Plastic vs live ?

[prefers shiners]

I grew up using shiners on a cane pole in Mississippi....Eagle lake, Dump lake, Bee lake, Horn lake, Lake Washington, Pelahatchie lake, Lake Dockery, etc.....came to Louisiana in 1964...learned to fish jigs in 1991.....I do both but, I love to see that cork go down with a big shiner on the bottom end.....sometimes I will start with shiners and if the bite is real good I will switch to jigs to cover more area....

[kickingback]

Simply put, Pros fish more with minnows than without. I rest my case.

[shipahoy41]

I can see having minnows, at times, making a difference ... but, I agree that minnows are a hassle to deal with, in comparison to artificials.

it's always with a jighead/plastics or some artificial lure.

... cp

I agree Pappy. That is why over 90% of the time I am using and making soft plastic that imitates baitfish or creatures. Tip these with a crappie nibble rolled in some garlic and you are in business. No dead minnows that you have to throw away. No minnows to take back to the house and hope they survive until your next outing....and you have a better color selection than just a plain minnow and crappies love pink, chartreuse and flo glo colors.

[Yaker]

While I do not doubt both work well,I believe the use of minnows may limit the fisherman a bit.With plastic I can change colors,types of lures,and technique,minnows not so much.Minnows offer the challange of keeping them alive,and active,plastics require the fisherman to manipulate the lure.
I have noticed that on a day to day evaluation where I fish,I've did better than most live bait guys.One reason for this is nearly all the live bait guys move spot to spot more frequently than I do.I watched a boat with three older gentlemen ( known to be the local crappie pros) fishing the same lake I do.These men are strictly minnow men,their style is to cover as much water as fast as possible.
I'm more of the find the fish,and stick with them.nearly every outing,I caught more,and better crappie than they.Im assuming,they feel if something doesn't hit the minnow quickly,they aren't hitting of are not around the cover.I on the other hand,choose to anchor more,and switch up my lures untill I get a response.My thought is,in my case if I'm in crappie cover,it's best to fish the complete cover and column extensively before moving on.

[ET Fish]

Someone has opened a can of worms....I mean minnows! Plastics are meant to imitate baitfish? What imitates a baitfish better than a (wait for it!) BAITFISH?! Seriously, I have not developed enough confidence in jigs yet, so I still take minnows. I am working to get better with jigs, but not there yet.

[deathb4disco]

As a general rule, I think live bait is hard to beat for any species.

For me, though, minnows are just more trouble than their worth.

[deathb4disco]

Although I use nothing but artificials for crappie, I think good bait fishing takes skill. Just because you're using live bait doesn't mean the fish swim up to the boat and give themselves up.

I think a lot of the "artificial only" idea trickles down from the bass guys who are forced to use nothing but artificials.

It's your free time and your money. Fish however you want.

[Eagle 1]

Nope. I forgot how to put a minnow in a hook a long time ago. Nothing but plastics and cranks for me from now on. Your just as normal as me..

The longer you are on this site the wider your scope will be . I have got out of the spider rigging business but refuse to not have an ultra-lite with several dozen 1/32 or smaller jigs to cast for them along with jigging . Also another rig with a float/fly set up . Although I liked spider rigging it now is a distant 4th way I care to fish . Throw in two fly rods and chasing red ear , I decided I could not do it all . (even chase white humpbacks and black bass on a regular schedule ) .

[Eagle 1]

If you can catch them on minnows I can catch them on a jig better. I've not had any 100+ days with minnows but I do it a lot with jigs and like jack said you can't shoot docks with a minnow.

Everyone fishes in their own world . Other than ten/tom waterway I don't even know where there is a dock ! Wish I did though , sounds like fun !

[wicklundrh]

ET Fish hit the nail on the head. He used the word "confidence".

When I first started, I was overwhelmed with all of the different plastics out there and available. I'd try several, not catch any fish and be frustrated. My using Minnows, it helped me learn the most important rule of fishing for crappies (or any fish). You have to know where they are, or they have to be where your bait is. The issue with those first failures was simply the fact that I was not fishing in an area with crappies. Minnows helped me find the fish. Once I found them, I began to play with baits. Some days, minnows outfished whatever I threw, some days, plastics.

What I learned with minnows was the best leason. Where are the fish during different conditions. High heat, high sun, low sun, low pressure, High pressure. Once I figured out where the fish "should" be, my catch rates increased all the way around. I have some lakes that I outfish minnows 10 to 1. I have other lakes where they just don't want a plastic bait. I've learned new tactics, for casting, long lineing, jigging, slow trolling etc... Every bait is different. They key is "confidence". Confidence in knowing where the fish "should" be. My favorite plastic bait on one lake, won't catch anything on another. That has taught me that the water clearity in these two different bodies of water are totally different thus fish see the baits different. It also tells me that they eat different food sources. In the south, you might catch crappies on something that resembles a shad.... here in Michigan, shad are few and far between. Fish might look at it and not know what to do with it.

Personally, I have both. I have confidence in both. I go out and want to catch fish. Some days, I cannot buy a fish on a minnow, others, I cannot buy a fish on anything else.
Use what makes you confident. You see me at the boat launch, I'll probably show you what I'm catching them on and give you a package of them. If it is minnows and you don't have any, I'll probably share. That is just me