"Crappie on Logan Martin don't pay any attention to typical shoreline structure," he said. "I firmly believe that the biggest crappie in this lake live and die spending their entire lives in deep water. These open-water fish make use of the multitude of trees, stumps and humps that are available to them even in 18 to 20 feet of water. They spawn on these deeper structures and spend the rest of their time suspended out over deep water leading a nomadic life and chasing baitfish."

For instance, Kevin explained, the crappie stay closer to the lake bottom when they move into Blue Eye Creek just north of I-20 at this time of year. Then, as the water at the surface begins to warm, they make their move upward in the water column and suspend in 3 or 4 feet of water. Eventually they move on up to the spawning flats back toward Clear Springs, but for now the better fish will suspend out in open water. This, he said, is the absolute best time to catch big fish at Logan Martin.

"Dad and I fished a tournament here that took place right after a warming trend," recalled the team's junior partner, "and some crappie had moved up close to the bank. It was pretty common knowledge that fish could be caught up closer to the bank in about 4 feet of water.

"Then the weather turned, like it always does this time of year, and that bite all but dried up. There were still a few stragglers left in that 4-foot range, and that's where everyone else was fishing, figuring it was just going to be a tough bite. We moved back out to the deep water, but figured out that the fish were still suspended at 3 to 4 feet. But they were suspended out over 20 feet of water on the creek channel."

In that tournament, the Foodsource team's weight of 22.86 pounds blew the field away, the second-place finishers coming to the scales with 14 to 15 pounds for seven crappie. After the weigh-in, several competitors confessed to having thought that the McElroys must have lost their minds, as Foodsource opted to fish out in the middle of the lake even though everyone "knew" that the papermouths were shallow.

The tactic used by the McElroys both on that particular day and on the majority of days before and since is long-line trolling, which involves placing a number of lines far behind the boat. The tactic looks like spider-rigging from a distance, with multiple rods sticking out from the boat in porcupine fashion. The difference is that the baits are trolled a considerable distance behind rather than directly under the boat.

In January, when crappie can be holding at depths down to 18 feet, the McElroys troll two jigs on each line. They choose combinations of either a 1/8 and a 1/16 ounce, or, if they need to get deeper, a 1/4 and a 1/16. In either setup the heavier jig is tied to the main line via a loop knot ahead of the smaller jig; the heavier one works like a plow, digging down deep, while the smaller jig swims a foot or two behind and above the first jig, the trolled baits resembling a checkmark moving through the water. In order to achieve the appropriate depth, the duo will troll the rigs anywhere from 60 to 70 feet behind the boat