The go to

[fishintiger]

I was just wondering what you all use as a go to lure or bait when you can't seem to catch anything. I am a rookie at crappie fishing. I have only fished for them for about 2 years I think. Probably less than that. I had only caught crappies on minnows until this year when I bought a couple of rooster tails. My go to lure is a white rooster tail. It seems to catch something. What do you reach for when nothing else is producing? Explosives don't count. :D


fishintiger

[CrappiePappy]

I'd have to say that my "most used" bait would have to be a 1/16oz Oldhams Weedless Surelock jighead with a 1.5" BPS Sparkle Squirt tube in royal blue with silver metalflake and chartreuse tails. I am, however, depending more and more on several other brands and combo's. I don't really have a "go to" bait, that covers all aspects or conditions. I generally use whatever bait or setup that allows me to get that bait to the level of the fish - however deep or shallow, open or hidden that may be. Some examples of that are:

shooting docks - 1/32oz P&S Tackle weedless jighead / Panfish Assassin

casting timber - 1/16oz P&S Tackle or Oldham's jighead / tube

vertical casting - 1/16oz hair/feather jig (various brands)

shallow water casting - 1/32 to 1/16oz Roadrunner

deep water drifting - 1/16oz to 1/8oz jighead/minnow or hook/sinker/minnow

A lot depends on the waters I fish, and the type of cover most often used at a particular time or under certain circumstances. "Conditions" are constantly changing, and Crappie will react to those changes - either slowly or very quickly. Learn their habits, how they react to the current situations, and where they're most likely to be (because of those situations/conditions), and what habitat they key on in the waters you fish ......... and you'll catch a lot more Crappie on whatever bait you choose to use .....luck2ya......cp

[Bassman]

1/32 ounce jig for most places,but i will drop down to a 1/80 ounce when the bite is really tough

[blufloyd]

1/80th oz jig buried in bps chart/blu metal flake, some days its all I use.

[Pooch]

While I do enjoy fishing with jigs and trying different combinations, to find what works, my fall back on, go to bait, is the shiner.---Pooch

[adamr]

1/32 ounce jighead with red and chartreuse tube, or of course a lively minnow.

[Moose1am]

Well my go to bait is the Crappie Nibble which is made and sold by Berkely Power Baits. Chartruse is the best color for me. Actually have only tried the red ones and the yellow ones in addition to the chartruse ones. I would like to get some of the nibbles with sparkles in them as I belive that they appear like minnow scales in the water. I belive that when one fish starts to feed that it stimulates the other fish in the school to feed also. One thing that stimulates the other fish is seeing minnow scales floating in the water and reflecting light off the scales. I see this all the time when I feed my crappie in the aquarium. BTW my crappie have been in my aquarium for over one year now and are still growing and doing very well. I did lose a few crappie when I took them out of the aquairum to clean the aquarium. Some of them I let go. One I let go and attached the float to it to see where it went.

My go to jigs are the Southern Pro type squid plastic jig bodies and the 1/16oz lead head jig. I have been using the White colored squirmin squirt jig that is called the White Lighting. It had blue, gold and silver sparkles built into the plastic and those sparkles help to attract the fish. The sparkles along with the white jig body at 20ft depth give off the right kind and light to get the fish to bite. And with the Chartuse crappie nibble against the white background it works.

But the minnow at times will outfish a jig. I dont' like messing around with minnows due to the extra cost and the trouble of getting the minnows out of a bucket and putting them on the hook over and over again. I want to fish with the jigs as much as I can as they do work better at times. I need to fish a spot at Patoka a few more times to see if I can get the jigs to work and if not then at Patoka I may start using minnows more often than jigs.

Minnows seem to be everyones go to bait. Most times you just can't beat the live minnow on a plain gold #4 or #2 gold hook with thin wire that can be straighted out easily when hung in the brush pile.

So when the fishing gets tough the live minnow would be my real go to bait.

[fishintiger]

Thanks for the replys everyone. I have never really had any luck with any kind of jigs. Like I said in my original post I have only caught a couple of crappies on the rooster tail. I have caught a lot of bluegils on rooster tails.

Moose I have been watching your posts about your crappies at home and have found them pretty helpful. I bought some of the silver and sparkle crappie nibbles and I haven't used them. I also bought some orange ones and they haven't worked. I don't even think I have gotten any interest in them from any fish. I'm hoping to get out again soon to try the silver nibbles.

Thanks again everyone.

[TAE73]

Dynamite... brings them to the top every time!

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

I use these 1/124th oz Sparkle jigs that a local guy makes by hand. they will catch fish when nothing else will. I use those when the slabs have went on a crash diet!

My "go to" or first jig out in the water is going to have to remain a secret by me; that is unless they sponsor me real soon! My 2nd choice is usually a hard bodied bait that has either Black, or Chartreuse in it's color scheme on a 1/16th oz minnow head. Among the ones I like are Crappie Pro, Gene Larew Spiders, Bass Asassin, Bailey's Magnets, and Sassy Shads.

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