Question: Brad, you’ve been fishing for crappie for nearly 15 years using standard tightline tactics. What made you decide to change your style?

Whitehead: I don’t fish tournaments. I only guide and to be a successful guide you not only have to be able to help your clients catch fish, they have to have a good time doing it. So I started looking around and it seemed to me the guy who was catching the most fish and having the most fun was longtime fellow Pickwick guide Roger Gant. Roger designed this method that he calls Side Pullin’. It’s a lot simpler and easier than running a bunch of tightline rods mostly from the front of the boat.

Question: Why do your clients like Side Pullin’ better than tightlining?

Whitehead: In my tightline setup, I fished 8 rods from the front of my old boat with my clients behind me fishing four rods on each side. That means I was getting first shot at the fish and they were having to fish behind me. With Side Pullin’ everybody gets an equal shot at the fish and it’s so much easier to fish because all the rods line up so I can help my clients watch for bites. Plus the layout of the boat just makes it a lot more comfortable to spend a day on the water.

Question: What kind of boat do you use for Side Pullin’ ?

Whitehead: A few years ago, Gant went to John Ward at War Eagle Boats and suggested an entire design package for War Eagle’s 754 VS model boat. The trolling motor mount goes on the side of the boat and the rod holders are laid out on the opposite side. The seating and livewells are offset so that the boat tracks great while pulling sideways. Everything is laid out within easy reach; you don’t even have to get out of your seat to go from running the big motor to the trolling motor or to put a fish in the livewell. I went to War Eagle and told them I was going to get into Side Pullin’ and they were thrilled. They even signed me up to be on their pro staff.

Question:  Gant designed a rod to use with this method of fishing. Do you use it too?

Whitehead: He designed a rod for B’n’M that’s called “The Difference”. The way he explained it to me was when clients got on his boat they’d ask him if they were going to catch fish. He would explain that whether or not they were going to catch fish would be determined if they were able to see the bites that Gant knew they were going to get. He said seeing the bite was “the difference” in whether or not they’d catch fish and he was absolutely right. These new rods are sensitive at the tip like an ultra light spinning rod but they’re set up on a baitcast reel seat so you can pull off line to make sure your baits are down near the bottom where they need to be. Crappie tend to come up and just suck in the bait and if you don’t recognize it when they bite, you end up missing a lot of fish. With this rod, however, seeing the bite is a whole lot easier.

Question: What does Roger Gant think about you taking up his style of fishing?

Whitehead: He’s been a great help to me. He’s been a guide on Pickwick for over 30 years and I just went to him and said I’ve never seen a better or more effective way to fish this lake and I think he likes the fact that somebody a little younger is wanting to learn what’s he’s spent his lifetime perfecting. We talk a lot and he helps me every chance he can.

Question:  Would Side Pullin’ work on other lakes?

Whitehead: Absolutely. This method has won tournaments on big name lakes like Patoka up in Indiana, Sardis and Ross Barnett in Mississippi and also on Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee/Kentucky border. It will work anywhere that you have crappie that hold right on the bottom of the lake. Because the baits skim just above the bottom, any lake where crappie are holding on stump flats or creek channels right off the bottom, you can catch them by Side Pullin’. It’s also a great way to fish a lot of water because you’re continuously on the move.