Baby shad VS brewers paddle tale grub VS. tubes

[Owl Creek]

Hi Folks,

I have 90% of the top color picks from reading other post on here, plus other colors I would eat if I was a Crappie...LOL. Some I may never use but you know how it is when you start ordering stuff.

Anyway, Is there a time to use one vs the other?

I dont have any tubes, but do I need them in my arsenal????
I guess they are still around because they work.

I thought I would use the B/G baby shad or the brewer slider paddle tail grubs (with Slabsauce of course). Seems like they would be a upgrade in the advancement of plastic bait?? And If that did not work I would have some minnows on hand. I do have beetle spins and roadrunners as well. Not into the hair jigs yet.


But like everything, some of these guys on youtube make it look easier than it is i'm sure. And I know nothing beats experience of time on the boat fishing brush .

Just trying to shorten my learning curve and be a good student so when we do get on the lake we can get busy boating some crappie!

Thanks
Steve

[DockShootinJack]

If every guy in the lake is reeling Baby Shads past the crappie there. Having something with a different shape and profile may pay off in higher catch catch numbers.

[Damion Kidd]

All I ever use are baby shad and sliders. I personally have better luck most of the time with sliders in warmer weather and baby shad when the water temps are colder. And I have caught way more big fish on sliders. Sometimes though I think it’s because I have a little more confidence in sliders since I’ve caught more on them. But still,some days they won’t touch a slider and will kill baby shad. Just my thoughts. lol


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[Eagle 1]

I have done well with both .I buy a few natural colors with shades of blue, grey, purple, white then a few combinations of black/chartreuse , purple/ chartreuse and red/chartreuse . I also have crappie magnet, trout magnet and pan magnets . I also am a firm believer of Jokers . It is more important to me to be able to change size baits , line , jig heads than colors . I fished for years with just 1/8 oz. jigs . What a mistake . I also have various color heads( pink, white, blue, red , orange ) when multiple colors work best . Keeps me from buying tri-colors . White fle-fly minnow is also a staple . My favorite baits are Bobby Garland "Patriot "on a pink head , Blue /white joker on a pink head . tube jig would be purple/ chartreuse on a white head . A "perfect pearl " their white (fle- fly ) if casting on a road runner head followed by 1.5 inch slider (mainly black ) on various road runner heads .

[DockShootinJack]

I had bought some slab huntRs and some itty bit slab Huntrs this summer. I had a steady pattern of catching 2 or 3 fish on a color and then a color change would start them biting again. I threw and Itty Bit Slab Huntr in blue ice under that dock they hammered that bait for a solid hour. Moved to another dock and bite after bite. Back to the first one it was on again. They would barely look at a baby shad in the same color. Size and profile has a lot to do with what triggers a bite in my opinion

[Owl Creek]

I had bought some slab huntRs and some itty bit slab Huntrs this summer. I had a steady pattern of catching 2 or 3 fish on a color and then a color change would start them biting again. I threw and Itty Bit Slab Huntr in blue ice under that dock they hammered that bait for a solid hour. Moved to another dock and bite after bite. Back to the first one it was on again. They would barely look at a baby shad in the same color. Size and profile has a lot to do with what triggers a bite in my opinion

Thanks I will have to pick some of them.

[Owl Creek]

Blue ice, monkey milk and live minnow on my shopping list. Clear water here.




Thanks everyone I appreciate the info.

[peshtigost]

I have a fair amount of plastics, but I usually find some make of Slider Fishing plastic consistently on the end of my line. I like the Charlie Bee's, Pro Whirly Bee's, 2 1/8" Jointed Minnow, or 1 1/2" crappie grub on their weedless crappie jig. I have also used their 3" Drop Shot worm Texas rigged with a Gamkatsu #4 EWG hook and a 1/16 to 1/8 oz bullet weight. I just started using this late last year and it was incredible!

Like I said, I have other plastics, but my confidence bait is Slider Fishing. Last year I was on the water 128 times and had the best year of life. The above baits caught me tons of rock bass, bluegill, sunfish, perch, and crappie. The bonus is smallmouth bass and walleye will also hammer them. Consistent goto colors for me have been white/chartreuse, black/chartreuse, and anything with purple on it. I am not saying the Sliders are the best option out there. I am saying they have just worked really well for me.

Edit: All the above I cast with. For a plastic under a bobber- hands down favorite is the trout/panfish magnet! It's a stupid do nothing bait that works really well. I don't add a waxie, scent or anything. Just plain jane under a bobber.

[DWILL]

I didn't have as good a year last year until towards the end of the year. I moved to BG itty bitty's and smaller baits.

[Grainraiser]

Most of the time they will hit any color you throw if they active. Sometimes color makes a huge difference. Bait profile and size can also make a huge difference. The great thing about live scope is that you can see how crappie react to a bait. I have seen that swim right by a 2 inch bait while the same fish will at attack a 1 1/4 bait. Sometimes a slender bait is what they want instead of a full body bait. I have seen them ignore everything in the tacklebox but drop a small metal spoon down and they attack it like it's thier last meal. In my experience crappie will hit anything 85% of the time. The other 15% requires alot of trial and error to figure out what they want.