To be honest, both of us are self-proclaimed average jig fisherman. Neither of us is really a “jig maestro” like some of the true jigging experts out there, especially when it comes to jigging with two rods. Jigging two rods is tough enough for the back partner, but just a plain nightmare for the guy running the boat if the depth changes very often. However, early season jig fishing levels the field for everyone a little bit and we can always hold our own just like you can when it comes to early season fishing. The perfect way to do this is put a third or fourth guy in your boat that will fish all on their own, and we don’t mean another person!

We learned a long time ago that early season walleyes and sauger are usually very predictable about where they will be. Annual spring spawning runs put the fish in search of suitable spawning habitats that are usually below dams on river systems, along riprap, or in the upper reaches or creeks and rivers in reservoirs without riprap dams. Sauger tend to hold slightly deeper than walleye and tolerate current better, both fish come in shallow at night and remain relatively deeper during the day. In those locations, particularly during the day in current conditions, walleyes and sauger will be on the bottom or within inches of the bottom. Although crankbaits are a viable option, a minnow presentation in that 0-6” window of feeding opportunity right on the bottom is usually the key to success.

Our early attempts at jig fishing years ago produced an occasional fish, but nothing with any consistency. We, like everyone else, couldn't wait to get the boat out and fish. So off we went dropping the boat in super cold water with enthusiasm and excitement, but that enthusiasm soon faded with lack of success and cold fingers.

Unfortunately, as we began to fish those feelings of excitement carried right down our arms and through our rods to our jigs. Most of the time looking back we think we were too excited, jigging like mad men full of youth and vigor and not paying attention to the task at hand. We were jigging too aggressively and literally turning fish off. We were not doing a good job of staying in contact with the bottom and staying in tune to what our jigs were doing. We’d also read too many articles about the “lightest jig being the best jig” phooey. Sometimes the bigger jigs are the best options, let the fish tell you. If you can’t maintain bottom contact, your jig is probably too small. We were also not changing our presentation quickly enough to a slower pace; because it was obvious the fish were telling us to slowww down.

Fortunately for us, one thing we are good at is being observant. One afternoon below a tailrace in South Dakota on the Missouri River we watched a gentleman in a boat near us catch walleye after walleye while we were catching fish sporadically at best in the same eddy. Naturally we focused in on this old boy’s technique and set up, which to our amazement, was nothing more than a plain split shot about twelve inches above a small aberdeen hook. How could this be? He wasn’t using fancy jigs with propellers, hot colors like chartreuse or lime green, not even additional rattles or a bead for color. All he had on was a plain hook baited with the same fathead minnows we were using below a small split shot. This simple rig the old boy was using was knocking the fire out of those fish!

We immediately broke out rigging and bobber boxes to come up with the appropriate tackle to set up some rods. Big problem was though, even after changing over to a split shot rig, neither of us was catching fish anything like our neighbor with the ancient tiller boat. We could catch a few fish here and there, but nothing with any consistency. We knew we could do better, what were we doing wrong?
Did we have heavier line?
Was our bait somehow different?
Were we simply missing the bites?
Were we staying close enough to the bottom?
Were we imparting a different action?
Was our boat control different?
What were we doing wrong?
Then it dawned on us.
The old boy was leaving his rig “dead” on the bottom, just like someone might fish for catfish. He was just letting the natural action of the river pull him along ever so slowly, keeping his line vertical with the tip of his rod. He really wasn't even holding his poles (ancient rubber pistol grip Zebco’s); they were just left in the rod holders on the gunnels of the boat. No motion, no jigging, he was just letting the minnow naturally bump along the bottom. This imparted a very subtle action that was letting the river and the bait do the work. On this particular day, and many days since, the key was letting the rig do the work, not working the rig.

We understand that a lot of you reading this might think this isn’t the most exciting way you’ve ever heard of fishing and we’ll bet many of you have tried it, but effective is pretty exciting to us. Plus we’ve came up with many twists to this “dead stick” or “slow death” rig over the years that can also make a big difference. John likes to crimp a pencil eraser sized split shot or whatever it takes to maintain decent bottom contact above a small colored Gamakatsu or Mustad hook while using a St. Croix Avid medium light spinning rod that is 7’ long and filled with 4# Berkley XL. The colored hook on many days can be key, as can a small bead for color or a small float. Todd usually starts with a variation of this rig using a bass style flippin’ stick with a small bottom bouncer and a short leader to avoid snags and give the fish a different look. The flippin’ switch on a baitcasting reel allows the angler to let line out quickly with one finger as a hole deepens. If the fish prefer the split shot rig, Todd prefers an eight-foot rod that is very soft like a moderate action 8’ St. Croix. The softer rod can sometimes allow the fish to hang on a little longer and get the presentation a little further from the boat.

