Crappie fishing all about the equipment

Chatt Martin believes better equipment leads to better crappie fishing success.

Here is some of what he regularly uses:

Electronics – Martin has a Lowrance HDS-8 on the dash of his boat. He likes that he can program exact GPS locations to easily find favored spots.

The new sonar also gives much better definition that most previous units.

“Regular old sonar used a cone-angle shot down. This unit shoots down a straight beam,” Martin said. “That gives you much better detail. You can absolutely identify if you’re looking at a brushpile, a brushpile with fish or nothing but fish. It really makes a difference.”

Line – He’s a big fan of braided line, especially when fishing for deep fish.

Monday, he used Power 10-pound test line that has the diameter of traditional two-pound test line, in high-visibility yellow.

“The thinner line drops a lot faster and you get a real good feel with it,” he said. “You can also set the hook better because it has no stretch to it.”

Lures – Martin’s not a fan of dainty lures when he’s fishing for deep crappie. One of his favorite set ups is a 3/8-ounce jig because it drops quickly to the bottom. It also allows better feel than with smaller jigs because the line’s held so taunt.

He uses both tube and curly-tailed bodies, held in place by a drop of super glue at the back of the jig head. Sometimes 50 or more crappie can be caught per body before it has to be replaced.

Lure color, he said, isn’t as important as lure presentation.

“I think vibration is more important than color, to be honest,” Martin said. “I’m a big believer in slightly shaking the rod. A lot of times the strike comes just after you’ve given it a light shake. You can, though, jig way too hard in a lot of situations.”

Electric motor – While some experienced anglers like to anchor over their fishing spot, Martin prefers to use an electric motor and his sonar. “The schools have a tendency to move around a little and I want to stay right on top of them,” he said. “You can’t do that if you’re anchored. If you are anchored you may want to cast around to see where a school has gone if they’re no longer below you.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Crappie fishing all about the equipment."