Colors, Styles etc.

[Zeman]

A Friendly HELLO to Everyone Here. I'm new to this site and now want to pursue crappie seriously. VERY. My question before I spend a lot of money before I have knowledge, as in the past, is what colors and styles of baits will I need in my pursuit? I know about light colors on light days etc., but I've also heard dark colors at deeper depths. Will you friendly people of the FRIENDLIEST WEB SITE help me out??

Regards,

Zeman <t><

[Crestliner08]

First of all, WELCOME aboard! Not sure what your style of crappie fishing you do? Also, not sure of the water conditions where you are; such as clarity, depths, vegetation, brush, structure, etc.. So it is difficult to make suggestions to you for the water you fish, without knowing what that is.

There are basically 4 styles of plastics that I believe most crappie anglers will have in their arsenal. There is the curly tailed grub, the straight tails, paddle tails and tubes. Each has their own time & place and you need a selection of each to try out when conditions get tough.

Then there are jig heads, the most popular sizes are 1/32 oz., 1/16 oz. & 1/8 oz., which will cover most conditions you will face. Colors of both the plastics and the jig heads vary in popularity, again, dependent on conditions. My preference leans toward the plain, unpainted heads, but others here may disagree. I've never had a problem getting a bite with plain lead. They work for me!

Makes sure you have some chartreuse plastic bodies for these jig heads, along with mixes of chartreuse/black or blue two tones. Pink is also a primary carry (for me anyway); the most popular probably being electric chicken. And as you get further into the sport, I'm sure your arsenal will grow and grow. Hope these suggestions get you going anyway. We'll be looking forward to seeing some of your posts soon - the ice will be gone before you know it.

[Zeman]

Thanks much, Crestliner ! My home body of water which is a stones throw away consists of 8 conected lakes with a couple small lakes attached to one of them. Known as the Fox Chain of Lakes in NE Illinois The conditions of the water clarity ranges from fairly clear to brown gravy, where no one fishes, but mostly stained or murky depending on time of year. We have a number of DNR cribs in the lakes and with permission, can put in our own by notifying Conservation of where we wish to put them before we get the OK. Again, thank you.

[CrappiePappy]

Starting out, I'd suggest having : (for casting/jigging purposes)

1/16oz marabou Roadrunners (all chartreuse, pink/char, and all white)
1/16oz weedless jigheads (custom or commercial brands)
Some Panfish Assassins Tiny Shad (1.5")
Some 2" "stinger shad" style bodies - like Bobby Garland, Slabanator Shad (member sponsor custom bait), or Slab Commanders Small Fry (Attack Pak Fishing)
Some Mr Crappie Shadpole bodies
Some Charlie Brewer 1.5" Sliders and/or Mr Crappie Slabalicious or Slabanator Booty Shakers (both are 2")

Colors on the plastics mentioned is your choice ... but, I'd suggest covering the green, blue, purple, and pink -- in combination with chartreuse.

And don't worry about "having to have" dark colors for deep water ... I've caught Crappie at the 30' depths on bright colors (like lime green, pink/char) and even on "Albino Shad" Panfish Assassins (which is a very light lavender back over a clear belly). ALL colors are seen as grey to black, once they've gone below the level of light penetration. But, even if the fish can't see them clearly, they perceive them by the pressure waves they create when moved.

And yes ... I did not mention "curly tail" style bodies. I don't care much for them, don't use them, and therefore cannot recommend any particular brand. That, of course, doesn't mean they don't work ... they do. It's just MY personal choice not to use them.

[Zeman]

Thanks for the great info, crappiepappy !! Really helpful. <t><

[NIMROD]

Depends on fishing methods . I use 1/8 oz most of the time , but I verticle jig cover most of the time .

[Bricks]

Good Luck it can change so much it will drive yea nuts. One Flowage we fished for years our go to bait was red chartreus sparkle 1 1/2 tube on a 1/32 ounce jig. 4 years ago it changed and no way no how could we buy a bite on them and to this day they flat will not work. Now the go to bait is Bobby Garland baby shads.

[Zeman]

Thanks SlabmasterII. My top dirtyish water color prespawn bait has been a 1/80th oz. pink and white tube jig tipped with a Neon Chartreuse Crappie Nibble outfishing my partner using minnows. When the water starts to clear up they like yellow and chartreuse. The water depth is only 2 1/2 to 3 ft deep so I prefer to keep the presentation slow and small, which the crappie seem to prefer. I've never gone to a bigger bait for crappie in that depth of water.