When fishing the jig/minnow combo, I don’t prefer jigs with extremely strong hooks. Aug 27, 2014; By Lawrence Taylor "Crappie don't really migrate during fall, but they do spread out," said Oklahoma crappie guide and tournament angler Todd Huckabee. There’s actually some truth to that statement. Don’t just downsize the jig’s profile. These are very popular in the crappie fishing community, and I have used all of them successfully. If you like this article, check out my article about the Best Baits For Bluegill. In lakes that stay stained and murky crappie tend to stay suspended year-round and trolling can be an effective way to catch crappie. But, down here in the deep south we sometimes hook into stud crappie. Crappie are much more aggressive at this time, and you can sometimes get away with using more vibrant colors than normal. This may sound like Fishing 101, but … The best time of day for crappie fishing is just after sunrise as well as an hour before sunset during warmer months. Depending on how many minnows you buy, and the size of your container,  you may have to split your bait into 2 or 3 separate containers. No matter what you think about this strange option, I’m telling you, it works more often than not. I plan on giving it a whirl this year. Minnows will often just slow you down during a hot bite. The lure makes different noises depending if the rod tip is held high or near the water. These jigs are well built and the body stays on the jig without sliding as frequently as other jigs. When it comes to hooks, you’re going to get lot’s of different opinions. The boat is then slowed to about .1 miles per hour. His go-to is the Muddy Water Baits Custom Crappie bait. I prefer to buy the styrofoam buckets surrounded by a metal wire cage, and then build a custom wooden lid for it. Black works well in low light conditions and murky water and white works good during the day. The 2 primary considerations are weight of the jig and the hook size. This is especially important when fishing at night. Once locations that hold crappies are found they can be caught consistently. With all that said, I use hollow tubes more often because of the following reason. Good color for crappie includes chartreuse for bright days and clear water, red shad for green and stained water, and black for low light conditions at dawn and at dusk. These are fly poppers and are extremely lightweight and are intended to be fished with a fly rod. The standard body has a curly grub tail which has great action. Finally, even though it may seem strange, sometimes just an un-painted jig head tipped with a minnow works great. With two craws and six jigs, this handy little jig kit has everything you need to … Good question, and here are my thoughts. Winter is the only time when crappies can be found in hoards. Adding light to the water helps catch crappie at night. Or, you could use a plastic syringe to accomplish the same thing, but I prefer the bait pump. To do so, simply follow the 3 rules below. Serious crappie fishermen use the spider-rigging method for drifting and trolling for crappie. It’s handy to have 2 containers anyway, if you are fishing with a partner. Jigs won’t hang up as bad in thick cover. Poles from 9 feet to 16 feet are typically used for spider-rigging. Small shad are one of the crappie’s favorite food and this bait is a great imitation of a shad. I plan on giving it a whirl this year. You never know what crappie might prefer on a given day. I would recommend getting a white light. The three-inch baits are good for slow trolling and drifting to target deeper fish. Alright, maybe not quite, but at times it actually can be very effective. You can even fish 2 jigs on the same pole. Keep contact with the bait. These jigs are fantastic for crappie and are a great alternative to using live minnows. Light wire hooks also more easily bend free of any hooked snags. Size 14 is the larger hooks and is what I would recommend in most cases. Early fall fishing for crappie may take a good bit of searching and screen-watching to locate the best concentrations of good fish. The proper depth to target crappie can be found by marking them on the fish finder or by setting lines to multiple depths initially to try and locate fish. Tipping a jig with a wax worm, instead of a minnow, allows you to fish a jig through heavy cover, such as lily pads, without getting hung up as much. These fly poppers will even catch small juvenal crappies. This is when crappie are the most active and typically searching for food. So, that’s what you want to mimic when trying to catch crappie. A fish finder and trolling motor with auto-pilot are typically used to help navigate the bottom structure. These jigs are good at holding bait and are often tipped with a minnow, crappie nibble, or worm. I have even