Panfish Week: Scope Sniping Single Pole Crappies

From the pages of the June 2021 edition of In-Fisherman magazine.

Single-pole fishing was practiced well before the recent introduction of active sonar. The angler dropped a jig down and around visible cover. The introduction of regular sonar made it easier to find brushpiles and other submerged cover. A long rod kept the jig moving vertically (and horizontally) allowing the angler to probe spots and then methodically pick up 10 to 15 feet of line and place the jig at the next target.

Over a brushpile, the rod stayed out of the way of the trolling motor and worked a jig through the tangles on a tight line, as the angler focused on feeling the difference between bumping brush and a bite. When the jig did hang up, a light-wire crappie hook was pulled straight and rebent to get back to fishing.

By comparison, multiple-pole jigging is most often used for fish suspended away from thick cover. With, say, two jigs on each line and two lines in the water, more crappies are tempted to bite. The additional lures increase the odds of contacting fish throughout the water column—thus, the popularity of spider-rigging (pushing) baits or trolling (pulling baits) with or without planer boards. Too, the largest crappies often live alone and suspend, so seining the water with these techniques often produces results.

Several years ago, the entire process changed as Garmin introduced Panoptix LiveScope. It’s in part the nature of crappies that makes this active sonar system so effective. Walleyes, catfish, pike, and other predators prowl while crappies float. The hovering alpha crappie that required eight rods with two minnows each to effectively contact with spider-rigging or trolling can now be targeted with a single pole and a jig, because you can see the fish in real time on screen—so, in a sense, we have traveled back full circle.

Guiding Before and After LiveScope

Technology drives first-hand learning and Northeast Kansas guide Joe Bragg was already in the business of showing how technology can make crappie angling more effective. “Before Garmin LiveScope, I used traditional 2-D sonar over brushpiles to watch fish reactions in real-time,” he says. “We used shorter rods and heavier jigs to stay vertical under my trolling motor transducer and the sonar returns were obvious to anglers on my Humminbird.” The video-game-like experience worked as anglers reduced hang-ups by seeing their jig in relation to the brush and then, like ice fishing with sonar or an LCD unit, also watched fish rise up and strike the lure.

Of course, much of the true skill was in boat positioning. Near shore, Bragg used a GPS waypoint and visual references to stay over brush. Offshore, a marker buoy was used for precision. Bragg’s trolling-motor skills generally exceeded the accuracy of an electronic anchor.

Meanwhile, the brushpiles that drove his success came from hard work. Some reservoirs in the area have crappie cover only because he cut the trees. As the caretaker of the Kansas Crappie Club, he runs many derbies a year to promote the sport, the community, and the species. The jolt of LiveScope was felt in all of these areas.

“It was like the new sonar came from nowhere,” he says. “One month, two boats had it; the next month, everyone was using it. We already had two entry-fee levels for tournaments, so many of the have-nots moved down to the lower division, thinking they couldn’t compete. In the first few post-LiveScope events the weights were similar, but once anglers figured out their personal techniques and honed their skills the results changed.”

As for guiding, the technology put away the short rods for good and brought the Minn-Kota Spot-Lock back into play. With the LiveScope transducer on the trolling motor, Bragg sets up slightly downwind from brush (instead of on top of it) to allow full view of the target on the screen. The consistent Kansas wind helps keep the boat and the sonar beam steady enough for anglers to watch all of the action unfold. If the beam moves away for a bit (as the trolling motor adjusts), just hold the jig steady and wait for the transducer to realign.

Bragg carries rods from 8 to 11 feet long. The shorter rods work great for kids and the different lengths help multiple anglers figure which jig is theirs on screen. Joe switched to using Clam Gravity Drop ice reels this season. The main reason is that while vertical jigging, eventually the line tends to slip off the bail roller onto the bail, which then flips the bail open on the hookset, often without hooking fish. High on the list was also the pinky-finger spool release, making vertical jigging a one-handed affair. Berkley metered FireLine in 14-pound break strength makes it easy to see line positioning and helps anglers maintain a consistent depth.

