KENT DRISCOLL ON POWER TROLLING FOR CRAPPIE

What Driscoll Has Learned About Crappie

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kent Driscoll of Cordova, Tennessee, enjoys crappie fishing so much that he fishes the Crappie U.S.A. and North American Crappie tournament trails and belongs to the Troll Mate Crappie Club in Memphis, Tennessee. For the next two weeks, I'll tell you about the tactics Driscoll employs for the summer months to take suspended crappie - power trolling and crankbaiting. This week we'll learn about power trolling for crappie.

Question: Are these crappie holding in schools?
Answer: All the crappie are doing is loafing out in the middle of the lake, following these schools of shad.

Question: So, these crappie are in the middle of the lake?
Answer: These crappie are suspended. We're in 20 feet of water, and these fish are suspended at about 12-feet deep. The shad are running 9 to 10 feet. So, the crappie are holding under these shad. When the shad decide to feed, they will feed straight up under into these schools of shad.

Question: So, much of the time you can see crappie, but you just can't catch them because they're not feeding, right?
Answer: Absolutely. You'll see the mark on the screen indicating crappie, but often the crappie just aren't in a feeding mood. You can't catch them then. That's the thing about crappie -- they follow a certain feeding schedule. You have to catch crappie during their main feeding times to really take numbers of them.

Question: What have you learned about catching crappie during the summer months?
Answer: When there's a full moon, the crappie will bite better in the middle of the day, in the heat of the day. At that time of the month, we'll catch most of our fish between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Typically during a new moon or no moon at all, the best bites will come right at daylight for a couple of hours.

Question: When do you feel like you get the most crappie bites?
Answer: We get the most bites on a full moon. Of course, a three-quarters moon works too, because when the light's bright all night, the crappie feed all night. Then they'll also feed during the middle of the day.

Question: How long before and after the full moon do you think you have crappie bites during the middle of the day?
Answer: Probably, a week on either side of the full moon pays off in crappie bites during the middle of the day. Besides that time, the first part of the day from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. will be the most productive.

Question: So, you fish strictly by moon tides?
Answer: I don't fish by moon tides, but I do pay attention to them. You can't catch crappie if you're not fishing and don't have poles and baits in the water. Generally if I'm out on the water, and the weather's not too hot, and I'm comfortable, I'll just fish the entire day. But I've learned that crappie will bite the most during certain feeding periods. If you can fish during those feeding periods with the presentation and the bait that crappie want at that time, then you'll have success.

To learn more about Lake Arkabutla, Driscoll's favorite crappie-trolling lake near Hernando, Mississippi, go to www.visitmississippi.org, or call (800) WARMEST. You also can go to www.hernandoms.org or call the chamber of commerce at (662) 429-9055, or check out the Days Inn in Hernando at (662) 429-0000, or see www.thedaysinn.com.

TOMORROW: MORE ON EQUIPMENT