Slow, deep trolling is a good way to load your boat with winter crappies.
The rod tip of the 16-foot crappie pole began quivering in the cold February air. With a sweep of the rod, Tom Sprouse of Advance quickly brought another chunky crappie aboard his boat.
Sprouse had caught several 3/4 – to 1-pound crappie shortly after motoring upriver from the Old Whitney Landing at Badin Lake to the narrow reaches within sight of the Tuckertown dam where he employed a fishing technique made famous by Ronnie Caps and Steve Coleman, two Tennessee anglers.
From 1995-96, Capps and Coleman won more than $80,000 in cash prizes during tournament competitions and were dubbed “the No. 1 crappie fishing team in America.”
Sprouse also has earned a reputation as a skilled crappie angler through his winning performances at the Southern Crappie Association and N.C. Crappie Team trails.
He credits his success to “tightlining,” or what Capps and Coleman called “slow vertical trolling,” the technique expounded in Tim Huffman’s instructional book, “Winning Crappie Secrets.”
“I read the book and adapted many of the ideas and added a few wrinkles of my own,” Sprouse said.
Since boat control is critical to tightlining, a stable boat that can be controlled in a stiff breeze is needed. The boat should also be spacious enough to house numerous 16-foot trolling poles.
Sprouse fishes from a Ranger 620 Fisherman boat, primarily designed as a walleye boat. But Sprouse said its roomy interior and handling ability make it an ideal craft for tightlining.
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