Looking to get into Crappie Fishing.. Any pointers on colors for lures/what works?

[Fisherman9417]

So Ive been reading around and Ive got a short list already on lures. Such as, Beetle spin, Crappie Magnets, Bobby Garland Baby Shads, RaodRunner Crappie Thunder and RoadRunner Marabou. Colors seem to be mostly whites and Chartreuse. But Then Ive seen blues, black, orange etc etc. Does it REALLY matter? Suggestions for Maryland Crappies?

Thanks guys!

Hope to learn a lot while Im here.

[micorps]

I still use red hooks and minnow above a split shot sinker despite the massive amounts of jigs for tightlining, still outfishes jigs most days for me, i use jigs for longlining. Point being grab some hooks, weight, and bait and catch some crappie.

[Fisherman9417]

Great. What size hooks if you dont mind me asking... What about weight? 1/16?

[CrappiePappy]

I haven't found a color that Crappie won't hit, at one time or another.

But, some solid colors (pink, white, chartreuse, green) or some contrasting colors (most any color with chartreuse tail, or any light & dark color combination) should be enough to get you started. And if your waters are exceedingly clear, then some natural colors like soft white & light blue or light green, and lighter versions of the solid colors I mentioned, may be a better choice. Speak to those members that fish your area, and they should be able to point you in the right direction ... depending on the lakes you fish.

[micorps]

I use 1/8 to 1/2 oz split shots, depends on speed, faster you go the more you want, 1/8 oz if i am stationary. I use #6 red gamakatsu hooks or some of similar size. You can see my videos on youtube. My channel name is justahobbyoutdoors no doubt jigs have their time and place. Have tried running a mix, but crappie have always preferred just the red hook and minnow for tightlining only. Longlining and casting it is always a jig with and without minnows.

[Yak Fish]

Chrome with a black back crankbaits work well for me in clearer water on sunny days. Cranks with white and/or chartreuse do well in stained water and cooler water in Spring. Each body of water seems to have colors that work great, yet barely get a hit in a different lake.

Jig bodies in shad colors are hard to beat when there are bait balls of shad and the crappie are following them around.

Experimentation is your friend. Proof is the number of jig body colors for sale at BPS. Even though there are some consistently producing colors, the hot lure color can change as often as the weather.

Jim

[skiptomylu]

You ask one very important question and that was does it really matter? Absolutely at time it's amazing the difference! I can give one example that was real and shows how things change what is best. One day a couple years ago we were out long line trolling my hand tied Roadrunners along some hydrilla beds. It was late spring and they had moved out of the really shallow water so we were fishing water 15' to 20' deep using 1/32 Oz jigs going like .4 MPH. It was very cloudy with the sun breaking out from time to time. That last part was the important part because when the sun was shinning we used our Silver/Silver/FL Blue jigs, but once the sun went behind clouds we changed over to the Chart/Blue/Chart ones. It made all the difference in the world that day if the sun was out or not. To help clarify this I have a 3' thing on my lake that I use for color choice and that is if I can see my jig down 3' or more I change to Silver/Silver/Blue or Silver/Blue/White, but if I can't see it 3' down I am using the Chart/Blue/Chart or Chart/Black/Chart. These are not my only colors I use, but enough to make my point and explain it. Like if I can't see my jig down more than 1 foot, it's totally different and then it has a Hot Orange tail!

Anyway like CrappyPappy said crappie will hit most any color at some point in time, but I want the colors that strike over and over again for years on a consistent basis and that is what I do!

Skip

[Fisherman9417]

Appreciate it. I guess, yeah, in the end they will hit anything. You might just have to fine tune ir depending on their attitude that day.

[cwright]

Always have two colors on me no matter what I am using for crappie. I have pink in some form (solid for crankbaits, pink and yellow for jig bodies) and orange (solid for cb and orange and yellow for jig bodies). If I am pulling crank baits, I will also always have black on at least one rod.

[Fisherman9417]

Can you run a snap swivel on these Beetle spins/road runners, Marabou/jig heads? Reason I ask is, Im more into bass fishing and I only use one rod for Crappie. I dont mind tying things on and off, but as long as a good quality snap swivel wont hinder the lures movement, I see nothing but benefits in using one, for me that is.