I need some advice. I am thinking about investing in long poles 14' and wanted to know from those that crappie fish more than I... do you catch more fish with those than specifically fishing 'structure' as in timber or planted structure? I know this is a loaded question but I catch plenty of fish associated with structure but just haven't had as much luck with more open water presentations as I have targeting vertical presentations over structure.

Does anyone pull up to structure with spider rigs?

Is spider rigging more open water or am I missing out on an entire area of presentation?

You don't need anything longer than a 10 foot pole unless you're fishing 3' of water or less at Grenada. I have yet to see an application of 14' rods anywhere in Texas unless you're jigging from the bank. If you're more than 10' above the fish, rod length doesn't matter.

+1

I can tell you from someone who just tried spider rigging structure about 30 minutes ago that it's not a good idea.

Spider rigging is an option that takes some practice and patience, especially fishing structure. Those that spider rig year round will fish structure with multiple poles. It is effective. I don't recommend fishing structure spider rigging unless hanging up and retying several times doesn't bother you.
This is an open water presentation for winter fishing for me. Or structure that is close to the bottom like old logs. Fishing large lay down trees with plenty of limbs or brush piles will result in hang ups. Those that spider rig year around just put up with it.
As to length of pole; the advantage of long poles is keeping the baits further apart and covering more area. If you're going to have two people in front fishing 8 poles, then separation of the baits in 30 FOW keeps them from tangling when you change direction or back up. If you're careful with boat movement, the 10 ft rods work fine when fishing deep water in winter. As Lane said, if you're fishing shallow spawning water, then the long poles, 14-16ft, are the way to go. Keeps from spooking the fish.

Presentation with this method is very effective. When we fished the Crappie Masters Nat'l tournament at Truman in Oct 2010, we fished timber like we usually do if available and fish are there. The spider riggers found different types of bottom contours holding crappie in shallow water. One team fished a large flat with a small ditch running across it. Water on the flat was 5-7 ft and the ditch only 18-24" deep and about 5 ft wide. The fish were in the ditch area traveling and feeding. They marked the ditch with buoys and spider rigged the ditch. Was very effective. Another team found a drop off that ran about 100 yds holding crappie. They spider rigger that area and brought in good fish. The guys fishing the ditch almost left it on day two after 4 hours and only two fish. But they determined the fish would move in as soon as the water warmed another degree or two and they were right. Some shad moved back into the area and the crappie followed.
My problem is I associate crappie with structure and they can be in many different places in a lake on the same day.

Ok. Time for one of my stupid questions.
Do you always fish minnows when spider rigging?

Mo

No sir. When spider rigging I have two rods with jigs and most of the time catch my bigger fish on the two with jigs

"My problem is I associate crappie with structure and they can be in many different places in a lake on the same day."

That's the deal right there. If you have 2 guys, fishing 4 poles each with 2 jigs to a pole = 16 jigs are going to catch more fish when the crappie are in open water than a guy fishing a couple of jigs.

It has it's time & place.

I usually have an assortment of baits in the water. Jigs, minnows and tip the jigs with minnows. And I'm with fishin_farmer, best fish hit the jigs quite often.

When I do spider I like leaning my jigs on structure but it's structure I've fished for years & know the angles to go into it so I don't get hung.
I always only use jigs & always a single jig per pole, doubles double your chances of getting hung & I haven't really seen that doubles out produce a single jig per pole....
Get to know the area you're fishn, learn boat control & patience it'll for sure save your jigs...

Second stupid question , Do you miss a lot of strikes ? I miss my share and I am
always holding my gear.

MO

Hard question to answer. Crappie bite different in the winter, sometimes just coming up to the bait and holding it in their mouth. Those type bites when you say I didn't feel anything, he was just there. When fishing jigs, that may happen more than is known. With rods in the holder, you either see the fish pulling the tip down or you see the actual bite which is a thump on the rod tip. How many times a fish just takes the bait, holds it and spits it out, I'll never know. When the boat is moving, if the bait is held very long, you'll see the rod tip move.
I've resorted to holding a rod in each hand when the bite is light so I can detect it. I've felt bites holding the rod that I'm sure I would have missed with the rod in the holder.

What little bit of spider rigging I do a year is with 8' Pro Anglers and if you hook something decent or get into sand bass its a Chinese fire drill! I usually have to retie a couple rods from them getting tangled and I only fish 4 at a time! So I can see for nothing else than keeping them further apart to avoid tangles long rods might be an advantage if it keeps em from getting tangled as much! Course then you need a long net and gotta deal with 14' poles in a boat not much longer I guess!!

Many thanks to all for the input! I believe that I have decided to use the 12 ft. that I have and the couple of 10 footers that i have as well. I have fished enough to know that I totally am on board with what Ken is saying about holding the rods on light bites. I believe in more hook-up ratio per attempt vs. more coverage to round out my odds.

Sounds like spider-rigging has its time and place just doesn't seem worth the over-all investment for the little time I would be using the longer 14' footers. Spawn? Here in Texas that's just about it. They are staging in 10-15 ft. most of the time and go deeper in the summer, fall and winter. 3 is more that 1 so I'll get by with vertical or dangling the 12 and my extending 16 footer in spawning time.

I have caught plenty of crappie during the spawn in shallow water coming to investigate the miniscule 'splash' of my thin profile 'thill' Wagglers -slip bobbers. Didn't seem to scare them off like some said it would.

Plus spending time retying and untangling rods that are well out of my reach in cover that I may catch the 'edge' of before I get into sounds like not a lot of fun and more work. I'd rather spend my time fishing than untangling or messing with other rods that would distract me from a potential bite on another rod.

Yes, Slewfoot I am with you on the sandbass as they run like the banshees bent on a destruction mission. I have in my experience as well found out that most open water situations hold as many if not more sandies than crappies.

I tend to get confused sometimes but as I read further I can figure it out.

Structure is usually referred to as the contour of the terrain.

Cover is usually referred to as brush, trees ect.


I see lots of posts throughout the nation in Facebook fishing groups where spider riggers have great success fishing cover. They suspend their baits just above it (usually brush) and catch tons of fish.