Crappie fishing and Jon Boats go hand and hand. And there is no easier way to catch a crappie than to do it while trolling crankbaits. You don't necessarily need a flat bottom rig to do this. But it can be done very easily from a duck hunting rig if you don't have another option.
Now, to get started. You can leave the fancy line counters at home. Although there is a need for some sort of measurement, you don't need the oversized walleye rods to do this job. And besides, that wouldn't make it as fun. If you have a depth finder, its definitely going to be use-able. Rod holders are a need, whether they are the ones designed for long lining, catfishing, or walleye fishing. You can use anything to keep the rod in a fixed position. If you don't have some you can always go to Walmart or any bait store and they'll have the cheapo's that bolt on to just about anything.
When it comes to rods, anything will work. Your common crappie fishing rod or spinning combo will do the trick. 4-6lb monofilament is ideal, while anything from the 4-10lb range will work. Mono, flouro or braid, it doesn't really matter.
The key piece to the operation is the lure. My most common and trusted lure is the Berkley Flickershad in sizes 4-7. Depending on the lake, conditions and pressure, there's a variant of colors that work. But the purple colors of the "Prime Time" and anything fire tiger do the trick for me on my small inland lake in Ohio. I believe they work so good because of the yellow and white perch population.
Leaky Jon Boat Company Crew Tee
To start, you want to idle your outboard down to the slowest it will go. I fish in between 2.0 and 3.0mph. It may seem kind of fast but the fish can get quite aggressive. you need to remember, we are not chasing the sluggish walleye of lake erie. These crappie will aggressively attack the plug. If you aren't getting enough hits, it will not hurt to slow the motor down even more by using bags. But anything under 1.2-1.5mph will make the boat harder to keep straight. Especially a flat bottom.
Second, your rods and lure setup. Forget the Planer Boards. Most of the time the lake is going to be congested with other boaters. And those other boaters aren't fishing. They are skiing or wake boarding. While having planer boards can make your program more accurate, they will just get tangled up while trying to navigate a full inland lake in the summertime. And that also brings me back to taking out the fun in it. To get started your just going to cast the first rod out with the flickershad attached kind of far. Not a hail marry, but a good cast. The second rod is going to be casted out at half distance. You'll have one on each side pointed straight out from the side of the boat. I would use different colors on each rod as well. Do all of this while you are in motion at your desired speed. If you wait to get the boat in motion, you will tangle everything up.
I start trolling right where the deep water meets the shallow water. Typically in 5-8 FOW. And I always move along the shore line. Your either going to be right in the fish or not on them at all. Keep an eye on your fish finder. If your marking fish and not getting any takebacks, you need to change your colors up. If you are getting on some fish I would adjust the rod that is not getting hit to be more like the one that is. This will help to double up your catches. If you aren't marking fish you should move to deep water. In the summertime these crappie can be suspended off the bottom in a little bit deeper water. Or they can be stuck to the bottom and you'll have to get your baits to the deepest depths. You can reference the precision app on your phone or do a quick google search to see how much line you need to get out. But in most cases you'll have to do some trial and error on how far back your lures are. Tuning in on the correct length can be the most challenging part of this adventure.