used a minnow-tipped jig many times under a slip float with great results. Global Fishing Reports participants in affiliate marketing programs. In that case, jigs are typically your best bet, as they are more efficient. The Johnson Crappie Buster is another classic crappie bait. However, using light line and light tackle is the most fun and productive way to catch crappie. I like to use a device called The Bait Pump (pictured below) to squeeze crappie nibbles into my tubes. A trolling motor with autopilot helps troll and navigate the water. Monkey Milk and Blue Thunder are two popular colors. Color options include black-fluorescent orange, chartreuse, fluorescent red-chartreuse sparkle, fluorescent red-white, pink-pearl, white-hot pink, and white. The crappie magnet bodies are 1/4 inch longer than the trout magnet and are also wider. I am a huge Mepps fan and often use a size three because it works great for crappie and bass. If you are slowly drift fishing multiple lines a 1/16 ounce jig head can be used. I often carry more than one minnow bucket. This is a sinking lure that weighs 1/8 ounce and is known for catching crappie and trout. The jigs are only 1/64 ounce which is a light jig that works best in shallow water. Often times the minnow tipped jig has been my most productive bait when running 6 poles. Many people overlook adding scent to baits when freshwater fishing. There are three flies in size 12, size 14, size 16 and size 18. This bait is not scented so tipping the jig or adding scent is a good idea. Underwater lights attract small aquatic insects, krill, phytoplankton, and insects to the surface of the water. The hooks are red which is why this is called a bleeding bait. The charlie brewer bodies have been used since 1970. The cubby mini-mite comes with 5 jigs per pack. That works well in the spring when there is less weed growth in the water. Color options include chartreuse, green-black, green-white, pink, pink-white, and pink-purple. If crappie are eating bugs off the surface then a small floating bait is a great option to catch small crappie. These are all aluminum with a 24-inch crossbar. The light attracts zooplankton, aquatic insects and insects. One notable exception is during the spawn. The baits are tipped with minnows in this case with many poles set out at different depths. Hair jigs are more durable and last longer than plastics. Poles come in 11 feet, 12 feet, and 14 feet lengths. These jigs can be cut in half or into four pieces to tip jigs. There is an option that will work for just about every condition. Using some sort of attractant typically increases your catch rate. Crappie are sight feeders, and they feed mostly on tiny grayish or silver colored fish. Fishing for crappie at night is a popular and fun way to catch crappie. The October crappie bite can be excellent, especially for big crappie. The trout magnet gig heads below are a great size for this  1-inch bait. The fish feed hard and can be very aggressive. The erratic swimming motion of the shad makes it look like an injured baitfish. If the bottom jig is heavier, it will sink faster and keep the jigs away from each other during the fall. The size, buoyancy, movement, and scent of your jig, to name a few, are all impacted. Although this isn’t completely necessary, it does provide better action. Darkness is your friendI'll give you a couple examples here. Mepps spinners from size 0 to size 3 are great for crappie. One nice benefit of crappie tubes is that they give you a hollow cavity in which you can insert scents. Berkley Gulp earthworms are 4 inches in length and come in a 1.1-ounce container. The concave nose makes a popping noise and splashes water to attract fish. Having good bait helps to encourage crappie to bite during the day. During colder months, midday, when the air temperature is warmest, seems to work best for both black and white crappie. Up to eight poles are set per person and each pole can have two baits. The Shimano CI4+ is one of the smallest lightest fishing reels on the market today. Fall is one of the best times to fish for crappie in the Northeast, second only to spring. Size 12 is the largest and is recommended for crappie. When the fish are shallow, and are being particularly wary, I might toss out a minnow with no weight at all. The tubes also stay on the jig without sliding and give a clean bait profile by covering up the jig head. If the bait were to fall off the feathers on the jig can still attract and catch fish. I’ll sometimes use these when the water is extremely muddy, or when I’m quickly searching new water for spawning crappie. Best Fall Crappie Tactic. Maybe this won’t be the case in your fishing hole, but it’s worth a try. Crappie jigs are especially effective during the spawn when fish are shallow. I know nothing about your