# best crappie technique?



## S.S._Minnow_Fishing

Ok, so its almost spring crappie season, I was wondering what you guys typically use for crappie or what works best for you? Last year I bought some small spinner jigs from BPS and tipped those with small tubes, but have also faired well with minnows. Just wondering what works for you?


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## c. j. stone

Those cheap yellow or white packs of jigs from W-mart(grub tails, and/or chenille/Maribou) in 1/16 or1/32 oz. work well fished under a weighted bobber. Usually you will be fishing brush, fallen trees and your $ lose is lessened. I'd never throw plugs or spinners into that stuff. Plain hook with a minnow under a bobber would be the next choice but when I'm slamming them, don't like to stop to rebait!


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## Erieangler51

My best the past 2 years has been a 80th oz jig head in either orange or pink with a 1" gulp minnow under a float. I will most likely change Up this year because I'm not spending $4.99 on a 12 pk of gulp it's so soft I go through at least 20 a day if the fish are on. It was justifiable spending $6.50 for 40-50 of them but $4.99 for 12 is ridiculous. And I believe they stopped selling the small jars of them. 


My second choice is a 1.5" tube jig..

3rd would be bobber and minnow


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER

I prefer a combination of a 1/8-1/4 oz Roadrunner Head 1/8 being my choice in water down to 9-12' depending on the wind. I use these with a 2.3" or 2.75" Joshy Minnow or a 3 or 4" Triple Ripple Grub from Bass Pro. I always use a color combination of chartreuse no matter the water clarity. I do however adjust the variation of chartreuse with the sun and water clarity being the deciding factors. Sunny conditions I use something translucent that sparkles, in stained water I opt for more solid varieties of those baits. I prefer a combination of a Roadrunner, 6-10 lb. braid and a light but stiff action rod mine are 7' medium action. With a little practice you can learn to feel your way around the brush and the lake bottom and lift the bait accordingly with limited snagging because the blade on the roadrunner is the first thing to make contact with both.


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## buckeyebowman

CRAPPIECOMMANDER said:


> I prefer a combination of a 1/8-1/4 oz Roadrunner Head 1/8 being my choice in water down to 9-12' depending on the wind. I use these with a 2.3" or 2.75" Joshy Minnow or a 3 or 4" Triple Ripple Grub from Bass Pro. I always use a color combination of chartreuse no matter the water clarity. I do however adjust the variation of chartreuse with the sun and water clarity being the deciding factors. Sunny conditions I use something translucent that sparkles, in stained water I opt for more solid varieties of those baits. I prefer a combination of a Roadrunner, 6-10 lb. braid and a light but stiff action rod mine are 7' medium action. With a little practice you can learn to feel your way around the brush and the lake bottom and lift the bait accordingly with limited snagging because the blade on the roadrunner is the first thing to make contact with both.


My BIL and I absolutely love Roadrunners for crappie! Northland also makes a similar bait and we use those as well. We've whupped up on some slabs in Skeeter and Pymy with them! I'm about to order some Joshy's so I'll make sure to get some for this purpose. Thanks for the tip! Chartreuse is def a go to color for us, but the last couple of years we've done really well with, of all things, pink and white! Only God knows why! Maybe our crappie are feminists. I also like a light, sensitive rod with some backbone to it. I see some "old school" guys who fish with limp noodles. They set the hook on a 7" dink and the rod bends nearly double! How in the world they can feel anything with those rigs is beyond me.


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## buckzye11

I like jigging for them the best... 1/32nd or 1/16th head depending on depth and agressivness of fish. I usually use baby shad bodies as the plastic, but if you are on a pile of feeding Crappie, just about any small plastic will do. The one thing i never jig without is scent... its makes a huge difference on days when the aggressive bites are not there and you are getting the light thumps.
My favorite method with the jig is to use 2 poles and coutdown to depth fish are holding, cast the next line out after ive started reeling the other in... on aggressive days it can make a quick limit.
Ill still go back to a minnow when fishing shoreline trees during the spawn... always fun to watch the bobber move down and away in the pattened Crappie style.


