# so what setup do you use for crappie??



## TheSonicMarauder

i was just wondering at all the different setups everyone uses to catch crappie? i just picked up some pin mins and pin ants as well a couple mini-foos and good to go

also when you guys rig yer minnows... where do you hook them? my dad likes to hook them just below the dorsalfin, my grandpa is all about hookin the meat of the tail, and my cousin likes to hook them through the bottom lip and through the top


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## peple of the perch

i like ice fishing jigs. i also like minnows and a jig that is called a whooper or somthing like that


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## liquidsoap

Pin Mins are excelent when tipped with a minnow or maggets. That is my number one choice. I also use a homade crappie rig that is just two different hooks under a float. Tipped with minnows cant go wrong there!
Use emerald shinners if you can get your hands on them, youll be slayin them crappies in no time!


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## Shortdrift

1/8 and 1/16 ounce Roadrunners with and without minnow tipped. Use this 90% of the time, drifted or cast.


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## kmb411

Small jig heads, with a tube or minic minnow, topped out with small minnow. I prefer to drift or slow troll until I get bites, than anchor up. I keep changing tail colors until I have a pattern. 
As far as hooking minnows, from the mouth thru the head, I think the minnows live longer that way.


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## billybob7059

jig and a big minnow. I ever buy "crappie minnow" I aways go with bass minnow or small shiners. crankbaits work great was well.


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## bkr43050

I am somewhat young to the panfishing as I spent most of my earlier fishing years chasing bigger fish, sport fish, etc. so I probably have not managed to find as many of the successful techniques as some others here. For the most part when I take the boat out after the crappies along with my boys I will usually have a rod for each of us set with slip float and small hook for minnows. Then I have another rod rigged with some sort of small jig. I will switch types and colors until I find something they like (hopefully I do). Typically my choices are 1/8 or 1/16 ounce jighead with various 1.5-2" twister tails, small Road Runners with the same tail choices, and also 1/16 ounce tube jigs. I rally like the tube jigs if I have found the fish and I want to slow down and work one area more precise. But if I am still covering larger areas I prefer to use twister tails as they seem to impart more action when on the move than the tube jigs. The tube jigs excel when they are popped up and down and worked very slowly.

As far as where I hook the minnows, I hook the small crappie minnows behind the dorsal fin when fishing them under a float. I feel they keep a more natural swimming pattern that way. When adding them to a jig I will hook them up through the lips.


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## misfit

conditions and time of year usually dictate my approach.though i will try the same rig/rigs at any time if the occasion calls for it  
i never limit myself to one thing.
minnies under a slip float almost always produce to some extent.i hook them behind dorsal on plain hook or through the lips when using a jig.
deadsticking them on deeper structure/cover with a dropper hook above a bell sinker.
drifting/trolling them in open water.
also drifting/trolling jigs/tubes/ttails etc. in open water in summertime.
casting/trolling roadrunners/cranks/blades.
trolling larger cranks like shadraps,hot&tots,reefrunners etc will often get the bigger fish during hot weather when fish are scattered and suspended in open water.
only time i use smaller "crappie" minnies would be very early spring after iceout.rest of the year i go with bigger bait.


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## Brunswick Sportsman

Probably would be minnows if there were a bait store within range, but until then...

For crappie: 
1/8oz jigs or road runners w/ 2" mr. twister tails or tube, chartruese or black. (However this year the 3" black twister tails have been getting the larger crappie)

For bluegill: small bobber, 18" of line, #4 hook w/ small 1/4" piece of any grape colored plastic worm.


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## Big Daddy

Plain gold #4 Tru Turn under a slip bobber

A 1/32 oz tube jig tipped w/ minnow under a slip bobber, or fished under a pencil float if the fish are shallow

A 1/32 oz hair jig tipped w/ minnow fished 15-18 inches uder a bobber while noodling with a 10' telescoping rod... DEADLY for flooded trees, willow bushes...

Back trolling, tie two 1/32 oz tubes or a Roadrunner jig on the bottom, tube 1 ft above it, tip with waxworm or minnow and cast out, count to 7, then backtroll on setting #1.... 

1/32 oz Slider jig head w/ twister tail or soft plastic of choice... Weedless and can reall hit teh brush HARD. Fish love 'em.


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## TheSonicMarauder

i thought noodling is when you chase a catfish into a hole and drag him out by the tail?


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## bkr43050

TheSonicMarauder said:


> i thought noodling is when you chase a catfish into a hole and drag him out by the tail?


 You are right. That is another use of the term "noodling". However, what Carl is referring to is the use of a very long rod to drop your bait into small pockets in cover such as trees or vegetation. It is a very effective way of approaching those fish without having to splash in after them and you can also be more precise. Having said that I don't personally own a noodle rod setup but I don't have much of an opportunity on my home waters to utilize one.