It also helps to have a boat like our Fisher FX that is easy to control in current or wind and a bigger boat spreads out the presentations of anglers both in length and width. We can use our MinnKota Auto Pilot bow motor alone, or even crank up the Mercury kicker in really heavy current.

The bottom-line of using this “do nothing” rig is to rely on its inherent simplicity and ease of use. Don't get to carried away with this rig. It is nothing more than a sharp hook and a weight system that keeps a minnow doing all the work you need it to do very close to the bottom. This rig pretty much fishes itself and you just reap the benefits. Even crappie rigs can be the answer in this “no jig” system. In fact, dragging a jig can be the ticket, let the fish tell you what they want!

In states where it is legal to use more than one rod, we prefer to concentrate on jigging one rod while also running a split shot rig or some type of “do nothing” in a holder. As you might have guessed, we’ve toned down our jigging style over the years and each of us starts with a different style. John uses a lift and pause technique most of the time and Todd usually begins with more of a hovering style that has less bottom contact but attempts to keep the jig very close to the bottom at all times. Always start your day with different colors, different sizes, and different actions than your partner. If one of us starts with a ¼ oz. ReelBait Baithold jig in Parrot and a plain Eagle Claw #6 hook for a split shot rig the other might start with an 3/8 oz. ReelBait Walleye Flasher in orange/chartreuse and a red VMC #4 hook with a pink and white floating bead on a short bottom bouncer (www.reelbait.com). It’s a cardinal rule in our boat to always start with different tackle until a pattern develops!

As you and your partner head out this spring for some early walleyes, remember to start out with four different presentation styles with the goal keeping everything close to the bottom in current areas. Remember, your minnow is usually the star of any presentation like this, let him do the work!

Keep score sometime and see which rod catches more and bigger fish. As often as not, the split shot rig will triumph. We guess you could say he is a good guy to bring along.

“To be honest, I’ve kind of seen it all here at Citizen’s National Bank,” said Shannon. “It does strike me though that the happiest people I know getting loans are those buying a boat!”

Shannon feels it’s important for lenders to try to meet as many needs as possible for their customers and make sure they help borrowers make good decisions. “We like our outdoorsman and support them. We think outdoor pursuits are good for families and anything that helps build stronger relationships with children and families is certainly good for our communities.”

These are the tips Shannon shares for prospective boat buyers:

1. Buy a boat you can comfortably afford. Most lenders agree than no more than 64% of the gross income of a person or family should be “locked up” with monthly payments. This would include mortgage or rental, vehicle, utilities, etc. In other words, a borrower should have 36% “discretionary” income even after buying a boat.

2. Make sure you have looked around at different dealers on even the same boat. “We see wide variations on the same boat sometimes. Many times it’s explained by different motors and equipment, but other times not.”

3. “Non-Current” boats can be a great buy, but recognize depreciation has already started and that the book value of a boat is essentially at the used boat level of that year. A prospective owner should think through how soon they will trade the boat, it doesn’t make sense to buy a non-current boat if you plan to trade right away.

4. Make sure your boat down-payment combined with monthly payments always keeps ahead of the depreciated value of your new boat. Getting “upside down” on boat value makes it hard for you to trade again and all banks generally avoid loans like this.

5. Make sure you know what equipment you want to add to the boat up front. It’s not a problem to include such items in a loan, but many times clients want to add larger motors, newer electronics, tarps, and other items six months down the road or just after the loan has been signed. Almost every lender requires additional fees or even additional loan or refinancing papers for these additional requests.

6. Boaters and everyone else like to beat up their banker over interest rates, it’s reasonable to do so in a nice way. The best way to get lower rates is to have a good credit history, provide additional collateral, keep your payment years shorter, and even have a co-signer (spouse or parent) on the loan.

7. Make sure you consider the cost of insurance and remember you are required to have insurance at least to the extent of the loan amount.

8. Try to have some type of monthly budget laid out for you lender when you go to speak to him or her. This helps clarify your financial position, especially if you are not a current “full” customer. Simple layouts of income and expenses are very helpful.

9. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of manufacturers lending promotions. Often they are good deals for those looking for short-term loans but not great for longer terms. Most banks will be as competitive as they can, but recognize that manufacturers use these “offers” for marketing.

10. If you are seeking a loan on a used boat, lenders will generally question why a boat is valued the way it is, particularly if the boat is over “book” value. This is where you have to explain the value to your lender, perhaps there is a larger motor than standard or the boat comes with $4,000 in additional equipment. Lenders do understand the “book” value on a boat doesn’t always tell the whole story. Pictures of a boat and even testimony about a test drive or independent mechanical report also help prove “value”.

