KENT DRISCOLL ON POWER TROLLING FOR CRAPPIE

Patterns for Power Trolling and More on Equipment

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kent Driscoll of Cordova, Tennessee, enjoys crappie fishing so much that he fishes the Crappie U.S.A. and North American Crappie tournament trails and belongs to the Troll Mate Crappie Club in Memphis, Tennessee. For the next two weeks, I'll tell you about the tactics Driscoll employs for the summer months to take suspended crappie - power trolling and crankbaiting. This week we'll learn about power trolling for crappie.

Question: How do you establish a pattern when you're power trolling for crappie?
Answer: I identify a pattern by simply starting to fish. Every time we catch a fish, we pay attention to what bait we caught it on and how deep the crappie was. Then we try to mimic that pattern on every pole.

Question: Once you establish that pattern and go back and run that pattern, do you run the same water with the pattern, or do you run new water?
Answer: I'll run both. I'll run water where we have already caught fish, but I'll also break new ground and run new water as well.

Question: You fish open/flat water - right?
Answer: Yes, I fish open/flat water with no structure, nothing, because these crappie are out here with the baitfish.

Question: Most people aren't fishing for open-water crappie or suspended ones, are they?
Answer: Most crappie fishermen call this type of fishing the Mississippi power-trolling technique. The crappie fishermen south of Memphis, Tennessee, in Mississippi have taken this idea, developed it and fine-tuned it. I've seen how effective it is, so I've learned how to do it and applied it to tournament situations. Many tournament anglers don't fish with a power-trolling system, but I think the procedure is getting more popular every day.

Question: Why don't more people start power trolling for crappie?
Answer: Well, power trolling is more difficult. For one thing, you'll have a lot of rods to fish. Too, power trolling has many variables, whereas regular crappie fishing takes just a jig and/or a minnow. Power trolling takes more time to set up. However, I know at the end of the day the kind of reward I'll have from fishing this technique.

Question: Where do you find all the racks to hold these poles?
Answer: My rod holders are Titelocks. I've had these rod holders for years. I like these rod holders. I actually made the stand and the base myself to hold these heavy-duty rod holders. When I bought the original rod-holder Titelock system, it wasn't built to hold rods and heavy weights moving this fast. So, I designed my own. As you see, I've got four bolts on the floor and then 1-inch tubing to make a T-post to support the rods and the rod holders. I can run as much weight as I want to off this -- by far the strongest trolling system ever.

Question: How many fish do you expect to catch per day when you use this system?
Answer: When the bite is good, we'll each catch a 30-crappie limit in three to four hours.

Question: Do these fish have to be 10-inches long?
Answer: Mississippi lakes generally have a 10-inch-length limit.

Question: What's your opinion of the 10-inch limit?
Answer: I think the 10-inch-length limit for crappie is great for these lakes. The length limit keeps people from keeping the small fish and gives these fish a chance to grow bigger. I can tell by fishing other states that don't have length limits on their crappie that they don't have the big crappie that Mississippi does.

Question: Have you ever caught many crappie weighing more than 3 pounds?
Answer: I've taken four crappie that weighed more than 3-pounds each, I've caught two that weighed exactly 3-pounds each, and I've also taken a 3.2- and a 3.4-pound crappie. I've been fishing for crappie for more than 20 years. A 3-pound crappie is pretty rare, but this lake I enjoy fishing, 28,000-acre Lake Arkabutla, about 10-miles south of Hernando, Mississippi, on I-55, is renowned across the crappie-fishing world for homing big crappie. Lake Arkabutla is a very fertile lake that's fed by a cold-water river on one side and Hurricane Creek on the other side.

Question: You keep a counter on your pole stand, right?
Answer: Yes, I do. I keep up with how many crappie have been caught. Then, we don't have to count them during the day. Every time we catch a crappie and put it into the livewell or cooler, I just click our counter one time. I also use the counter in tournaments. For instance, on the North American Crappie tournament circuit, we can't have more than 20 crappie in the livewell at any time. So, we have to keep up with the number we have on-hand to not break the rules.

Question: What else are you going to catch when you're power trolling like this?
Answer: We'll catch some of most every kind of fish. Mainly we'll take crappie though. We'll also catch a few white bass and catfish and occasionally a largemouth.

To learn more about Lake Arkabutla, Driscoll's favorite crappie-trolling lake near Hernando, Mississippi, go to www.visitmississippi.org, or call (800) WARMEST. You also can go to www.hernandoms.org or call the chamber of commerce at (662) 429-9055, or check out the Days Inn in Hernando at (662) 429-0000, or see www.thedaysinn.com.

TOMORROW: WHAT DRISCOLL HAS LEARNED ABOUT CRAPPIE