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## liquidsoap

bkr43050 said:


> You are right. That is another use of the term "noodling". However, what Carl is referring to is the use of a very long rod to drop your bait into small pockets in cover such as trees or vegetation. It is a very effective way of approaching those fish without having to splash in after them and you can also be more precise. Having said that I don't personally own a noodle rod setup but I don't have much of an opportunity on my home waters to utilize one.


Noodling is one of my most effective ways of fishing. Take my noodle rod, and jig tiny minnows in sticks, cover, drop offs, and weed beds. I would suggest buying a noodle rod, I bought it for steelhead, but I use it for crappie, and smallies too.


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## TheSonicMarauder

so basically noodling pretty much means..... going into tight area and pulling them out by way of those other then the ordinary way


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## soroker74

Hey brunswick sportsman, you on crack? you ever hear of hinckley. And #4 hook for gills and pumpkinseeds are way to big thats just opinion. I have caught more gills and crappies and pumpkinseeds on #2 hooks this year , anything bigger makes a little harder catch. hinckley lake has a bait house.


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## madcrappiekids

jigs are always a favorite - color depends on weather and water, really like the BPS squrrmin squirts. Minnows of course work just about anytime.

I have recently purchased some light spinning baits and some smaller jerk baits to see how they work. We have had some luck with them but still trying to get better.


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## peple of the perch

if u have a bad day of fishing u can always turn to panfish


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## crittergitter

I prefer jigs thrown on a 6lb test mono. I like tube jigs of 1/16 or 1/8 oz, but occasionally I'll throw twsiter tails. I swim the jigs back real slow, but my uncle has a preference for jigging them slowly up and down and we usually have very similar success. 

When I do fish with minnows I hook them through the lips and prefer bass minnows over crappie minnows.

CG


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## bkr43050

If I am chasing crappie and gils specifically I use 2# or 4# line. I never used to and I did okay on the 6# and even 8# at times but I really seem to have fewer slow days with the lighter line. You can more easily get your lure to the depth that you desire with the light line which is a bit tougher with the small tube jigs.

On the minnow sizes I think it depends on the size of the fish that you are chasing and also what the forage size is currently. In the spring I pretty much always use the crappie minnows and have tried the bass minnows at times thinking perhaps that would get me bigger fish. I still think that would be the case if they were actually in the area. However often times it just seemed to take a bit longer to get a bite and the fish were basically the same size as the ones that I had been catching. I think they will eat the larger bass minnows if they have to but if there are plenty of the smaller bite size ones out there for them they will stick with them.


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## papaperch

I love 4# test line for crappie. Seems to me my 4# rigged rods always do better than the 6# and higher rigs.

Where I disagree with a lot of experts is on size of minnows. I remember too many times of guys with store bought minnow watching my partner and I slaughter crappies with large minnows we seined. We stumbled onto this pattern at Pymatuning.


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## ParmaBass

Johnboy's not chiming in on this one? He's got some sweet setups.


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## johnboy111711

straight down, a 1/4 oz or larger weight 1 foot above a number 10 gold aberdeen hook with a lip hooked female fat head minnow, fish it about 1 foot above the bottom or structure and back troll


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## Shortdrift

soroker74 said:


> Hey brunswick sportsman, you on crack? you ever hear of hinckley. And #4 hook for gills and pumpkinseeds are way to big thats just opinion. I have caught more gills and crappies and pumpkinseeds on #2 hooks this year , anything bigger makes a little harder catch. hinckley lake has a bait house.


Hook size's increase as the numer decreases. #2 hooks are larger than #4 hooks.


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## flintlock

I recently picked up a Wally Marshall (bass pro) rod 7ft 2-6lb line and I have to tell you that I can dang-near feel them BREATHE on this rod! 










Tube jigs and a very slow presentation this week had my busy.

Good luck if'n you get out
wess


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## bttmline

Trolling bandit cranks, 200 or 300 series, 50 to 100 ft back depending on depth of fish at 1 to 1.5 mile an hour. Of course all the previous methods are good too. In as little as 2 to 3 weeks the slabs will be as easy to catch as in the spring. Which means minnow and float and a big ole tree and you will be cleaning slabs.
Tim


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## phisherman

Gotta love those 50's days when your walking on water!


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## WISH IT WAS YOU

if fishing a creek or some were with curent try a split shot with a nomal nimph of just a fly of you choose under a bobber whit a small split shot works great for crappies and all panfish


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## jdillon2

I use a number eight bait hook or a plain shank number 6 hook with meal worms with a tin spilt shot seven or eight inces above the hook with a small bobber 6" to 2' above the split shot on eight pound line.


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## fishdealer04

I dont do a ton of crappie fishing, but when i do its usually a 1/8 ounce bass casting sinker and a # 6 aberdeen hook with a minnow. Plain and simple and gets the job done.


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## Ruminator

I agree big time with Big Daddy about using tru-turn hooks. If you don't, then at least bend the hook sideways some at the middle of its bend. 
This definitely increased my hook-up ratio. Not as good as TRU-TURNS but...

I also use fluorocarbon line so I can use 6# instead of 4# regular line.


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