Panfish plastics...what do you use for pannies?

[CrappieMagnet]

What are you favorites?

I have several,but would like to hear of others.

I'll list a few of my favorites.Although used for icefishing,they are killer on pannies during open water.
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Ratso


Nuclear Power Ant


From www.customjigsandspins.com

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The Polli

Incredible on bullgills w/ this kinda action

The Maki is a good all around bait to use. It has unbelievable action in the water and attracts a lot of different fish,but pannies and crappies love em' too.
These are from www.lobybaits.com

[Roberta]

One lake is pretty productive with micro craws or frogs and tiny 1" curly tail grubs in chart. The other lake we fish for gills seems to do best with live bait on a small hook, but we catch our share on ice jigs tipped with waxies or black foam body ants that I tie.

Yesterday, we took some June bugs I had picked up off the patio Sunday night and nothing would touch them, much to my disappointment. The water was clear enough to see several fish swim up to the bug, peck at it and swim off. Must smell bad. - Roberta

[CK14]

i use 1/64oz tube jigs most of the time with maggots for gills. sometimes i use small curly tails or hair jigs.

[tnvol]

Why switch? I use the same 1/32nd and 1/64th
oz hair jigs that I use for crappie..and tip them with
crappie nibbles. It seems that white nibbles on gray
or chartruse jigs catch more 'gills for me.

Yummm!

[CrappieMagnet]

I have so many plastics in my tacklebox's,I'll have enough to use till dang near 2020.:D

I tend to favor insect looking plastics,but will on occasion throw minnow immitators,from tubes to mimic minnows.Whichever the pannies choose.
But a favorite is Berkley Power Nymphs.Great for bullgills,crappies and even trout.They also came out with the baits with sparkles that scatter off the bait the moment it hits water.


Another is Exude Nymphs.They also work well for gill,crappies and trout.

Here's a favorite lately working on gills and crappies from Northland Tackle.Slurpies immitate a minnow with a minnowtube like appearance.



I also favor pencil bobbers,sponge bobbers,thill bobbers, or any other small profile bobber I can get my hands on.One can never have too many.I usually rig it under a slip float with a very small splitshot.

[wrwest]

I just step down a little from crappie fishing. I will use 1 1/2 plastic grubs and tubes, Southern Pro. Also one of my new jigs that I like is the YUM beaver tail...

[dixieangler]

I'm with tnvol. I rarely use any jig that doesn't have a marabou or rabbit fur tail, same colors as tnvol. There are occasions when I will use some cheap plastic bodies (same colors as above and tube type I think) from the Creme Co. that Wal-Mart sells. But the action of marabou or rabbit fur tails (even squirrel tail) is hard to beat. Besides, the heat doesn't melt them like it does plastic. I've never seen a plastic yet that could match the action and durability.

That being said about my jigs, the jigs on my beetle spins usually do have plastic bodies.

[CrappieMagnet]

I've used beetle spins in the past.They are very effective when searching out gills when structure is'nt available,especially right away in the spring.The flash of the spin,sometimes can't be beat.

We don't get the unusually warm temps like you do, down south.My plastics rarely "melt".I have found that when I mix maribou with plastic..it will melt, with time.Simple fix.I never combine the two.Keep them separated.Losing money because of a meltdown can be a very costly,and it has happened to me.Just live and learn.LOL

But IMHO plastics are the way to go.They are reusable.Live bait is not.Live bait can be quite expensive too if you go fishing everyday.I'm not saying I never use live bait.I do.I use crappie minnows in the wintertime.But come spring,summer and fall...I use plastics.:D

[dixieangler]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I do keep them separate. I meant that I use marabou or rabbit fur tails (or hair) with chenille or braid bodies, no plastics at all on most of my jigs. The heat is just a killer down here for most plastics. Big mess in a tackle or fly box. So I don't use plastics very much for that reason and for the more natural action of the other materials.

[CrappieMagnet]

Hey it's cool DA.Maybe I can suggest to store your plastics in a pouch in your cooler full of soda pops so they don't melt.Hehe.I dunno.But sometimes it pays to be versatile.Use all kinds of different baits.Because lakes are different from all bodies of water,to the next.What works on one lake,won't necessarily work on another.Find out what the fish are eating,and mimic the bait.That's all I'm saying.Try different combinations.

I use jigs of all kinds too.I favor CrappieRocket jigs,not only because they catch fish,but also because you can trim them down or leave them alone.I also use other maribou's like a fuzzy grub,or a Flu-flu.I'm just trying to spark interest out there,on plastics.