Went out to RR today and wanted to try to spider rig over a COE pile. Stuck two 10 foot rods in the water Kentucky rigged with minners and jigged with the other hand. As soon as I got my second minner in the water, I took a step back and dropped my jig in the water and watched them two poles. I saw a bobble and then the pole bend. I picked up on it and fish on!

I was all excited about this new way of fishing and then nothing for the next hour or two. Just a bunch of minnow stealing theives and empty hooks. I was working hard trying to keep the boat someone over the pile, put minnows on, and jig at the same time. Then my minners started floating and we only caught 1 more under in that area. Stupid spider rigging.

For those who spider rig and can handle more than two poles you guys are my heros. It sure seems like a lot of work and lots of minnows used to fish that style. I think I might just stick with jigging a tree.

At least a school of sandies didn't go over that brushpile.

Im with you fillet o crappie .The only reason my b readys aint for sale one day I might use them to catch catfish.LOL Darrell

O come on Darrel you didnt say the C word nastey cats

I hear you Tom. It's pretty fast paced action if you can get on fish...

I think you could make a good comedy skit out of spider rigging. I had never done it, read about it, and decided to try it. Got a 4 pole holder for the boat and set out to catch a mess of crappie. I always considered myself average to above average in coordination. With some effort, I got 4 poles out. I started fiddling with the depth finder, a gust of wind hit, and things went to he??
30 minutes later and after the boat had drifted a mile down the lake, I got things straightened out. I decided to go down to 3 poles. Then a pole snagged some brush, while working on that, another line wrapped in the EM prop, and again things went to He??
After straightening out that mess, I started using 2 poles. That kept me busy enough. I felt like a spastic all day and came to the conclusion that I have below average coordination. Spider rigging can make you humble.

Spider rigging takes practice...just like anything else.
You must lay out your equipment properly...if you are using live bait (minnows)...you are into a mess of work, but it's actually do-able if you setup right. I always used jigs..even in winter fishing.. 99% of spider rigging folks use minnows, especially during the winter...I just don't.
Anyway...spider rigging isn't fun in the wind. Imagine if you are fishing with ONE pole jigging over a brush pile and it's windy.... Most people can't keep up with that, not let alone multiple rods.

Having your boat facing the wind is one of the priority when spider rigging. Baiting and everything else should be done while the boat is correctly position first. You can delay rigging a pole and keep the boat in place, or else you will mess up more than you can handle...

Best to choose a calm day to practice. Next..try use jigs tip with a crappie nibbles instead of minnows until you can master your boat control...Use one jig at first..and if you need the jig to sink deeper, use a bell sinker down below..this way, it's less hang up until you are more experience. Learn how to constantly know the depth your jigs and the depth your brush pile. Keep an eye on all your rods, yet also keep an eye on your sonar. When you are spider rigging over a brush pile, you must know your brush pile.. some areas of the brush pile are deeper and some not. If your jig/bait is set at 18ft, and the brush pile you are fishing is 20ft but the top of the brush pile is at 14ft, you will snag if you don't know where the shallow part is, or if you can't control your boat properly to avoid running into shallow portion of the brush pile.....
Spider rigging is very productive if you are fishing over grass bed where the depth are usually constant with less hang up. To spider rig a brush pile is not a simple matter as one might think. Most people have problem fishing a brush pile with just one rod so don't give up thinking that it is an impossible task. It is very do-able with a little logic and practice...
Better luck next time Tom!

Great post CV!

Thanks Tom
You gave some good tips. I'm not giving up on spider rigging, but will practice more on non windy days and work my up on number of poles as I get better at it.
Herb