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER

One other technique I left out is dipping....it can change things up a bit when you have been casting for days on end and it can also add some trophy size fish to your cooler. A lot of guys use bobbers and jigs that I would only think about using when ice fishing but I have seen that method work time and time again and produce some nice slabs so I would never knock it. I personally prefer to use a lil hustler jig by itself when the bite is hot and the same jig tipped with a wax worm when the bite slows. I use a somewhat non conventional method to float the above jigs. I use a slip bobber and then add enough weight to keep it just above the surface. I use split shot for weight and crimp them just above the knot on my jig. I do this for two reasons one to cut down on the amount of tangles I encounter and two to give my bait a little bigger profile and contrast. I have one more tip that I can't share about this rig until after the tourney, it's my overwhelming best trick for picking big fish out of a school and I have only shared it with one person 


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## Byg

CRAPPIRCOMMANDER. how do you work your roadrunners? I tried using them, never had success, I just cast them out and reel back slowly is there a trick would like to see this bait work for me. Appreciate any tips


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER

Byg said:


> CRAPPIRCOMMANDER. how do you work your roadrunners? I tried using them, never had success, I just cast them out and reel back slowly is there a trick would like to see this bait work for me. Appreciate any tips


Byg I can understand your troubles I see people struggle all the time with Roadrunners when I take them out. The key to remember is you can't fish them to slow. That being said slow doesn't mean letting them drag along the bottom. I have to admit I have at times caught Crappies dragging them in open water along drop offs but this not the norm and I usually reserve that tactic for Saugeye and Walleye.

Two of the biggest mistakes I think people make is casting the bait out and just letting it fall on a slack line or even worse casting it out and immediately start cranking it in. I catch the overwhelming majority of my fish before I ever turn the reel handle. 

What I do is cast past/over my target area, flip the bail and use my rod tip height and angle to slowly sweep the bait on a tight line over and thru the prime area which is normally a brush pile or along a log etc. The reason you want to cast past your target is it will give the fish a look at the bait as it hits the surface, falls toward them, over them and then slowly moves away which appears to be irresistible most times to hungry crappies.

This technique seems to give the fish a look at the bait that they simply can't resist. I have many times anchored up on a spot where the cover was clearly visible and let my partners fish with minnows or tube jigs until they were convinced that they had stripped the pile of fish. I then pick up my rod and make a few casts and almost always am able to land another fish or 2 and at times several from the same area they have been pounding. The added bonus is often times the ones I land are some of our biggest slabs. Seeing this happen over and over again is what leads me to believe that the bait entices fish that are somewhat neutral and not just the hungry fish that other baits catch.

It will take some practice to figure out how far past your target to cast in order for it to fall through the cover and even longer to get a feel for the brush, but once you get that figured out it will put more fish in your cooler.

Hope this helps...


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## Byg

Thanks for the info, I was doing exactly what you described. I can see how your method would be effective,never thought to try it that way. Thanks a bunch


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## DLarrick

buckzye11 said:


> I like jigging for them the best... 1/32nd or 1/16th head depending on depth and agressivness of fish. I usually use baby shad bodies as the plastic, but if you are on a pile of feeding Crappie, just about any small plastic will do. The one thing i never jig without is scent... its makes a huge difference on days when the aggressive bites are not there and you are getting the light thumps.
> My favorite method with the jig is to use 2 poles and coutdown to depth fish are holding, cast the next line out after ive started reeling the other in... on aggressive days it can make a quick limit.
> Ill still go back to a minnow when fishing shoreline trees during the spawn... always fun to watch the bobber move down and away in the pattened Crappie style.


What's your favorite types of scent to use? I have thought about trying some out but didn't know if they are just a gimmick or something.


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## buckzye11

DLarrick said:


> What's your favorite types of scent to use? I have thought about trying some out but didn't know if they are just a gimmick or something.


I use Smelly Jelly... i like the Craw Anise the best. Only reason i perfer the jelly is because it sticks to the plastics good and you dont have to reapply very often. The craw anise is one of their stronger scents, ive used other "flavors" and the all seem to make some difference... i know craw scent for Crappie dosent seem to mactch, but it does the job.
IMO scents are the real deal, not a gimmick at all. I know everyone has their favorite type... mine happens to be smelly jelly, but anything will add that extra bit of enticement.


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## Intimidator

DLarrick said:


> What's your favorite types of scent to use? I have thought about trying some out but didn't know if they are just a gimmick or something.


No gimmick...the swimbaits I use are infused with powered Squid scent...I also use Crappie nibblets which are made from seafood etc.


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## buckzye11

Erieangler51 said:


> My best the past 2 years has been a 80th oz jig head in either orange or pink with a 1" gulp minnow under a float.
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


I used this in the last week, worked good Erie... All i had in a jighead that small was white though... used a blk/white gulp.


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