Page 6 - Crappie NOW - March 2018
P. 6
LEDGES
Tournament Outcome
A few hours of prefishing on the final Billy Don Surface slow trolls ledges
practice day did not change plans for the searching for quality crappie at D’Arbonne
tournament. Surface and Jones started Lake.
the tournament by fishing the area we
found on Wednesday when we caught the
big stringer weight. of us. They had seen us fishing the spot
Weather can change strategies. “We when practicing and found the fish. We
stuck with the spot for two hours,” says were going to hit another part of the ledge
Surface. “The wind was blowing hard. but a boat was there, too. That’s just the
We had eight fish with one good one for way it goes sometimes.”
about 10 pounds. Waves were pushing They moved up to third place in a
over the front of the boat and we didn’t large tournament, so the ledge pattern
have control of the poles or boat, so we proved to be a good choice. There are
were just wasting our time. It was tough. usually many ledges so picking the right
With the timber and stumps we couldn’t one is critical for success. That can take
have gone with the wind because we hard work, a lot of hours on the water and
would have hung up too much. Our trolling a little luck.
motor bounced on top of a stump and we
thought it was broken but we lucked out. Putting It All Together
We moved and upgraded a little. I think Drop-offs can be an important
we ended up in fifth place after day one.” part of a pattern no matter the month or
The team felt good about day two weather. The March timeframe is a good
because the wind would allow them to time to stay on the move until you find the
fish their spot with the good ledges. “We best depth. Creek ledges will likely be
were in the right spot but just didn’t get good because they are part of the major
the right fish to bite today. The guys that highways used when crappie are on the
caught the big fish were within fifty yards move with seasonal changes.
Drops usually include bends, cuts,
6 Crappie NOW March 2018
