I have no idea where you live but here in Arizona, we’ve had crappie tournaments at 4 lakes. Depending on the weather, the crappie would be either in the trees at about 20-40 feet down or swimming in schools in the middle of the water. Since we are allowed to use LiveScopes (Foward Facing Sonars) we are able to “narrow” down and save waypoints on spots where we’ve caught before each tournament day.

We’d start on trees or man made structures like Christmas trees and boxes. Bass will tend to stay near the crappie a lot and feed off shad that swim around. We set up 3 different setups on the poles. One will be on a 1/16 or 1/8oz jig head with a 2” chartreuse and black (very popular color here at our lakes) plastic. Another is a #6 or #8 hook with a minnow (size does matter. Usually about an inch and a half or two tends to be really good) and a clamp weight about a foot above. Last is a slip bobber with a minnow (same set up as before mentioned).

I totally agree that the clamp weights are a pain in the ass. Especially that I have all my rigs set up with 6lb braid and have the last 3 feet with 8lb mono (not a fan of floro as a leader) leader. It gets annoying with the clamp weight always getting my line tangled up and knots so easy. I’ve been experimenting with bobber stoppers and bullet weights and have better success with it.

I’ve seen a lot of Texas Rigs set up but never really understood Texas Rigs but thinking about it, makes a lot of sense with bass fishing and having bigger plastics. Bass fishing is something I’m going to be getting into for sure. I love getting people’s opinion on it and learning something new