Page 5 - Crappie NOW - October 2017

ROCKS & BOULDERS

but he prefers to cast unless the cover is
too dense, like a thick brushpile.
Casting has disadvantages too. He
says it may take 15 casts to get oriented
correctly to the cover. How the fish are
facing, the depth, and other variables can
cause exact location of a specific piece of
cover to be difficult to find.
“Casting is so much different than
spider rigging,” says Johnson. “Casting
also changes with current and wind. Spider
rigging might take more fish in a quick
period of time but we can have several
casts made in the time it takes to rig up,
bait and get poles out for spider rigging.
We can have it tested, a couple fish in the
boat, or be gone in the amount of time it
takes to get set up for spider rigging.”
Johnson says a key factor to any
cover is shade. He tries to make the first
presentations to the shady side. And, the
presentations are from the direction that
looks the most natural with the current.
“If fish are active casting is efficient
and the crappie will hit immediately. If the
fish are reluctant, the first thing to try is
presenting the jig from different angles. We
usually use a buoy to mark the non-visible
cover. Experience helps a fisherman
know which structures are most likely to
produce but sometimes only by fishing can A good plastic body with a color matching the
you know for sure if a spot does or doesn’t water clarity is critical. This is one of Johnson’s
have crappie. choices for Lake Jordan, AL.
“A lot of our scouting, finding and
elimination cover, like boulders, is with Side
Scanning. A look at side imaging, down when the bite is tough and then we have
imaging and sonar from different angles better odds with larger schools.”
is important to make sure we see crappie
if they are there. Down imaging really help Presentation
pinpoint things.” “We start by using our electronics,
Johnson says he and his partner, often pinpointing a spot and then using a marker.
his wife Jenni, like to pick spots with lots of We position the boat based upon the wind.
fish when they are fishing for fun. He says I would rather have a 10 mph wind than a 5
tournaments are different because instead mph that is shifting. A shifting wind makes
of looking for spots with a hundred fish they maintaining boat setup difficult because we
want covers with only three or four fish on position and then circle the cover casting
them because they are likely to be better from different angles and covering all sides.
crappie. This is especially true on the river. “Something we use a lot is the spotlock
“It’s difficult passing spots with lots of on our Ultrex. You can set it anywhere you
fish in search of bigger fish like we do during need it and fish from there.”
tournaments. The exception to the rule is Johnson has recently made a switch

5 Crappie NOW October 2017