Long-Pole Trolling
Watters said, you'll note, that he can anchor over a brushpile and vertical-jig into it if he wants to. In most cases, he doesn't.

"Why sit still and fish one spot on a brushpile when I can move and fish all sides of that brushpile?" he asked. "Long-pole trolling is the way to increase the number of crappie you put in your boat."

Using long poles of varying lengths allows anglers to keep their lines untangled when using multiple rods. The number of rods depends on local laws. Where legal, most long-pole trollers use at least four rods, 7 1/2, 10, 12 and 14 feet in length, so that their jigs/spinners/crankbaits are spaced 2 feet apart horizontally behind the boat. When allowed by law, some pro crappie-catchers run four rods of varying length off each side of their boat, and one 7 1/2-foot rod on each side of their transom, to sweep a 32-foot swath around, over, or through crappie habitat.

"I'll start out with as many rods as local laws allow, with each rod rigged with a different jig, live rig or crankbait," said crappie fishing guide and pro tournament angler Brad Whitehead. "If I pick up a crappie on the jig, I'll switch the others over to jigs -- maybe experiment with different colored jigs -- to find out exactly what they want that day."

Speed is a critical element of long pole trolling, with 1.2 mph to 1.5 mph optimum. As little as 0.1 mph more or less speed can make the difference between catching crappie and merely going for a boat ride -- a slow one! Some pro anglers do sweeping turns while trolling to help determine whether crappie prefer a slower or faster target; if they pick up fish on the lines on the inside of a turn, the former are favored, but if crappie hit the lines on the turn's outside radius, the latter are to be preferred.

Spider-Rigging
Imagine looking down on a boat with four or more long rods, all equal in length, pointed outward on the port and starboard sides from the bow backwards. This setup's resemblance to an oversized arachnid earned spider-rigging its name.

"When I'm spider-rigging, I'm fishing all the same length rods, generally 12-footers," said Watters. "The rod holders kind of splay the rod tips out so they don't get tangled, and I'm barely moving the boat with my trolling motor. The lines are almost vertical in the water. The slow speed allows precision depth control and bait placement.

Using long poles of varying lengths allows anglers to keep their lines untangled when using multiple rods. The number of rods depends on local laws.

"If I'm working a brushpile, when I'm spider-rigged I can gently work around that pile without spooking the fish, but cover every inch of its top and sides. That's the key, to work the whole pile. A lot of times we'll be pre-fishing for a tournament and working a brushpile that's in the same area as other brushpiles that local anglers are fishing. I'll talk to them later, and they'll say they caught a half-dozen crappie, and we'll have taken maybe two or three dozen out of the same general area. The difference is that we're moving around that pile with the long poles -- not spooking them, but working every inch."