SHORELINES

7 Shor e l i n e S | 2016 Vol :4 the bank sinker and then passing the hook through the loop at the end of the leader. He baits the hook with a 2½- to 3-inch shiner minnow hooked through the eyes. He has rod holders attached all around his boat in groups of three set 2 feet off the water. State law limits anglers to three rods apiece on Weiss Lake. Collins puts three rods per person in the holders. When he lowers the line, he touches the rod tip to the water, lets the sinker hit bottom and flips the bail. Then he turns the handle one-half turn and puts the rod in the holder. That places the bait about 3 feet above the bottom. The spider rig allows him to fish straight down in cover and he moves slowly or stays stationary. When the weather gets colder and water temperature drops to 50 degrees or colder, crappie move out of cover and suspend in the water column in deep water over the main channel. To catch those fish, Collins uses a long- line trolling method. Collins uses a 1/24-ounce jig on rods varying in length from 7 feet to 10 feet. He throws the jigs out behind the boat and places them in a fan shape in rod holders. He uses his trolling motor to propel the boat and varies his speed depending on how deep he wants the jigs to run. Faster makes the jigs run shallower while slower makes them run deeper. People from all over the country come to Weiss Lake to fish in the spring. "If you haven't booked a room for March by January, you won't get one," Collins says. "Every bit of lodging around here is full." The spawn usually begins in mid-March and it runs through mid- April. Collins begins to see the fish moving toward the shallower water as it approaches. Cover has changed in the lake over the years. Where fish once spawned in 18 inches to 2 feet of water, they now spawn in areas as deep as 6 feet. Crappie also like to spawn in areas with hard bottoms so silt doesn't cover up their eggs. Crappie spawn in the area where they were born, he says. During the spawn, Collins trolls. Other methods, such as casting spinners or jigs, work but trolling works best for him. After the spawn, the fish move to the closest deep cover in their spawning ground, he says. There they feed and recover from the stress of spawning. Collins switches to spider rigs during this phase. Top: Photo by Billy Brown – Mark Collins prepares his line with a sinker and a snell hook. Middle: Photo by Billy Brown – Shiner minnows, a favorite bait for catching crappie. Bottom: Photo by Billy Brown – Mark Collins reels in a nice-sized crappie.

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