Spider Rig Boat Fishing for Crappie

By Fish & Tackle Editor Vic Attardo

 

Spider rigs are popular in the South where there are less restrictions on the number of rods an angler may fish, and with the number of rods some of those good ol’ boys set, the term spider rig describes the appearance perfectly. A boat set with a dozen long rods looks very much like the nastiest of arachnids skittering across the water’s surface.

However, the rig’s true effectiveness stems from the subtle presentation of baits, not the overwhelming number of lines in the water. In the North, anglers can adapt aspects of the spider rig and use it effectively with far fewer rods.

While a spider-rigged boat can be ringed with rods—I’ve seen as many as 16 poles being fished by three anglers—some employ just two rods for each person, set in the bow of the boat. This lesser number matches the rod-number regulations in most other parts of the country.

Spider rigs look complicated yet are deceptively simple and fun to use. Nevertheless, a veritable catalogue of new equipment may be needed to get started.

Rods between 10 and 14 feet in length are most often used. The rods have soft tips that flex with the breeze but also thick butt sections that provide a substantial stem to be planted in an open rod holder. These long, strong sticks are surprisingly easy to lift and maneuver around. Such rods are not yet popular with crappie chasers above the Mason-Dixon Line, but more are learning of their effectiveness and adding them to their angling arsenals.

Besides a good boat with flat gunwales, the spider rig requires special braces to hold the long rods. Most often, the brace consists of a standpipe with a flat platform centered over the stand. As many as four rod holders may be fitted on each platform. When two braces are positioned on either side of a bow-mounted trolling motor, the boat has eight available rod positions. If that isn’t enough, two more braces may be added towards the stern, one on the port side the other on the starboard, and the number of rods rises to 16.

When three anglers are fishing on a Southern boat, typically all of the holders are filled with baited rods. However, when only two anglers are fishing, it’s common to just fish the rods in the bow.

The flat-bottom boats favored for spider rigs are configured in such a way that two anglers can sit comfortably side-by-side in pedestal seats. Pointed-bow boats may be used, too, but they accommodate only one angler in the bow, another in the middle, and one at the stern. The bow angler manages as many as eight rods and the trolling motor while the two other anglers watch the braces on the port and starboard sides.

Where regulations allow only one or two rods for each angler, a single rod may be positioned at the bow, stern or around the boat. But one aspect of the spider rig doesn’t change, and that is the use of a long rod. The shortest pole I’ve seen used with a spider rig was 10 feet. Typically, spider sets are made with 12- and 14-foot poles built specifically for crappie fishing.

Jack Wells, president of the B’n’M rod company, said his firm makes both pulling and trolling poles between 8 and 16 feet in length. The terms “pulling” and “trolling” are applied to basic presentation techniques used with spider rigs. The shorter poles tend to be graphite, the longer trollers are made of fiberglass.

Wells said the reason for using long poles to present baits is simple. “It’s to get them away from the boat, particularly when fishing clear water.”

When using a long pole for jigging, Wells said he prefers a sensitive rod with a tip “that has good bend and is still able to set the hook.” The butt section must have enough backbone to match the technique, too. The B’n’M Capps and Colemann Series is specifically designed for jigging. Another series is made for spider rigging with crankbaits.

The poles are most often teamed with closed-faced spinning reels. However, some anglers prefer open-faced reels, and they work fine, too.

Reels are spooled with 4- to 8-pound-test line. Heavier is preferred for working stump fields where snags can be a problem. Lighter lines are best in clear, open water with light cover.

Beneath the spider set-up, anglers may present a variety of lures and baits. Common choices include jigs with plastic tails, bladed jigs, and even crankbaits. Small shiners are typically added to both plain and plastic-tail jigs. It’s also common to see a double bait on a single line. Two jigs of different weight are the popular choice for double lines.

On Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee, guide Billy Blakely uses a slip bobber and two hooks to present live minnows.

