Question: Kent, how do you catch crappie when the weather’s almost too hot to breathe?

Driscoll: I’ll troll crankbaits all summer, fishing for suspended crappie. Right now, the crappie are just starting to get into their summer pattern and following big schools of shad out on the flats. I start early in the morning pulling shallow-running crankbaits, like Bandit 200s and Strike King Series 3s. These crankbaits run about 8- to 11-feet deep. As the sun rises, the crappie go down a little deeper and move from 12- to 16-feet deep in the lakes I’ll be fishing this summer. So, I’ll switch over to the Bandit 300s and the Strike King Series 5 crankbaits. I’ll use deep-diving crankbaits as the crappie move deeper because of the light penetration and the action from water skiers and jet skiers on the surface. The surface temperature’s getting warmer also causes the crappie to move deeper.

Question: What color crankbaits will you be using in the hot summer months?

Driscoll: Early in the morning, I’ll fish with darker colors, like solid black, black and plum and a lot of crawfish colors. I like matte-brown colors, too. A number of the crawfish colors have orange bellies, which the crappie seem to like. But with the clear water caused from the lack of rain in my area, when the sun rises, I’ll switch to more-natural colors. Strike King’s citrus shad has recently been producing a number of crappie for me. Too, Strike King has a new hot-pink color that’s been productive on crappie, and Bandit has a new color as well, called Orange Crush, that’s been really good.

Question: On what line will you be pulling these crankbaits?

Driscoll: I’ll be using 12-pound-test Vicious line and pulling eight-different crankbaits at once. I’m casting the crankbaits out behind the boat and running long lines. Typically, I start at the back of the boat and use an 8-foot B’n’M Pro Staff Trolling Rod with a Cabela’s line-counter reel. That line will probably run out 120 feet. On the opposite side of the boat, I’ll have the line out about 100 feet. On my next rod holder, I’ll have a 10-foot rod and run that bait at 110 feet on one side and 90 feet on the other side of the boat. My third pole will be a 12-foot B’n’M Pro Staff Trolling Rod. I’ll have the line out 90 feet on one side of the boat and 80 feet on the other rod on the other side of the boat. Then I’ll use a 14-foot Pro Staff Trolling Rod. I’ll have one line out at about 80 feet and on the other side of the boat I’ll have my line out 70 feet.

I’m stair-stepping my baits. On one side of the boat I’ll run my crankbaits more shallow than on the other side of the boat, until I learn at what depth the crappie are holding. Once I determine the depth where the most crappie are holding, I’ll tighten my spread of baits and probably run them within 5 feet of each other. I never want to run my baits at the same lengths of line because all my lines will get tangled when I turn the boat. So, if I keep about 5 feet of separation on the amount of line I have out on each pole, I won’t get tangled. By running poles of different lengths and lures at various depths, my lines won’t get tangled-up when I catch a crappie that comes up behind the boat. The line that the crappie is on doesn’t run into another line that may be more shallow. To effectively troll crankbaits, make sure you use different length B’n’M Poles, and troll your crankbaits at various depths to keep your lines from tangling.

Question: How fast will you be trolling?

Driscoll: The ideal speed at which I’ll troll is 1.5- to 1.7-miles per hour, and I’ll determine that speed by using a GPS that can monitor speed down to 1/10 of a mile. Now, there are days when the crappie will take the bait better when it’s pulled slower and other days when the crappie prefer the crankbaits pulled faster. That’s one of the puzzles you’ll have to put together to catch crappie in the summer, just like you’ll have to determine what color of crankbait the crappie want each day you fish. On certain days, the crappie like some colors better than others. So, when I start fishing, I’ll vary the colors of crankbaits I’ll use, as well as the speed at which I’ll troll. Too, I’ll change the depths at which I’ll troll. Then, as I begin to catch crappie, I usually can determine the depth where the crappie are feeding, the color of crankbait they prefer, and the speed at which the boat needs to travel for the crappie to take the bait the best. As I begin to put this pattern together, I’ll change each component part – color, depth and speed – to make up the pattern to determine exactly what the crappie want on the day I’m fishing. On most days, I’ll have one B’n’M pole catching the most crappie, which will indicate that this pole is either at the right depth or the color of lure on that pole is the one the crappie prefer on that day. Once I determine the color of lure the crappie want and the depth at which the crappie want to feed, I’ll begin to adjust the speed of the boat. Using this system, I can maximize the number of crappie I’ll catch each day.

Question: What size crappie will you catch in hot weather?

Driscoll: I’ll be fishing Sardis, Enid, Arkabutla and Grenada lakes in Mississippi, and each of those lakes has a 12-inch minimum for the crappie you can keep. A 12-inch crappie on one of these lakes will weigh 1 pound. Right now, I’m catching about two throwbacks for every one crappie I keep. So, about two-thirds of the crappie I’ll catch will be released because they’ll be short. But I’ll catch a lot of 13- and 14-inch crappie, and occasionally a 15-inch crappie. Trolling crankbaits gets more productive as the summer continues. The crappie are just starting to recuperate from the spawn and feeding heavily to put on weight. So, as the summer progresses, and we move into the fall, I’ll start catching bigger crappie.

Question: Over what type of places will you be trolling in the late summer and early fall?