The most successful freshwater angler I know has a pontoon boat and uses two baits and two presentations 90 percent of the time. Doesn’t matter where he is fishing, what time of year or for what species, and his go-to jig rig even slays fish in salt water. Notice I said “the most successful” fisherman and not “the best.”
This particular angler (and for my own protection we’ll call him “Doug”) has dialed-in a pair of techniques that cover his day-to-day catching needs on waters with which he is familiar, and even those that are new to him. He is so successful at catching fish locally – and posting photos of his results on social media – that he was pressed into duty as a paid fishing guide. For a few seasons anyway, until he realized that he preferred to fish rather than teach – while putting up with all manner of personalities, personality disorders, egos and idiots – not to mention weather conditions and equipment breakdowns – that a professional guide must tolerate. Oh, and Doug is married. Believe me that factors in.
Doug can put a rod and reel in most any angler’s hand and, if the person follows his instructions – to the letter – she or he will probably catch fish. Change anything, such as line type, line diameter, jig weight, trailer type or retrieve, and you might end up asking for a refund after a few hours of fruitless fishing, even while fishing elbow to elbow with my friend, who will probably have chalked up more than his share of hooked-ups.
His other pet technique is trolling, primarily for mid- to late-season crappies. Once the fish have moved off the beds and into deeper water, and fair weather anglers who slayed them in the spring have moved on to more cooperative species with the rise in summer temperatures, Doug does his thing. I’ve seen him dredge-up late season crappies when even the serious spider riggers were striking out. Again, he uses a specific fishing line, length of same, lure, and trolling speed.
So, I’ll cut to the chase. When trolling for summer and fall crappies, Doug uses 8-pound test fluorocarbon line spooled onto a spinning reel mounted to a medium-light, fast-action 7-foot rod. His go-to lures are jointed Shad Raps, which he casts as far as he can off the transom of his boat, which he keeps moving at 1.2 mph using a bow-mounted electric motor. Not 1.0 or 1.3.
He pays out an extra rod length of line and places the rig in a holder as the lures reach 13 feet. Watching his fishfinder as he directs the boat with a hand-held wireless remote, Doug keeps those lures near structure, such as points, drop offs, weedbeds, woody cover or rock piles. But often he has success catching open water crappies that are suspended just over the thermocline, perhaps near schools of baitfish.
Using this trolling technique when joined by a fellow angler or two, Doug tries to get three lines in the water on identical rigs, the only variable being the color of the jointed Rapalas he’s dragging. He’s enjoyed fishing trips when the crappie-catching was so fast he never got to deploy a third rod and, when guiding, spent his entire time netting fish.
The other of Doug’s go-to rigs is more adaptable to a variety of fishing situations and species. In fresh water, he uses the same spinning rig spooled with 8-pound test fluorocarbon line, to which he ties a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce Northland Mimic Minnow Small Fry Jig head. As they are no longer available for sale from Northland as stand-alone jig heads, he purchases them pre-rigged with paddletail jigs and tosses the rubber tails in favor of the Powerbait.
To the realistic minnow-imitating head, Doug threads a natural colored 4-inch Berkeley Powerbait Minnow (model #PBBMW4-SMLT). The rig casts well and its profile, shape and weight allows it to sink at a combination of drop rate and angle that often triggers a reaction bite on the way down. As a reaction bite. That ‘bite’ is prolonged by the texture and taste of the scented Powerbait. Hence the fluorocarbon line for increased “touch” during a controlled fall that is part of the magic of attracting – and often fooling – any predator species in the vicinity. If nothing attacks on the fall, he hops the jig back to the boat, expecting hits on each fall back to the bottom. Done right, it’s downright deadly.
The reason I hesitate to tag Doug as the “best” is because he rarely fishes new waters. To me, the best will be able to adapt and learn to catch fish in new waters and conditions. Not that he can’t. With his special jig technique, he claims he never has to stray far from that preferred presentation to be successful wherever Doug goes fishing, fresh or salt, spring, summer or fall.
I think that sort of puts blinders on my friend, and may keep him from continuing to learn and expand his angling horizons. To which he would call “bs” and hand me a rod pre-rigged with his favorite jig and tail combo adding: “You wanna’ fish or catch?!”
