When crappies are suspended in deep-water basins, trolling is often the best way to elicit bites. (Photo by Jeff Knapp)
The water temperature was in the low 50s when my neighbor Don joined me for a fall outing on a local lake last year. Don likes to eat crappies, and I was cautiously optimistic we’d put enough slabs in the live well to satisfy the needs of him and his family.
Stopping the boat shy of an offshore submerged tree, I instructed Don to cast a 1/16-ounce jig dressed with an action-tail grub toward the spot. The sunken tree sat in 25 feet of water with branches that extended 10 feet off bottom. As our lightweight jigs slowly swung toward the cover, they were intercepted by foot-long slabs, the start of a great morning. By fishing this brush pile and ones like it, the outing provided...