Crappie baits

[MissinTheFishin]

I am just curious as to what everyone uses and deems the best crappie bait. I know not all baits work the same everywhere and in any weather, this is just a general question.
I find using a black or dark flick tail to work very well in almost any water. I float one under a thin light weight bobber (slip works best) anywhere from 3 to 10 feet deep. I also have found that using a crappie power bait (I have the green pellets) works very well. Bonus, it can be added to any bait. I was using it WITH my flick tails this weekend (04/05-04/07) and even with the water conditions they were doing fairly well.

[Moose1am]

I like a lot of different baits for crappie. I catch a lot of fish on minnows and at times a lot of fish on small jigs.

But one thing I won't go without is the Berkley Crappie Nibbles. I have some new sparkle chartreuse nibbles to try out this year thanks to the new gander mountain store in town.

Small 1/32 1/16 or 3/32 oz lead head jigs combined with a 1.5" long hollow tube jig body make a good bait for crappie.

I prefer to hang them under a slip float too. Depth varies depending on the water clarity when using the slip float. I like the light weight foam slip floats as they are very sensitive and you can detect the bit when a crappie just takes the jig in his mouth and does not move off. The float will pop up if the weight of the jig is taken off the float so you can detect those types of bites. I like the thrill bobber stops. I use the Stren 6 lb test line in regular type and Magnathin style.

I also fish with a long graphic light weight sensitive rod and fish tight-line. I'll fish a hook or jig tied to the line with a loop knot or a Palomar knot where I leave a long 18" tag line. Then I'll put a Bass Pro Shop Finesse Drop shot lead weight onto the end of the tag line. The lead weight will hit the bottom before the baits and you can keep the bait right above the bottom. This works well when the fish are hugging the bottom. But you can fish for suspended fish this way also. I use the vertical approach when the fish are 10 ft deep or more. I'll go with the slip bobber when the fish are in shallower water.

My tube jig body color is white with gold,silver and blue sparkles embedded in the plastic. I will use red/white, red/chartreuse, Blue/Chartreuse and other contrasting colors on the tube at times. But the white lighting jig from bass pro shops has been my go to jig body.

I get the lead head minnow jigs from Walmart as they are cheaper there. They work great for crappie too.

But the crappie at this time of the year can be very easy to catch if they are in the shallows. Just dip a minnow on a hook into some brush an you are likely to find some fish.

There area so many different ways to catch crappie. The methods I use are based on past experience and watching some crappie USA winners fishing Patoka Lake. They are the guys that told me about the Crappie Nibbles. I do think that they really help catch more fish. But other scents may work just as well. I use to use Dr Juice as a attractant scent but ran out of it. But I found a new supply of that at Gander Mountain so I am back in business with that stuff. There is another paste that used by a lot of guys but I can't remember the name of that stuff. But I do believe that covering the human scent helps. So I use a lot of soap and water while fishing to wash my hands and keep the human scent of the baits where possible.

I am just curious as to what everyone uses and deems the best crappie bait. I know not all baits work the same everywhere and in any weather, this is just a general question.
I find using a black or dark flick tail to work very well in almost any water. I float one under a thin light weight bobber (slip works best) anywhere from 3 to 10 feet deep. I also have found that using a crappie power bait (I have the green pellets) works very well. Bonus, it can be added to any bait. I was using it WITH my flick tails this weekend (04/05-04/07) and even with the water conditions they were doing fairly well.