Fishing One-Handed with Joel Harris

August 28, 2024

Fishing One-Handed with Joel Harris

Phillip Gentry

 

In the not-so-distant past, one handed, one poling for crappie was the way to load the cooler with fish. These days, technology, rod holders, and fancy gear, none of which are a bad thing, but have changed the game and taken crappie anglers in different directions. Lake Pickwick guide Joel Harris is one of the old timers who remembers one poling but has also embraced the newer styles of fishing and newer gadgets to fish with.

Unfortunately for Harris, a spill from atop a forklift and several surgeries later have left the veteran angler thankful for his roots, namely knowing how to fish one-handed, at least until the arm that was injured in the accident heals up.

“My accident has left me relying almost exclusively on my right arm to fish,” said Harris, “but this time of year, you can catch some really nice crappie with just one hand.”

B’n’M’s Duck Commander Double Touch rods offer the angler the reach and the sensitivity they need to feel light bites and strongarm hefty fish.

Harris said the summertime pattern on Pickwick as well as nearby Cedar Creek is to fish brushtops using one pole and one jig. The pattern is one of the longest of the year, starting just a couple weeks after the spawn ends until water temperatures begin to cool in the fall. Crappie will hold on brush for safety from predators as well as to ambush passing baitfish. The wood provides them with some relief from the sun on bright days and the fish are generally agreeable to bite most of the time.

“There’s no real rhyme or reason other than the depth of the water they like will change from time to time – usually getting deeper as the water temperatures get hotter,” he said. “All of these brushpiles will have fish on them. Some days you’ll have to try two or three spots before you find fish in the right mood. Other times the first spot you come to is all you need to get a limit.”

Currently, Harris said water depths in the 17 – 20-foot depths were the favorite with brush coming up anywhere from 5 to 10 feet off the bottom. Harris has forward-facing sonar on his SeaArk boat but he’s not using it to target any individual fish. With the 12-inch sonar screen mounted on a Cornfield Crappie Gear mount, he can monitor the movements of the school of crappie, figure out which side of the brush they are on or if they are straying away from the brush or holding tighter to it, but he’s not watching any single fish.

When targeting black crappie, Harris uses Trout Magnet baits on 1/16 oz jigheads to give the fish a smaller target.

“I use a 12-foot B’n’M Duck commander Double Touch rod,” he said. “I like the 12-foot model for this depth but if the fish get much deeper, I’ll move to an 8-foot model to get more vertical over the fish.”

Harris has an arsenal of Crappie Magnet baits to choose from, but since the majority of the fish he’s catching are black crappie, he’s using a smaller bait – a 1/16-ounce Crappie Magnet Eyehole jig with a Trout Magnet body. The Eyehole jig allows him to wedge a Slab Bite into the hole to add scent to the bait. His current favorite color is gold mealworm, but color is subject to change based on sunlight and weather conditions, as well as the fish’s preference. He’s like to say he’s baiting his own, but he’d be lying.

“It’s payback for my son, ‘cause he has to go with me while my arm is hurt,” said Harris. “He has to bait my hook and take fish off the hook when I catch one. I think there’s an amount of poetic justice there.”

Harris doesn’t have to anchor or throw any markers out to find the brushpile he’s fishing. He uses the remote control (one-handed) on the trolling motor and will spot lock the boat in place with the trolling motor.

Crappie will gravitate to brushpiles and other man-made structure throughout the summer months and rarely stray very far.

“I can give you a tip a lot of anglers who start using trolling motors with spot lock features learn the hard way,” said Harris. “If you have any forward momentum when you hit the button, the first thing that motor is going to do is spin around backwards and wash current right over the place you’re trying to fish. If you do that, you might as well go to the next spot because that will spook a lot of fish off the pile.”

Harris stops the boat at least 30 feet away and downwind from the brushpile and lets the boat settle down before he hits spot lock. That way the boat stays in place and he’s free to fish.

“Now it’s time for the easy part,” he said. Just lower that bait down to the level where you see fish and hold it still. Let the B’n’M Pole and that Crappie Magnet bait work its magic.”

 

Wherever fishing takes you, B’n’M has been there. Visit our website at bnmpoles.com

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