FAST-FORWARD: INSIDE THE MIND OF AN ELITE CRAPPIE ANGLER & GUIDE

Forward-facing live sonar has brought tremendous opportunities to crappie fishing. We tagged along with a world-class user of the growing technology and have new tips to share.

Crappie guides have become leading experts in forward-facing live sonar in recent years. With liberal daily limits in many states, guides have their work cut out day after day, often in difficult fishing conditions with novice anglers. The new technology has led to more consistent bites, which in turn has driven interest and growth in crappie fishing. This increase in demand keeps Texas and Oklahoma crappie guide Kayle Ward busy and hungry for an edge.

Ward has refined his single-pole jig approach using forward-facing sonar, known to most as – Live Scopin’. Very few anglers spend more days and hours on the water than Ward. He has tinkered his boat, motors and electronics into a finely tuned crappie fishing machine.

The dead of summer offers an ideal proving ground to showcase one’s jig fishing abilities. We decided to tag along with Ward for two days in August on Lake Texoma, known for a notoriously difficult summer crappie bite. He didn’t disappoint.

Speed is Key

Live Scopin’ has gained an unfair reputation as slow screen watching involving little skill. There’s a misconception that simply installing a forward-facing transducer and screen straight out of the box will immediately make fishing easy and boring. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First, for optimal effectiveness, all anglers using the technology must figure out setting numbers on the device that best suit their style of fishing. More importantly, the technology has real limitations without proper boat control.

With proper set-up and boat control, the greatest advantage the technology offers is real-time insight into crappie behavior. This helps immediately refine what size, shape and color jig should be used, commonly referred to as patterning. The right pattern and strategy ultimately make the difference between random bites and consistent strikes.

Ward is in an elite class when it comes to Live Scopin’. As a guide and tournament crappie angler, he relies on speed and scanning to put a jig in front of as many keeper fish as possible. Ward treats crappie fishing like upland bird hunting. It’s an active sport, with the forward-facing sonar acting as his bird dog, continually leading him to new targets.

His weapon of choice is a 13-foot jigging pole paired with 20-pound braided line and a short 12-pound leader line. He typically runs a half-ounce egg weight pegged in place on his leader line a foot or so above his jig. He then pairs his jig with a 1/32-ounce or smaller jighead.

The downside to forward-facing sonar is that you often come across brush piles, docks or suspended schools that are just loaded with fish. These large schools are frequently filled with under-sized fish. The instinct to stick it out with so many targets leads to lost time without much in the way of returns.

Ward scans through areas between 3 and 4 mph, which is more than twice the speed of most Live Scopin’ anglers. Ward likes to fish shallow water, which makes spooking fish much easier if you run the boat over the top of them. He uses power brakes (two trolling motors mounted to the back of the boat) to seamlessly stop on point.

Once he identifies a target, he dips his jig straight down to the fish, stopping inches above. Ward then surgically shakes the rod tip a few times to get the fish’s attention. Once the fish begins to commit, he slowly lifts the rod until the fish strikes. Ward is so in-tune with what he is witnessing on screen that he often sets the hook without feeling anything.

It’s amazing to watch how many fish we miss because we never knew that the bait was in their mouth. Their penchant for biting upward and suspending can be nearly impossible to detect on a still or near-still presentation. The ability to understand behavior and movement on the screen is an incredible advantage for crappie anglers. It’s the next best thing to sight fishing and an imperative skill set for long-pole jigging when used in tandem with forward-facing sonar.

For those who like to cast and retrieve, the technology ensures that you’re always moving your jig through the strike zone with each cast. Bites, while still subtle, are more often detectable by feel. This is a great technique for those wanting to look away from the screen more often while fishing.

Regardless of technique and presentation, moving quickly guarantees that you’ll put a bait in front of more fish each outing.

Customize Your Jig

The benefit of being able to watch crappie behavior in real-time lies in your ability to make more timely and accurate adjustments.

Serious crappie anglers know the value of downsizing jigs in the summer months and during tough conditions. Bobby Garland Crappie Baits crafted the Itty Bit Series of 1.25-inch jigs according to their specifications. The Itty Bit Slab Hunt’R, Itty Bit Slab Slay’R, and Itty Bit Swim’R have become staple jigs for guides, tournament anglers and recreational anglers.

However, soft plastic jigs can all be customized to fit the needs of that day or situation. Ward has found that clipping a 2” Original Baby Shad tail in half best matches the pattern bigger crappie are relating to as baitfish fry transition to fingerlings. The overall length of the bait is shortened to 1.5-inches to match the bulkier profile of fingerling shad.

Ward gravitates toward natural shad colors like Monkey Milk and Blue Ice, but really sees a difference on tough days with darker natural colors like Pecan Cream, Junebug Pearl Chartreuse and Hummingbird.

Cutting the 1.75” Live Roam’R in half also offers a good size match in August. The back half can be rigged upright to imitate remaining baitfish fry. It offers a profile, similar to the Itty Bit Slab Hunt’R, with different tail action.

Make ‘Em Eat

I was blown away by something Ward calls, “make ‘em eat.”

Any crappie angler who has watched crappie pursue a jig on forward-facing sonar knows the anxious feeling of seeing the fish follow at a nose length for several feet only to turn away.

When Ward sees this behavior, he immediately drops the jig directly in the crappie’s face, eliciting a reactionary bite.

Ward has a fitting analogy for the strategy, “it’s like if someone throws dog poop at you unexpectedly and says catch, you instinctually go to catch it. But if they tell you what it is and that it’s coming, you instinctually evade.”

He explained that if the crappie is following the jig, it has had plenty of time to assess it. They’re interested, but they’ve gotten used to the profile and signature. Once that bait abruptly changes speed and direction toward the crappie, it instinctually grabs it.

This is where Ward’s skills Live Scopin’ shine. There’s no way to feel that type of bite. The jig is falling so there is slack in the line and by the time the slack is removed the fish has already spit the jig out.

It becomes a timing bite where Ward watches the jig and crappie meet on screen. Subtle reactions from the crappie’s position on screen indicate when to set the hook. This is especially important for targeting trophy fish as you typically only get one chance at a hook set.

“Hook sets are free. Never halfheartedly set the hook,” Ward said.