T_RAV .... first off, ain't nothing wrong with a 10" Crappie !! Good all around average size for most any lake.
Now .... depending on what you consider a "Slab" .... you might have to "branch out", as you say. You may well catch a 1-2lb fish, right from your local waters, but Spring & Fall would be the best times to catch one from shore/pier/dock. It could also be possible during Summer or Winter, if the water depth is sufficient in the areas you can reach with your bait.
Now, let's say you consider a "Slab" to be anything over 2lbs, just for starts. OK ... then, in order to catch a fish of that size, you'll need to be fishing waters that can & do grow fish to that size/weight. Secondly, you'll need to be able to legally fish from the shore/pier/dock/etc. and go to those waters when these bigger fish will be within reach. Generally speaking, that's likely going to be during the Spring spawning period ... and "when" that is will depend on "where" the lake is located. You'd normally have a window of opportunity of anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks, to catch the fish in their pre-spawn feeding pattern (when they come shallow to fatten up before spawning) and the actual spawn period (when males are guarding nests & females are cruising in & out to lay eggs).
Spawning Black Crappie will come shallow earlier & stay shallow longer than the White Crappie, but they're also much spookier at those times, so being very stealthy is key to not running them off.
As has been said ... ain't a thing wrong with chunkin a minner out there !! I was a minner man from the time I started Crappie fishing as a young boy, well into my 30's. I would cast a jig now & then during those times, but mostly out of boredom. When I started casting jigs as my primary fishing method, I would quite often have minners as a backup. Nowadays, it's only in very special circumstances that I'll even bother with them.
If I was "starting" to use jigs, and wasn't sure about them, this is what I'd start with :
Spinning outfit .... 6-7ft rod med action ... 4-6lb test line (hi-vis unless I was fishing crystal clear waters)
3 or 4 Roadrunners ... 1/16oz marabou in solid chartreuse or pink/chartreuse (Elec Chicken)
1 dozen jigheads ... 1/16oz weedless
2 or 3 packs of Panfish Assassins or Southern Pro Crappie Slugs (both of which are 1.5" stinger tail grubs) ... purple/char - green/char - pink/char - blue/char - blk/char are all good choices.
Small size tackle box to hold them all.
The Roadrunners I would cast out and let them sink for a few seconds, then reel them back in with a steady moderately fast retrieve ... with my rod tip pointed down & away to the side of me. When the hit comes, you sweep the rod away from the fish to set the hook.
The jigs I would cast out and let sink for a few seconds, then reel them back in as slow as it takes to keep the line in a slight bow from the rod tip to the water's surface ... with my rod pointed up at about the 10 o:clock position. When you see the line jump ever so slightly, go slack all of a sudden, or start to move off sideways ... then you set the hook with a fast lifting motion of the rod.
IF you happen to be on a pier or dock that has good water depth under it, you might also try what I call the "Vertical Casting" method. Here's the article I wrote on that technique :
Crappie Pappy Article
Now, all of this info is just my opinion, based on my experiences, and I reserve the right to be wrong about any of it. It's worked for me, your mileage may vary
... cp
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I would say if you are catching crappie then it is only a matter of time before you will hang into that big slab. I have caught some nice size with both minnows and artifical bait. The biggest thing is fishing as much and as often as you can. Learning from what worked catching fish and what didn't work. The law of averages will findly work in your favor catching that slab of a lifetime. They are several old posts here that will help you with what type artifical baits, when to fish them, how to use them, and where. There is also nothing wrong with using minnows. I use them 90% of the time myself. Where it is legal drop some fish habitat it will help the fish and it will also help your catching fish.
Originally Posted by _T_RAV_