Most days Bragg guides with minnows to help his clients make the most of their time on the water. The minnows guarantee bites from crappies even on cold-front days when they’re less likely to chase a jig. Bragg often rigs a snag-free drop-shot setup. After tying a #2 red Tru-Turn hook 2 feet up the line, he adds a 1/4-ounce cylindrical drop-shot weight to the tag end. The weight cantilevers the hook away from the line for better hookups and also provides anglers a warning that their jig or hook is just touching the snag. Instead of knocking a jig or hook against the tree, the drop-shot weight or the line makes the initial contact, leaving the hook away from danger.

Tournament Angling Before and After ‘Scope Sniping

Other technology advances optimized single-pole fishing well before Garmin LiveScope. I fished with tournament angler and guide Frank Haidusek before and after the revolution. The first trip we used 11-foot jigging rods to present one lure vertically over brushpiles. Side-imaging helped to find other anglers’ secret piles. We’d idle through an area, using GPS to return to each piece of cover. Driving over the area with downscan sonar showed if crappies were there.

Then, using an electric anchor, he placed us on the downwind edge of the brush while we worked single jigs throughout the cover. By taking a step back on the casting platform, the area under the trolling motor can be worked, and by stepping forward, a total of 15 to 20 feet of area is fishable. Using every inch of the casting platform, we meticulously picked apart the area before using the jog function on his Minn Kota to move exactly 5 feet farther up the habitat.

The wind blew across Melvern Reservoir that day and the Nitro Z18 boat rode the waves like a hovering carpet. A trolling-motor-mounted Humminbird 360 imaging system visualized the underwater situation ahead of us, clearly indicating the edges and details of the sticks. Movement in the pile was visible when the sonar rotated back through the area. Reducing the beam to the front of the boat (instead of a full circle) increased our ability to see details.

Fast forward a year. Haidusek and his partner placed 8th at the Crappie Masters Championship, using the same single pole but a completely different approach. All of the anglers in the top spots of the event had switched to using LiveScope to snipe larger suspended crappies instead of relying on fish hovering near brush or spider-rigging suspended fish.

The technology really takes hold in the flooded timber present at his home waters of Tuttle Creek, El Dorado, and Clinton reservoirs. Vertical wood left during the flooding of the reservoir creates habitat that’s tough to decipher with traditional sonar. If the wood is a single-file hedgerow, side-imaging helps, but nothing dives into the dense timber like LiveScope. The technology also applies to pike, walleyes, and bass at wood-rich areas like Devils Lake, North Dakota, or Lake Fork, Texas.

Roaming and bumping through the sticks while using LiveScope to scan like a flashlight ahead of the boat makes evaluating targets easy. The crappies pop out like balls of fire in the straight-sided wood, providing a never-before-seen understanding of the fish’s true nature. Roaming bait moves through as well, giving anglers clues to why the fish suspend at a particular depth. Fish just under the surface pop out and tend to be the larger specimens. Lone-wolf crappies just off the timber also become targets.

Another observation is how much crappies like horizontal logs that lie off the bottom. A tree that rests on another or simply a large branch that grew sideways generally holds larger fish. Since these situations are completely submerged, they were tough to decipher with traditional sonar.

I fished a Kansas Crappie Club tournament with Haidusek and the practice of vertical jigging had completely left his repertoire. Instead, while still wielding an 11-foot HH jigging pole with a rear reel seat (HHSP1101) he flipped baits to specific fish, watching the intersection of falling jig and crappie eating it in real-time on screen.

Each flip includes a mix of skills. By putting the line from the reel under his pinky and holding slack line ahead of that in fly-rod fashion, he hauls in line until the jig breaches the water. Then he swings, flips, and shoots the bait forward in line with his trolling motor head. Since the fish are generally less than 20 feet deep, he aims 10 feet past them. This process rarely requires more than 30 feet of line outside the guides.