11. Explore using your home equity. Many times this is the best way to finance your next fishing rig to take advantage of tax implications like deductible mortgage interest.

If you need to contact Shannon, he can be reached toll-free at (888) 474-4261 or you can visit the Citizen’s National Bank website at www.cnbwisner.com

Pre-spawn crappie love spinners and minnows offered on bottom bouncers. This technique has worked with great success for us in lakes such as tree-filled Kirwin in Kansas or the relatively wide-open Willow Creek in Nebraska.

To go after these tasty fish, break out your walleye trolling equipment. We’re not kidding, go grab your line-counter rods and reels, your 1/2 -2 oz. bottom bouncers, and all of your spinners. Your line-counter reel will give you instant repeatability and the long limber rods are easy on the delicate mouths of crappie. Using this tackle takes a different approach than most of us are used to. Fishing for crappies seems to take even slower speeds than a typical walleye angler might use, think “just fast enough to turn the spinner”. The longer rods also require you have a long handled walleye net like a Beckman’s or Loki as opposed to a typically shorter, smaller net most of us use when jig fishing To target crappies, we almost always rely on our bow trolling motor, a MinnKota Auto Pilot, a motor like this makes boat control “hands free” and very easy. Use your electric motor to move just fast enough to keep the spinner rotating and use enough weight to keep the bottom bouncers very close to vertical. We simply drop our bottom bouncer rigs to the bottom and reel up just a little bit, noting what the line-counter says for line out to have future reference if we catch a fish at this depth. Reeling up slightly keeps your bottom bouncer and spinner just off the bottom, lessening snags. If there is thick timber on the bottom of a lake like Kirwin, you may have to raise the rig even higher off the bottom, usually fish will chase though so it’s not a problem.

We do use our rod holders for the most part and put slightly lighter bottom bouncers on the outside rods to spread out the offerings. Since you are going very slow, it’s also possible to fish almost vertical which also helps reduce snags. It might be a good idea to use a shorter 30 or 36” leader in heavier timber conditions or even a rig with a floater, at this speed the floater can help give your presentation a little lift. We generally hook the minnows through the lips or through the eyes, hooking minnows through the eyes definitely increases the durability of your minnow and also causes the minnow to struggle more to remain upright, sometimes a key when using any presentation.

Don’t forget crappie suspend so make sure you run your baits throughout the water column, especially if you mark fish high in the water column. It can also pay to just use a plain snell on the bottom bouncers if spinners aren’t doing the trick. Effective colors for crappie can range from nickel to florescent depending on water clarity and the mood of the fish. The big thing is to remember that this isn’t the time to use your #7 blades, usually the smaller blades work better.

Another great part of this technique is that bonus fish like walleye, white bass, and even northern pike or perch are also quite common when fishing this rig. There’s nothing like catching crappie after crappie then suddenly having a 5# walleye hammer your rig!

The Fisher FX we run in tournaments is a fantastic boat, but let’s face it, we’re not excited about bulling our way into timber in this boat. Using this technique we can take advantage of the beam width to further spread our lines and when pulling spinners at low speeds it helps to have a low profile boat like the FX that “hugs” the water and doesn’t get blown off course easily. Plus, by being outside the timber we are usually targeting the most active fish anyway.

The big advantage of a bottom bouncer and spinner rig is that it allows fisherman to cover water more quickly than a traditional jigging approach and is relatively snagless even in timber-strewn lakes. The line-counters allow you to quickly return your rig to the exact depth and you can use your expensive equipment a little more throughout the year.

To find crappies, particularly in March and April, we target areas adjacent to spawning areas. Our favorite location is near standing timber adjacent to old roadbeds and meadows in deeper water. Crappie will also set up house on main lake points, adjacent and over brushpiles, and sometimes very near dams.

Do yourself a favor, load up on some ReelBait spinners, especially the two-hook “back bead” models. The nickel perch and nickel fluorescent red are our two favorite colors with the fire tiger and rainbow trout a close second. In extremely dingy water, the rainbow trout can really shine. Pick up a few pre-tied snells while you’re at it. Al Patterson is a big Nebraska Walleye Association sponsor and it’s not every day we can support a Nebraska tackle company, look him up at www.reelbait.com. We also plan to experiment with using walleye flasher jigs on bottom bouncers this year (yes, it will work though it sounds odd) and using them to cast with or just hanging below slip bobbers.

Walleye fishing for crappie is something you definitely have to try!