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Crappie season will be here soon and i would like to catch a few crappie before the bass bite starts. Ill mainly be fishing Barkley & Kentucky and im thinking about spending a week down at Reelfoot. Im wondering what color and size of crappie tubes and jig heads will work best on these lakes.
The size of the tube just depends on the bite, the jighead depends on the wind or depth your needing to fish. Crappie fishing at reelfoot can be great if you hit it right. I go down every spring and fall, and usually you can not go wrond with white, or pink. Try using crappie stingers instead of the tubes, they cost a little more, but crappie is what I primarly target, and you can go wrong with these jigs. I have also had a lot of luck with white/yellow maribou jigs. Good luck, maybe I'll see ya there.
The best luck we've had down at Kentucky in the spring is with Big Head Jigs (you can google them) with either yellow, orange, or white 2" tubes. If you can find any bi-color, or tri-color tubes with those colors they usually are awesome! Straight line jig with 9' crappie poles over brush piles and drops in about 12-15ft of water. My biggest crappie ever came of this technique, 4lbs. Good luck!
-Rich
I usually fish at rough river. From my personal experience you cant go wrong with a black charlie brewer slider with a chartreuse tail and jig head.
Can't help you on Reelfoot .... but, I wouldn't go to KY/Barkley without a handful of Roadrunners !! 1/32 & 1/16oz - marabou - solid chartreuse (solid pink, too, if you can beg/borrow some ... or get the pink/white/pink ones & dye the white body part ... or not)
That's about the best option I can think of, if you're going to be casting !!! That's not to say that tube jigs, Panfish Assassins, grubs, and other "plastics" aren't good choices. Put them on a weedless jighead, and probe the wood cover ... they'll work, too !!
Now, if you're going to be jigging or trolling ... just be sure and have a variety of colors on hand !! Mix them up, when starting out, and let the Crappie tell you what color trips their trigger, at that time/place.
I doubt there's a color, or combination of colors, that a Crappie won't hit ... at some time. But, don't let color alone be your guide. You can't catch'em, if you can't find'em ... so, priority #1 is finding out where they "are", at the time you go. Once you have a good idea of where they are (depth, structure/cover type they're holding on, & what mood they're in - according to the season & prevailing conditions) .. then you'll have a better idea of which method/technique will present your bait to them, in the most appealing manner. THEN, you start experimenting with color ;)
Just MHO .. but, it's what's worked for me !!
... Pappy