lakes but but fish have to eat sometime. It’s best to attach a crappie jig to your mainline using a loop knot. Hook the minnow through its bottom lip and out the top lip. Keeping an extra container on hand at all times is a good idea. These come in colors of black shad, firetiger, and smelt. The tiny pop is a small lure and works really well when shad are spawning in shallow water. Although it is the largest Nymph they these are still very small flies. Check connected rivers, too. Good open-water spots are East and West harbors and Sandusky Bay. Minnows can also be fished by tightlining them with a weight and no bobber. Personal experience has shown that cribs and wood piles are usually a safe bet throughout the fall and winter months. The Rapala husky jerk 06 size is a 2-1/2 inch lure that weighs 1/8 of an ounce. There are three ways crappie are typically caught. Minnows catch crappie at all times, but as the fish get more lethargic, that’s when minnows really help you get more bites. It’s important to keep minnows cool throughout the day. I really like Berkley Gulp Alive Minnows but the jig heads need to be purchased separately. Crappie are common in lakes in all 48 continental states. If the minnows appear to be struggling you can just spill some of them into the second container. Be sure to keep your minnows fresh and lively, and they will serve you well. Chartreuse, white, and pink are probably the most popular crappie colors. Both of them work great. This mini-king crappie spinnerbait is 1/16 ounce. These jigs have large painted white or red eyes. Worms are not frequently eaten by crappie but if given the change crappie will eat worms. Because I have so much confidence in this setup, I almost always give it a try. This allows for a large body profile for the jig. This important element is especially crucial in early fall fishing for crappie, because the crappie are not all to be found in just a certain place. They fall through the water looking like natural bait. I believe different aspects come into play on different days. I feel that minnows can move around better, and entice more bites when hooked this way. Another time I find myself reaching for minnows is when the bite is tough due to high pressure. This is a great option when you notice crappie are feeding on small bugs or aquatic insects. The low interference of the feathers with the bait means it can be secured to the hook in a similar way as a bare jig. I really like to spider rig (slow troll), so I have 6 jigs in the water at once. This is a great little spinner that is a must-have for the tackle box. The best opportunities are between Port Clinton and Vermilion, says Ohio fishery biologist Travis Hartman. Speaking of bobbers, my preference is a slip cork. Using very light 4 pound mono or flourocarbon, and a thin wire hook, I’ll toss it over spawning crappie, and let it slowly sink. I like fine wire #2 gold rotating hooks by Mr. Crappie. Whip out the contour maps and depth finders and spider troll until you find the perfect spot and you just may develop a whole new outlook on fall crappie fishing! Crappie nibbles come in glow chartreuse, glow pink, glow … While these didn’t make my personal top 3 best crappie baits, they may perform well for you. Keep experimenting until the best color is dialed in. There are many reasons jigs are commonly found at the top of anyone’s list of best crappie baits. Jigs that are 1/16 ounce are the most popular for crappie fishing. The gold blades are polished brass and the silver blades are genuine silver plated. Scented baits and glow in the dark baits are used to catch the crappie at night. This method works best when fish are suspended in 6 feet to 20 feet of water. Long fishing poles are not required but help spread out the baits. Four poles Millennium Spyder fishing rod holders for spider rigging. The Strike King mini-king spinnerbait is a mini version of large Strike King spinnerbaits that are used for bass. This comes with properly sized jigs for bodies so this scented bait comes ready to fish. If you have ever used gulp scented baits before you know they do not disappoint and often outfish live bait. When you do that, the scent stays with the jig for a long time, and through many caught fish. Adult white crappie feeds on more fish than white crappie which diet consists heavily on insects and crustaceans. I’d say that’s what I use 80% of the time – a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce round jig head. The small profile of the jigs also allows them to sink quickly in the water. The hook gets passed through the front of the bait and is then pressed onto the jig. Crappie are known for biting better on different color baits depending on the lighting levels and water clarity. 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