Best Bait for Crappie?

[crappielover24]

I use about the simplest way, to use minnows. Tell me if these are only good in certain seasons and if tubes or jigs are better with crappie. I just want to know everyone's suggestion.

[Slab Hunter]

crappielover24

All I can tell ya is if you are having fun DO IT :D . You can search the world over and come up with as many different answers as the number of people you talk to.
Now if you are asking me, I have used minnows/shiners and at the end of the day I usually had more dead minnows/shiners than I had fish.
I use tube jigs, I like tube jigs and they don't die.
Some days I have to watch others catch on minnows/shiners, but the next day things change and I am the one doing the catching.
You have to go, you have to learn, you have to pay you dues and get your feet wet and get a feel for what suits you as a fisherperson.
I am a 40 year crappie fisherman and learn something new about every lake that I go to. And never will learn it all.
But if you like it, if it makes you and your family smile and enjoy what you are doing, the rest will come.
Go fishing and talk to folks on the lake. They will help you. They are all good people.
There is no magic formula.
Sorry about my soap box, but it's the truth. FISH and LEARN.

[FalconSmitty]

Minnows is my best bait for crappie. Like Slabhunter said, you get as many answers as people. I use jigs too. I tip them with minnows 99% of the time. When shooting docks it is imposible to keep one on the jig so I don't use them. The rest of the time I either tightline drift minnows or I use jigs tipped with minnows to troll. I also love using a 3 way swivel to troll plain minnows.

[CrappiePappy]

If we're talking "live" bait - Go by what the Crappie in your waters are used to eating !!! (catch it or match it)
If we're talking "artificials" - depends on the method being used, and/or personal preferrence.

In my waters, this is how "live" bait would rank :
1) Brook Silversides 2-3" long
2) Shad (Gizzard or Threadfin) around 2" long
3) Minnows (Chubs, Bluntnose) 2-3" long
4) Shiners 2-3" long
5) Larvae, bugs, worms

As for "artificials" - Roadrunners, tube jigs, marabou jigs, and plastic "grub/minnow/worm" type baits all have a place in my tacklebox. And since I fish around a lot of "wood", and other "snaggy" stuff ... I use weedless jigheads whenever possible or necessary.

Live bait is guaranteed to catch fish .. or die trying !! Jigs that imitate those "live" offerings will also catch fish ... you just have to make them look like an easy meal. None of them will catch Crappie - if you use them where there ISN'T any Crappie ... you've got to "find" them to catch them ! And, knowing where to look, when you go - where you go - while you're there ... well sir, that's as important (if not more) than what you use.
I let the depth the fish are holding at, the cover they're around, and boat positioning be my guide; as to what method to employ and what the best bait is to use with that method ............ luck2ya ........cp

[FroMan]

With the little crappie experience I've had, I have caught most the fish on black/green tube jigs with a black 1/16 or 1/8 jig-head. I also like to mix jig colors and throw them a Sassy Shad. Thing is almost irresistable to any fish it goes in front of.

I like those jigs for crappie. Just throw it to where they are and retrieve it. If they want it, they'll take it.

[crappieseeker]

Jigs, enough said

[TAZ]

75% of the time I"m using my hair jigs I tie myself. The rest is either Roadrunners or minnows when the fish hit the Buck Brush.

[Meat on the Table]

I use jigs and minnows. I will not go without both. I have seen it when Crappie would not hit a minnow but wear jigs out and visa versa. So I always take both, then if they don't bite, I blame it on the wind,barometric level, or a any thing that makes me feel better.

[DENNIS BOWERS]

Jigs with Chart. tube body.

[J White]

:D Troll fastly and carry a big crankbait! :D
guess those of you who know me saw this coming