KENT DRISCOLL ON CRANKBAITING FOR CRAPPIE

Driscoll Goes After Large 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 week, I'll tell you about the tactics Driscoll employs for the summer months to take suspended crappie. This week we'll learn about crankbaiting for big crappie.

Question: When you crankbait for crappie, you troll with the big motor at speeds up to 2 m.p.h. Will crappie take a bait that moves that fast?
Answer: Absolutely. We are fishing for the biggest crappie- the most-aggressive crappie in the schools. When you run a crankbait through schools of crappie, they just have a split second to make a decision to bite or not. Most of the time the bigger fish are the ones that will bite. We have a tendency to catch bigger fish when we are power poling and running crankbaits.

Question: So, this is a way you can sort out your fish?
Answer: Yes. I go through as much water as I can with these power poles and this big motor. I try to fine-tune this presentation throughout the day. I cover all the water, I vary my speeds, and I change out my baits, whether it's a jig or a jig/minnow combo, a Twister Tail or a crankbait. We just continue fine-tuning the pattern until we know what the big fish want.

Question: You don't fish for just any crappie?
Answer: No. We're fishing for big crappie. Most of the time when I fish in tournaments and on new water that I don't know well, I've found the best way to locate fish is to move around the body of water and try different techniques. I feel power trolling and crankbaiting are some of the hottest techniques to use to catch big crappie.

Question: What do you consider big fish?
Answer: A 1-1/2-pound crappie is a big one. On some lakes a 2-pound fish is big, but most lakes the 1-1/2-pound fish will rate as big.

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: DRISCOLL'S CHOICE OF CRANKBAITS AND EQUIPMENT