Crappie Kingdom

LURE ENHANCEMENTS Can you imagine enhancing a lure to make it totally irresistible to fish. I have thought about it often and have heard people talk about different things they have done that made their bait “the choice” of lure to use. Some swear by color. Some say the size matters. Some say the action is the key. My question is, does it really matter? If you go to the jig counter in the local bait shop, the selection of sizes, color, and shapes is totally mind boggling. So what does a person do to weed out the undesirables? Which bait is the best selection? How do you choose which one is right for you? I’m going to share some of my thoughts based on actual use of hundreds of different types of baits and try to give some tips on what a person can do to enhance their lure. My first determination in selecting a bait is to eliminate what is an eye catcher or marketing bait. The manufacturers are uncanny at producing baits that have human eye appeal and sell good. It’s all about marketing. Colors that appeal to the human eye are the selling point. They may not catch fish but they sure look good to the buyer. Try to stay with the natural colors or colors that might resemble natural baits. I am a chartreuse color fan. Now, that color is not natural that I know of anywhere in the aquatic world, but it works. I am also a glow color fan. I know that the chartreuse color will stay its color deeper than any other color on the chart according to tests. That may be what makes it so appealing to the fish. I prefer solid glow chartreuse, brown/chartreuse glow, black/chartreuse glow, green/chartreuse glow, and throw in a shad colored glow bait as well. As far as crank baits, the crawdad color cranks seem to be the “all around” best catcher. Don’t ask me why crawdad since I’m convinced crappie do not eat crawdads but that color produces a lot of fish. Size is a question many people do not understand about fishing for crappie. Everyone including manufacturers always think small because the crappie is considered a panfish. Let me tell you that if you look at a 15”crappie’s mouth, you can see that it can inhale a good size bait. One of the best crank baits I ever used for catching crappie was the old 5-6” hellbender crank bait. That is a big bait. I prefer to use a 2” to 3” tube on a jig head that weighs from 1/16 oz. to 3/8 oz. depending on how deep I am fishing. The deeper I fish, the heavier the jig I use in order to get the bait down quicker. Sometimes I will go to a lighter jig with a smaller jig body if I’m wanting a slower presentation and am fishing shallower water. Every rule has an exception. Jigs come with split tails, umbrella tails, flip tails, curly tails, minnow tails, bubble tails, and the list goes on and on and on. I prefer the umbrella type tail because it has a lot of tentacle type movement which I think helps excite or stimulate the bite. I also will use the flip tail bait some which give the bait similar movement as the umbrella but a little different look. During the spawn, I will use the curly tail grub on a roadrunner head or 1/16 oz. jig head. This bait offers a swimming minnow look and works very well. I stay with the Tennessee shad or bleeding shad colors most of the time. I prefer plastic over feathers for no other reason other than, I can change baits quickly without changing the entire lure. I believe jigs can be tipped with various “add ons” that increase the fish bite. Some folks tip with minnows while others might use crappie nibbles or mealy worms etc. My preference is the crappie nibble. At one time in my fishing years, I never used them and caught fish. I had a few instances where other people in my boat would use them and have great success. I’m kinda hard headed and am reluctant to try new things but I thought about this one a long time. I came to the conclusion that using crappie nibbles certainly couldn’t hurt anything so, I started using them all the time. I can say that I believe they make a difference. Bottom line is they can’t hurt. Every fisherman has their own little secret that helps them, so they think. That is the key. If you think something helps and works for you, then I say “go for it”. Whether it is size, shape, color, or action, if you have confidence in what you are using the biggest part of the battle is won. Dare to be different and try new things. Who knows, you might come up with the ultimate lure. Good luck and good fishing.

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