Minnows verses Jigs

[Ketchn]

Lets discuss this option and its popularity both ways . I will for sure use whatever I think is available that will put the most fish on my hook and for many decades never liked feathers or plastics and actually cut feathered jigs down to just a jig head back when . My favorite way to ketch crappie was a half minnow or whole one put on as a jig body .
Of course now a days I use jigs 99.9% of the time ,but to be sure I still in tough situations tip them with things . Minnows are flat deadly on crappie in many cases and I have seen them make a jig look like it needs to be back on the store shelf .
But to be sure just as minnows are deadly such is the case I have found with jigs. Lets start with when and where approach .
Minnows are for sure NOT a winter time bait from what I have seen . I watch folks several times a week sit and ketch nothing or one or 2 at most while the winter jig fellas are slaughtering the crappie . The largest crappie ever managed at that local water body was by a almost minnow only fella back last spring at a hair under 3 lbs. But this same fella was at the fish house this weekend and using minnows as were 3 other people and combined they managed 3 crappie . The other 8 guys using jigs probably managed somewhere in the area of 300 to 400 crappie combined at the same time the folks with the minnows were there .
One thing for certain though in just 2 months this will turn around and the minnow folks will make the jig folks on many days feel like they cant ketch diddly and I have seen this before as well .
So never assume I don't like minnows and or care one way or the other about if you use minnows , I say use what works when and where and ketch them how ever you prefer .
in the end its about ketchn fish for me and not what or how you go about it,
keep in mind this , because I don't use minnows don't mean I haven't ...
and or wont if it seems I cant "ketchup" ....
and yes they bit any color I dropped for 4 hours straight like I was on an episode of some kind of fishing show as well this weekend
4 am to 8 am and off to church I went

[sunshine]

What's that knot you use?

[ET Fish]

I say use whatever “floats your boat!” I use jigs 95% of the time, but if it were easier to get and keep minnows, that number would probably shift.

[DRFISHDUCK]

I vertical jig with tubes, roadrunners, etc. If I'm at the boat docks people leavin offer me their unused minnows and I tip my jigs with them and usually have good luck, If I dont use them all I freeze them and use them dead or catfish bait.

Sent from my SM-G530P using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[FIN]

Freezing minnows. Why didn't I think of that?

[DRFISHDUCK]

I've caught many crappie using a gold hook, splitshot, and dead minnows. Crappie eatem dead or alive!

[Retired2Fish]

It has been my experience that sometimes they bites jigs better, sometimes minnows, sometimes neither one. Best to be prepared for which ever way is best that day.

[Crappie Buster]

For me its all about how I'm fishing and what time of year it is. From my experiences here in SC minnows are the ticket in the cold weather months. I will always have minnows in my boat when I'm spiderrigging. Not to say I'm not using jigs too, but I normally tip all my baits. When spring time rolls around and trolling picks up we are still normally tipping with minnows. Some days I've seen straight jigs due the trick but minnows are readily available to be safe. Summer time brush fishing in clear water is always a game with minnows too. And I never use dead minnows. If they die, they get tossed. I want fresh lively minnows on my hooks. Basically if I'm fishing with multiple rods I'm fishing with minnows. When I single pole jig, shoot docks, or cast I rarely take any minnows. I reckon I feel like I'm fishing for fish holding to a spot and I'll aggravate them enough to entice a bite. That's just my take on it. I want to fish with whatever I feel gives me the best chance to catch a fish and I've seen jigs and minnows do their thing at different times.

An old fella once told me, "Minners don't come in but one color!!!" That saying always makes me chuckle, but there's a lot of truth to it. I've got more tackle and colors in my boat that you can shake a stick at, but I think a lot of the times those colors and different style baits catch the fishermen just as much as the fish. I use a wide variety of jigs and colors and somedays you'll find the magic combo that seems to make a huge difference, but a lot of days I find my old standards of black/chart., red/chart., black/blue/chart., and yellow/white are what I'm using. But to each their own. Whatever gives a fishermen confidence that they'll be successful is the key in my mind!

[gatoloco]

I think it is technique related, season, water clarity, and temp. I let the fish tell me what they want. jigs cause a reaction bite, we are trying to mimic a bait fish (minnow, shad etc.) as stated before they bites jigs better, sometimes minnows, sometimes neither one. Best to be prepared for which ever way is best that day.

just my 2 cents

[Crestliner08]

If you "need" to catch crappie, the odds are probably in your favor if you tip your jigs with a minnow, or a minnow & a cork. However, a growing majority of anglers (at least up here in the "cold" neck of the woods) have a tendency towards artificials. We just enjoy the challenge of making them bite on something that's not real. Sort of like fly fishermen. JMO!