Page 4 - Crappie NOW | July 2016

Summer Brush & Beds

B will last forever and is easy to fish.
rush and crappie beds are prime
summer structures. Casting and jigging are Spider Rigging
tactics that offer fun chase. Fast trolling is a Slow trolling, or spider rigging, is still a top
great way to cover water and fish over the tops of pick when fishing beds. Summer is especially
beds and brush. However, most serious crappie good because a fisherman can go from spot
fishermen will be slow trolling, also called spider to spot in a hurry but stop completely still at a
rigging. The tactic allows brush piles and beds bed so baits can hold still in front of the fish.
to be probed for summer slabs. Sometime fish are aggressive but other times

Where to Fish they need to see a bait for a while.
The Johnson Fishing team of Billy and
Several factors come into play during the Scott Williams won the 2016 Crappie Masters
summer. The first is crappie movements for the Alabama State Championship this spring on the
lake you fish. Some crappie stay shallow, others Alabama River. The team says spider rigging is
go deep, but many times crappie are in the 10- the number one tactic on the tournament trail
to 16-foot range. Again, that varies from lake to
lake usually based upon water color and overall
lake depth. “When I’m looking at a new
A second major factor is thermocline. area,” says Scott, “I’ll often
A layer of bad water with less oxygen and an
upper layer of “sweet water” with better pH, spend more time scanning than
temperature and oxygen is separated by what fishing.”

is called a thermocline. Finding the cline can be
done with sonar on high sensitivity as it shows
a line across the screen. An old-timer way is to and brush piles are always a good structure to
drop a minnow down for a couple of minutes, target.
bring it up and check to see if it is alive. When “If we are on brush,” says Scott Williams,
you get below the thermocline the minnow dies “spider rigging lets us set on it and not move.
very quickly. The importance of the thermocline After we fish a bed we can kick our speed up
is to know the maximum depth to put baits. and fish to another top or bed and repeat. Other
Always fish above the thermocline where the techniques don’t let us fish that way.”
active fish will be located. “Without a doubt our number one tool
Anywhere you can find brush and beds for spider rigging is our electronics. We use
can be potential spots for catching. Ideal spots Humminbird Side Imaging and it helps us
are the edge of drop-offs, near-by flats, points tremendously. At a new lake we’ll find a ledge
and other structures. Sonar and scanning are and use our electronics with a LakeMaster chip
critical for finding beds. Once found, GPS can and look for cover. We’re looking for brush with
help return to the spots. crappie on it. A lot of time it’s a brush top that’s
Afisherman can quickly improve his fishing floated in but fishermen put many beds in most
by adding beds to his own lake. Brush and small waters and they can be very good spots.”
trees have always been a good attractor option. Scott says, “I’ll look for fish in the middle
So are stake beds. The newest choice for long- depths this time of year but will go deeper to 18
term structure is PVC. It’s more expensive but or 20 feet until I find fish. We don’t waste time

4 Crappie NOW July 2016