One advantage of LiveScope is that the beam is wide enough to cover most casts. So as the 3/8-ounce Mad Crappie jig and Pro Tuff Tail swings toward the fish, he adjusts the trajectory with the line in his hand. More often than not, he skillfully times the bottom of the swing to hang right in the fish’s view for another few seconds.

Watching the fish’s response in nearly 3-D comes next. Reaction bites happen, but more likely the fish shows no interest. This triggers him to repeat the process, trying to get a response. Hanging the bait there longer can help, too. In a visual display rarely seen before but now a regular event, many crappies do a circular dance around the jig darting back and forth (even in frigid winter water) before biting. Other fish sip the jig immediately with a classic thump.

Sonar and Transducer Details

Using the sonar to sight-fish requires nearly constant focus on the screen and trolling motor direction while managing the flip and drop of the jig. Just like using a stand-up rod on ice to see the rod tip in line with your sonar, aligning the critical items visually for ‘scope sniping keeps the process working efficiently.

Choosing that height and the placement of the sonar on your deck requires planning. The final setup depends on the number of sonars up front, how you use them (mapping only, vertical jigging, Humminbird 360) and if you want to mount the LiveScope transducer on your trolling motor or on a pole. Inventive sonar mount designs help with all of these choices.

Balzout sonar mounts offer a sturdy, but adjustable single-bar design. Or, use the Dual Mount if you want two graphs side-by-side. The Stowaway and Cornfield Crappie Folding Monitor Mount fold down for spot-to-spot travel or when tarping the boat on the drive home, while the Beatdown “The Ultimate” double-telescopes to accomplish about the same goal. Both systems can be configured for one or two sonar units and micro-adjust to provide perfect alignment.

Personal preference drives transducer mounting, with half of the anglers using a trolling-motor mount and the other half installing a separate pole that rotates in the water along the side the boat. With multiple anglers, the separate pole allows one person to direct the beam toward the target while on electronic anchor. The pole can also be moved to the console while searching for fish or even to the back of the boat to watch lures while trolling. The PoleDucer from Shut-Up-And-Fish and the TPS-100 from Fish Obsessed cover some of the current options available.

Looking Ahead

The new sonar systems help anglers find and stay on crappies, but that doesn’t always mean you’re catching more fish. LiveScope, for example, clearly shows that crappies often move away from the boat and trolling motor noise. Like tracking a deer, stealth and the ability to predict the animal’s next move are important. In shallow water, though, I often catch fish that swim toward my boat, indicating that blind casting a swimbait, anchoring and fishing slipbobbers, or other traditional techniques might be as or more productive than sniping individual targets.

Of course, spider-rigging and trolling are more-the-merrier games, while ‘scope sniping leans toward single parties. Professional crappie angling might be most affected. Fishing alone instead of in pairs helps anglers become stars at their sport but at the loss of the traditional two-person teams. But the activity of the constant flipping combined with the visual hunt on the screen has high potential for good TV and livestream drama—so time will tell.

The potential for additional creativity is high. Garmin released the Perspective Mode option that allows a wider view of the landscape instead of in a single beam. Anglers I’ve talked with have yet to perfect when and how to use this technology. The older down-mode setup helps present multiple baits to crappies in larger schools. Boat manufacturers are bound to tweak front casting platform designs. Trolling setups with multiple rear-facing sonar beam systems have also yet to be explored.

There’s room for tackle innovation, too. Haidusek is working with HH Rods to develop a 13.5-foot jigging pole that’s strong enough to larger crappies into the boat, while ACC Crappie Stix released a ‘scoping-specific version late last year. I already mentioned the move toward fly-style in-line reels, and there’s still debate over rear reel seats versus traditionally mounted versions.

For sure, the cat is out of the bag and is alive and kicking. Once tournament anglers, guides, and equipment companies further tinker with the technology, they’ll drive more innovation, so this trend won’t reverse any time soon.

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