trolling plate is I can adjust the speed of the boat
depending on whether I'm trolling into the wind or with
the wind and it allows me to adjust my speed to the
force of the wind.
On
an extremely windy day when I'm trolling into the wind,
I want to adjust the trolling plate up so that the motor
gives me more thrust to combat the wind yet maintain
my speed at 1.7 to 1.8 miles per hour. When there's
no wind or very little wind, I can adjust my trolling
plate down so that it blocks the prop wash and slows
the boat down. Another advantage to the trolling plate
is it prevents me from having to rev the motor up to
a faster speed, which creates more turbulence in the
water that spook the crappie.
These are the techniques I use to keep my crankbaits
continuously trolling at the same rate of speed in different
water depths to cover a wide area when I'm trying to
find and catch crappie.
To learn more about Mossy Oak Fishing Line, go to
www.mossyoakfishing.com.
For more information about B'n'M Crappie Poles, visit
www.bnmpoles.com.
TOMORROW: HOW DRISCOLL DECIDES
WHAT LURES TO TROLL
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