Ever had trouble catching crappie in deep water during winter or in the heat of summer. I'm talking about when they are down below say, 25, 30, 35 feet. Here's a trick I use: I use open face spinners so I can see my line on the spool. Mark off 25 feet from a post (I drive a fence staple in about half way to hook my hook in it) and pull off the line to this point, at twenty five feet I use a marker that won't wash off, usually red or black, and I mark the line (about a foot of marker on it) so when I open the bale the line feeds off to the black mark. I also measure how much line my reels take up with one turn of the handle.

Lets say the fish are at 27 feet (have to have a depth/fish finder), I let the line out to the 25 foot marker and then close the bail, I know that my reels let out 23 inches with one turn of the handle, so to get to the 27 feet, I just turn the handle one time, letting line out. If they are at say, 23 feet, just crank in one turn .

At these depths I use either a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce egg sinker with the smallest split shot I can find and troll slow over the fish. Using this method will allow you to put your minnow or jig in their face/mouth.

dog1