I’m thinking about buying a boat for crappie fishing, but I’m not sure what kind to get, or what types of things I should have on the boat. I fish some of the larger lakes in Florida for crappie. Any suggestions?

You really do not need a very elaborate boat to catch crappie. The best and largest crappie catches I have enjoyed have been in a small johnboat with six horsepower motor. In Florida you may be doing a great deal of shallow water crappie fishing. If so I recommend the following: You should definitely have a quite electric trolling motor. Crappie can be a species that spooks quite easily. You need to use a quiet motor to move into position. Carpet on the bottom of your boat. I find it amazing that some fishermen fret over conversation but continuously bang their tackle box on the bottom of the boat. Crappie can sense a tackle box being put down even gently on the bottom of a metal or fiberglass boat much easier that they can hear a human conversation above water. You should have a landing net on the boat. Crappie have very thin mouths and are easily unhooked. The process of lifting them into the boat or even picking them up by the lip is not as effective as using a landing net. A depth finder is another piece of equipment that will help, especially if you find a deeper water area to fish. Crappie are a fish that relate to trees and other form of cover. As you move over a large body of water the depth finder will allow you to see the bottom and learn which areas contain the proper cover to hold large amounts of crappie.