Nowhere is it etched in concrete that you have to use any item of fishing tackle exactly as some manual details.

The sooner you realize that, the more fun you’ll get out of your fishing.  I’ve been involved in writing some manuals myself.  What I’ve just said applies to those I’ve written every bit as much as it does to those someone else has done.  None of us has all the answers where fishing lures and how best to use them are concerned.

I mention this because I’ve had some questions lately that bring it to mind.  It will be the subject of this next series of columns.

Certainly after almost three quarters of a century of sports fishing I’m totally aware that some approaches work better than others.  But those cotton pickin’ fish we’re trying to put in the boat have a tendency to sometimes knock you’re favorite theories clean out of the piscatorial ballpark.

A friend asked recently about using Mack’s Lure Smile Blades for crappie.  He wondered if these lightweight plastic, easy-spinning blades would work for that purpose.  They sure as heck will!

Crappies are fun to catch and darn good in the frying pan.  Proper use of Smile Blades will help you put 'em in the boat.

As a matter of fact, they’ll often work better for that purpose than the metal variety.  That especially applies when you’re trolling.  One of the points I always make in any discussion about crappie fishing is that you simply can’t fish too slowly when these good eating panfish are what you’re after.

I made that clear in my book “Catch More Crappie.”  If you’re on a new body of water and don’t know where the crappie hang out, trolling is a good approach.  It’s not necessarily the best once you start getting hits, but it’s a great way to find out where the schools are holding.

The best approach is to troll just as slowly as you can and still keep your bait or lure where the fish are holding in the water column.  Smile Blades, again because of their lightness and the ease with which they turn, lend themselves admirably to this purpose.

Another advantage is that the Smile Blades you slide right onto your line or leader aren’t going to twist things up for you. Even more important, they’ll continue to function at speeds where large and heavy metal blades may not.

Sometimes it's best to use a Smile Blade just ahead of your crappie lure as is pictured here.  It's often best to tip your fly with a little strip of pork rind or a small piece of flesh from another crappie.

Sometimes when crappie fishing it’s best to have a Smile Blade right down close to the bait or lure you’re using.  Other times I’ve had more success when I’ve used my spinners a foot or so ahead of the crappie bait or lure.

I know anglers who favor circling the same area of a lake once they get hits while trolling for crappie.  If that works for you, go for it.  But there’s another idea I want to share.  Keep it in mind if it’s something you’ve not tried.

What is it?  Simply this: Whenever you get a hit or two, stop trolling.  Then drop anchor and start covering that area of the lake ever so carefully by casting.

If you take this approach you’ll want to pay special attention to the depths at which the fish are holding.  Where you find one crappie the odds are excellent there will be more of them around.

I recall an experience I had one time on some of the backwater of the Columbia River where it divides the states of Oregon and Washington.  I’d been fishing bass since daylight without so much as bump.

Weary and about ready to quit, I decided to take a shot at the crappie I knew the slough I was on contained.  I rigged up a spinner ahead of a white and yellow fly.  I tipped the fly with a small piece of pork rind.

I made repeated casts into an area where I’d caught crappie before.  I had the same lack of success I’d been having for bass.  Then to top things off, I tried to throw too far with the level wind reel I was using and wound up with a doozy of a backlash.

My lure sank to the bottom in about 25-feet of water.  It stayed there while I picked away at that miserable tangle.  When I finally got the backlash picked out, I hopped my lure up from the bottom and began reeling. 

I hooked a crappie before my rind-tipped fly moved three feet.  My backlash turned into a blessing.  It showed me where the crappie school was holding.  I hadn’t been fishing deep enough.  Once I found where they were, I sat right there and caught all I wanted to clean without moving the boat.

We’ve also had some questions lately from anglers asking if it’s possible to use lures like the ever popular Wedding Ring for casting as well as trolling.  Darn right it is.  I’ll get into that subject in my next column.

-To Be Continued-