Spooning for Crappie by Brad Wiegmann

[Slab]

Thinking outside the box when going crappie fishing? It’s not a new technique and anglers have been using spoons to catch crappie, but this year at ICAST 2023 three new fishing spoons were introduced as spoons specifically designed for angler crappie fishing. Why the drive towards spoons for crappie?


The answer might be to find deeper crappie away from shallow single poling anglers. Whatever the reason, spooning for crappie seems to have become more popular.


About 20 years ago I traveled down to Lake Ouachita to go out fishing with a crappie guide. He told me not to bring any tackle as he was going to supply the rods, reels and bait. To my surprise when I got in the boat he didn’t have any minnows; in fact, the guide had baitcasting rods and reels rigged up for fishing with small ½-ounce silver slab spoons.


This was a little disconcerting as most if not all my crappie fishing was with a minnow or hair jig. Remember this is Lake Ouachita in Arkansas that’s renowned for having crystal clear water and deep water. Plus this was long before forward facing sonar technology.


Once in the boat the guide drove to a deep brush pile around 20 foot down he had marked on his GPS fishfinder where he drove around it till he marked crappie on his traditional 2D sonar. At that point he handed me a rod and told me to start jigging the ½-ounce spoon around the top of the brush pile. His theory to fishing a brush pile was to catch the crappie suspended near the top then work down into the pile until catching the suspending crappie. To my surprise we caught a limit of crappie going from one brush pile to another.



Cody Huff is not a professional crappie angler; in fact Cody is a Bassmaster Elite Series pro renowned for his ability to catch fish on spoons. Normally, Cody is fishing big flutter spoons for bass around structure or boat docks, however, when bass get finicky he switches over to the new Dixie Jet Lures Crappie Slab Spoon. “I feel a small spoon is overlooked when anglers are fishing for crappie,” Cody went on, “I wish I had a dollar for every slab crappie I have caught on a small slab spoon.”


“It’s the perfect little baitfish imitator,” Cody continued, “You get around docks or brush piles and drop your slab spoon to them and they just can’t help, but bite it. Cody likes fishing in the stalls with or without boats as he is looking for the sweet spot where fish would be hiding. The smaller spoon allows for precise casting around the docks.


Typically, Cody will drop the spoon to where the crappie are suspended or around cover. Once there he will pop the rod tip upward quickly than allow it to flutter back down. Most of the strikes happen when the spoon is falling. Spoons come in several different color patterns. Cody noted he would fish chartreuse, whites or silver almost anywhere, however, he prefers white or chartreuse in dirty water conditions.



Strike King Mr. Crappie also released the new Strike King Mr. Crappie Jack Knife 1 ½-inch flutter spoon and Mr. Crappie Chicken Spoon. “The Mr. Crappie Jack Knife spoon doesn’t have a fast fall to it and you can work it back slowly,’’ Wally continued, “While feeling it vibrate your rod tip when you retrieve it. Anglers that like to vertically fish a spoon the Mr. Crappie Chicken Spoon is perfect with a short chain to a straight hook that you can tip with a wax worm or minnow.”


Only time will tell if the small spoon’s popularity will continue to grow. As forward facing sonar crappie anglers continue to search for lures to entice crappie to bite and traditional brush pile anglers now have more options when fishing.

[Slab]

[SuperDave336]

Good article. I used to fish spoons a lot but have the ability to hang them on every structure in the lake.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Man I spoon with my wife all the time and it didn’t help my catch numbers. Now I know the real deal!

[6poundtest]

It's not new, ice fisherman have been doing this forever for many species. We just use smaller versions due to the cold water conditions. Mr. Marshall was kind enough to mention that fact.

[MCG1]

[Grainraiser]

Drop spoon in Texas and the crappie will have to fight the white bass to get to it.

[Ketchn]

Drop spoon in Texas and the crappie will have to fight the white bass to get to it.

facts ,,,,,one of the best ever big fish structures I have ever hit in my travels was located by a "sand bass" guide back when .....
he was hitting them trash fish in deep water and came up on a rise with "something" on top of it ....him and his client both hooked monster slabs as soon as the dropped them white bass spoons onto it.....
the reason I say a something is because even though I took all my buds to it and looked at it with every kind of sonar you can imagine we never came to the same conclusion as to what said structure was ....
after seeing it on so many devices and "hitting" it with jigs and losing a few on it , my vote was an old suspension bridge , one of my buds insisted it was plane that crashed off the Lockheed run way , the other swore it was an intentionally set pile and to this day I ain't sure ......but I am pretty sure it is metal and very unforgiving if you get into it ....
spoons will ketch crappie , one of my buds makes tiny fixed hook versions .....that flutter looks like flickering shad for sure ........nice read .....

[TBass89]

Thanks for sharing this. It has inspired me to put an order in for some smaller profile spoons and give it a try on my next trip out.

I’ve been noticing on my trips a spot that is 18-20 feet deep that holds fish according to my low budget fish finder lol and have been thinking of a way to best fish it. I think this may be the ticket if anything it’s worth trying.
My trip isn’t until the end of the month but I will update if any success is found. Thanks again tight lines!


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[TBass89]

Looking forward to giving these a try. It will be my first experience with using spoons but if the crappie don’t go for them I’m sure they will come in handy trout fishing.


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