Jim Duckworth's Crappie Tips

Tip#1.  Fishing guide Jim Duckworth uses two crappie rigs for deep water and they are both the same rig except for the baits. He uses 20 pound test braid, 3/4-ounce sinker on bottom and two baits above the sinker spaced one or two feet apart. "My first rig uses small plastic grubs. My second uses Tru-Turn red hooks with minnows hooked through the lips." (pages 11-12)

Tip #2. Blooming Onion. PVC pipe stuck into a 5-gallon bucket filled 1/3 to 1/2 full of concrete makes a good crappie bed. "Blooming onion beds are ones you can make and carry with you," says Duckworth. "I call them blooming onions because of their looks. One of it's best features is if it gets turned over it'll right itself or still have some plastic sticking up." (page 23)

Tip #3. "A tip for kids is to use a Daiichi circle hook with minnows. The fish swims off and basically hooks himself with little pressure applied…" (pages 26,27)

Tip #4. Night fishing gets you away from a lot of summer boating traffic. "I prefer minnows at night. My rig starts with a red Tru-Turn hook in a size #1 or #2. Six inches above the hook I'll use a small split-shot. Next I place a float." (page 34)

Tip #5. "Casting a Road Runner is an excellent way to add flash to your bait. Cast it out, let it fall a little and slow roll it back to the boat. It's amazing how many you'll catch right at the boat because fish will follow the jig." (page 41)

Tip #6. Each partner in the boat should use a different bait when searching for fish to find a pattern. For example, one throws a minnow rig and the other a Road Runner. (page 69)

Tip #7. Huffman gave 14 rules for catching a big crappie. Rule #8 is: "Use big baits. The 'big bait, big fish' theory works. It's not unusual to catch a crappie with a four or five inch shad in its mouth or throat. So a big bait is fine for big crappie." (page 70)

Tip #8. "If you had to narrow it down to a time period for big fish it would be the pre-spawn and spawn when they are loaded with eggs because that's when they are the heaviest. A two-pound crappie is a big fish in anybody's book. That crappie at any other time of year might be a pound and a half." (page 80)

Tip #9. Filming a video included storms, numerous filming equipment breakdowns and health issues. Duckworth says, "We had breakdowns but kept going. You might start the day by leaving the plug out of the boat or forgetting this or that. If you will put your head down and keep plowing ahead you'll eventually catch fish." (page 86)

Tip #10. The book appendix describes products mentioned and how to use them. For example, Blakemore Reel Magic makes your life easier when fishing. Treat your line the night before and then the next morning before you fish and it will help eliminate most of your line problems. Plus, you'll get more casting distance. (page 105)