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Among the most loved ways of catching crappie there is trolling. Many anglers have even adopted the technique as their only way of fishing as it is among the most effective ways to fish. Despite the fact that it is widely in use, it needs quite a bit of effort and experience. Among the other gear and tools trolling will always need some effective crappie trolling rigs to make your fishing trip successful.
what is a crappie fishing rig?
A basic fishing rig is a combination of fishing line, weights/sinkers, swivels, bobbers, lures and one or more hooks. The can be different as per needs of an angler. A rig can impact the way of fishing largely and a good rig can lead you to good fishing trip and same way with a bad one.
Anglers might skip using them for other ways of fishing but in trolling crappie fishing rigs are must.
There are many types and combination for catching crappie and many other combinations can be created. It’s just how and what you assemble and what are the results.
However there are several crappie trolling rigs that works the best among all if used in the right situations. And luckily you can prepare all types of them at home before you head over to your spot.
We will discuss all of the famous rigs that most experienced anglers use. We will also discuss how and in which situation they will be used and how to make them at home.
Here is the list of our rig setup for spider rigging and trolling crappie.
Best Crappie Trolling Rigs
Comparing your situations, water color and the habitat of the lake you can choose to make one or more of them. Just be careful picking the right one because even temperature and weather could influence the effectiveness of a trolling rig.
For example in lower temperature or cold air when the surface water temperature falls lower than usual. The fish tend to go lower in order to achieve that warmer water of the depths. So if you choose a rig made for warm weather trolling and use it in cold weather then that’s not likely to work so well.
These are all our secrets that we have collected the experience of all these years. Our setup is impactful during crappie spider rigging and trolling.
1. The Three way swivel
The three way swivel rig is very common and simple rig that works like a charm. The way that it is assembled is very creative and absolutely makes sense. Its perfect for the times when you are trolling for crappie and either you don’t know the right depth of the lake or the fish.
Moreover we can claim that any crappie spider rigging setup should contain this rig or something will seem missing.
Here is how to make it.
For a single three way swivel rig for crappie trolling you will need.
- Take the lightest line from your collection as crappies are line shy.
- Take 2-3 three way swivels. Can be increased if you need.
- A pencil sinker. To tie it to the bottom as a weight.
- 2-3 hooks according to the number of swivels. You can increase them even further.
Here is the way to assemble them together to form the rig.
- Cut 2-3 (according to the number of swivels and hooks) 18 inches line pieces of the fishing which you are going to use. Also cut 2-3 9 inches pieces of the line for hooks.
- Tie the first swivel to the end of your main fishing line.
- Now take the 18 inches line tie it to the second way of the first swivel.
- To the other end of the 18 inch piece tie the second swivel and repeat the same for the other swivel and piece of line. This will make a straight line of swivels tied to each other with 18 inch lines.
- To the last swivel of the line tie another line of the same length and tie the pencil sinker to the end of the line.
- Now each swivel has one way empty, tie the smaller line pieces of 9 inches to the third way of each swivel and tie a hook to the end of these lines.
Use of Three Way Swivel
Three way swivel rig makes a great opportunity for beginner and even for experienced anglers to explore the whole lake. It is one of the most successful rigs of all time for crappie trolling and high chances of bites.
Just make sure to use your favorite bait or lure on the hooks to make it even better. For spider rigging this is the only thing we can say it is perfect match.
As the hooks remain in different depths in water as you troll it covers the entire depth of water.
2. Floating Crappie Trolling Rig
Bottom walker rig is an impactful rig for areas having greenery bushes and weeds in the water surface. It consists of a bobber which keeps a point of line stay afloat to keep the hook at a certain depth.
When the hook remains at the right depth where there are crappies then the rig becomes extremely useful. And of course you need to find out the depth estimate of fish on your spot.
To make it at home you will need these elements.
- A three way swivel.
- You will need a slip float bobber.
- A sinker of 4 OZ
- Thinner fishing line.
- And a hook will also be a part of this trolling rig.
These are the only things we will use to make the floating rig. The following is the method for you to make the rig at home.
- Take the a piece of line having the length equal to the depth of fish in your spot (based on estimate or exact).
- Tie it to a the slip bobber and tie the hook on its other end.
- Tie a 12 inch piece of line to the other side of bobber.
- The other end of the the 12 inch piece will link to the swivel.
- Cut 10 feet long line piece and link it to the other way of swivel.
Your rig is ready, you can use the third way of the swivel with your main fishing line. This rig will lead your hook to the right depth in areas of weeds and greenery.
Hair Jig Crappie Trolling Rig
The simplest and the most important part of our trolling and crappie spider rigging setup. It is a very simple rig consisting of only tow items. As its name it has a hair jig at its end which is known for its successes while we use it for crappie trolling. So you can use some of your best jigs and jig heads to try out different things.
It is a brilliant part of our crappie trolling setup. Moreover its also the easiest to make.
So here are the only 2 components used in this rig.
- A Trolling weight.
- A hair jig of your favorite color.
Moving further to how to make one of these hair jigs.
- Tie one end of the weight to your main line.
- Cut a piece of line 18-24 inches long.
- Link one of its end to the second side of the weight and the other to the hair jig.
Similarly you can use a jig head as well if you like to use your own lures or baits.
Concluding
Eventually we can say that these have been our best crappie trolling rigs for years. And our crappie trolling setup is incomplete without any of these rigs.
Again it is a real pleasure to share our secrets with our readers. Here is our guide to make some similar rigs for other types of fish.