Blakely’s two-hook rig consists of a stopper knot, the in-line bobber, a dropper frame, slip sinker, and two straight-shank crappie hooks. The upper hook goes on a 3-inch leader tied off the dropper. The bottom hook, complete with small blade and protective bead, goes on the main line about 2 feet below the upper hook and 3 inches below a 1/4-ounce egg sinker that is held in place by threading the line twice through the opening in the sinker.

This rig allows Blakely to work different depths with the same rod. The upper hook takes advantage of the crappie’s natural tendency to look up for food. However, the bottom hook shines when working through stump fields, where crappies often hold tight to the bases of the stumps.

The bottom hook is not actually presented on bottom, but rather elevated about a foot off bottom. Hook positions are adjusted based on the type of structure and the density of the cover being fished. The bottom bait is kept off bottom by adjusting the slip bobber knot.

On Kerr Reservoir in southwest Virginia, David Tatum spider trolls all manner of jigs, bladed jigs, and plastic tails teamed with minnows. Similar to Blakely’s double-minnow rig, Tatum often ties two jigs on the same line to cover two water depths. Typically, his top hook is 18 to 24 inches below the surface while the bottom hook is, of course, closer to the bottom. When I fished with him in a particularly murky and shallow bay, he set the upper hook just 12 inches below the surface.

Tatum mixes and matches jigs and trailers with abandon. He uses any combination he feels might work, but he also tests each line before fishing it, to see if the two jigs work well together. Bladed jigs, like Road Runners, are often placed on the bottom because they make good anchors. However, he is not set against running Road Runners top and bottom, particularly when trolling a tad fast.

“What I found out about crappie is that you have to try everything,” Tatum said. “One day one thing will work and the next day it won’t.”

Precise steering of the boat is a critical element in spider rigging. While I was fishing with Blakely on Reelfoot Lake, he located the pedal for the electric motor by his bow seat and used it to maneuver us through the dense stump fields. When the wind cooperated and drifted the boat over suspected crappie lairs, the trolling motor was used sparingly, just to keep the boat on track.

He ran the motor in reverse to slowly guide bobbers and lines through particularly snaggy areas. The bobbers and lines from the bow-mounted rods followed the boat directly over the crappie cover. But the long rods angled out to the sides of the bow held their baits well beyond the motor’s light disturbance.

Boating in reverse is the most common way for two anglers seated in the bow to work crappie cover. However, when winds get ornery, it’s sometimes better for the boat to be pushed forward with the trolling motor. In this case, bobber lines are first to proceed over promising structure, and the lines curve back slightly to the bow rather than stretch away from it as when the boat is pushed back by the breeze.

The amount of line between the rod tips and the floating bobbers is kept short to allow for very precise presentation of the bait. I have seen anywhere from 2 inches to 12 inches. These lengths are constantly adjusted to match the wind, current, and structure being fished. When working a double Road Runner rig, complete with small minnows, Tatum adjusted the rods so there was scarcely 3 inches between rod tips and bobber tops.

In the murky water of Kerr Reservoir’s Hogan Creek Bay, he was not drifting with the wind but rather pushing forward with the trolling motor. With 16 rods hung around the boat, and side rods far enough away that motor wake meant nothing, it was an impressive display of boating skill.

Crappies did hit the bow rods, but the two starboard rods, closest to the stern, got the most action. Part of the reason for this was that when Tatum turned the trolling motor on and off, the Road Runners rose and fell seductively.

Seated near the stern, I could watch the upper jigs rise nearly to the surface, the blades making a slight surface ripple in the murky water, then fall on an arc as the line straightened out with the motor off. I’ve seen this rising and falling arc used in many ways and many places to trigger strikes from crappies.

In addition, Tatum steered the boat ever so slightly from side to side, to give the jigs more action.

It’s a shame northern states limit the number of rods an angler can fish in a spider rig. After all, creel limits can be enforced whether you fish two rods or 16.