The rod loaded up and started to bounce. A big, Kentucky Lake crappie had taken Kathy’s crankbait—our first fish of the day. This was a special trip for us. I was giving my wife Kathy a guided fishing trip to celebrate her 60th birthday. Kathy and I are both avid anglers, and this trip was a special occasion. We both had hectic work schedules all year, and this was our first fishing trip for the season.

We were fishing with our good friend and guide Capt. Doug Wynn, owner of Crappie-Gills-N-More Guide Service. We’ve known Doug for many years and were anxious to take a fishing trip with him. Doug is an outstanding, knowledgeable guide and renowned taxidermist.

The morning broke with a brilliant sunrise and a brisk, east wind. The ride across Kentucky Lake was chilly and choppy! We warmed up as the sun rose and had a great time, despite the early chill.

Adverse conditions can really cause fish—especially crappies—to shut down. With an east wind and no current being pulled though the dam, the crappies were scattered around the bay. The fish were scattered over a large area, with no concentrations of fish on any one piece of cover or structure. We had to cover a lot of areas to pick up the fish that we caught.

Current positions the fish on cover and structure, and the gates were shut, so there was no water movement. We found fish all over the bay, but mostly where we had observed baitfish breaking the surface. The fish were suspended in 12 to 15 feet of water, around structure (points) and brush piles. There were no large groups of fish, but we picked up fish all across the bay while trolling.

Trolling crankbaits for crappies was a new method to us. I’d read about this method several years ago in a fishing article, but had never tried it myself.

Doug used a remote-controlled trolling motor for this type of trolling method. We zig-zagged across the bay to pick up scattered fish and to target as much structure, and as many brush points, as possible. This technique allowed us to maximize our catch by placing our baits in front of as many fish as possible. Kathy and I caught 30 slab crappies, plus yellow bass, channel catfish and a largemouth bass. A great day of fishing!

We set out six rods during the trip. Kathy and I each had two 6 1/2-foot rods directly in back of the boat. Doug had also positioned two 14-foot rods, one on each side of the boat. These rods were equipped with baitcasting reels with line counters on the reels. The line counters allowed us to know how much line was out on each reel.

The reels were loaded with 12-pound test Trilene Big Game line, with a barrel snap swivel on the terminal end of the line. Doug prefers 12-pound test over 10-pound test because he loses fewer baits. The larger line doesn’t seem to affect the catch, and this size line is great if your crankbait is grabbed by a larger gamefish! A barrel snap swivel was attached to the terminal end of the line to allow the baits to attain the most action.

Doug attached a variety of medium- and deep-running crankbaits on each line and varied lure colors to see which the fish preferred. These baits mimic the preferred forage for the crappie on Kentucky Lake. Color can be critical with crappies, with green being a preferred color on Kentucky Lake.

Note: We caught fish on a variety of colors during this trip. It pays to try a variety of colors because crappies can be finicky at times when it comes to color. We had baits that were blue/chrome, chartreuse, green with white bellies, and some unique baits that Doug had painted himself.

We ran Bandit and PICO crankbaits on our lines on this trip. I observed that crankbaits also catch larger crappies, which makes for bigger fillets.

The rods were set with 40 to 55 feet of line out. Once we discovered the depth at which the fish were located, we set the reels at approximately 40 to 45 feet, which seemed to be the best length of line out during our trip. Line counter reels are a great tool for this type of fishing.

Doug strongly believes in using his electronics to locate fish—especially suspended fish. He also used his electronics to locate baitfish, cover and structure, and to key on these locations.

We kept Doug busy netting crappies, plus yellow bass, a couple of channel catfish, and Kathy caught one short largemouth bass. He stated that trolling produces a variety of fish including crappies, white and yellow bass, catfish, sauger, largemouth bass, stripers and occasionally the nemesis of the lake, Asian carp.

I discussed this crankbait trolling with Doug, as I was curious when the technique worked. Doug trolls for crappies pretty much year-around, but fishing was best when the water temperature was 60 degrees and above.

Trolling for crappies (and other fish) can be very productive and exciting. Get out on your favorite lake and try trolling for spring crappies this season and enjoy those big slabs.

Looking for some new fishing techniques to try this season? You’ll find plenty of suggestions in every issue of MidWest Outdoors. Subscribe on our website.