A Great Bait for Catching Crappies

Over the years I have tried many artificial and live baits for catching Crappies and here is what I have found to be the best Crappie Bait combination for summertime fishing (July – Oct).

Crappie Tube Tipped With Artificial Shiner

You can use a plain Crappie Tube and it will catch fish, but if you tip it with an artificial shiner you will increase the action tremendously. This combination bait will also out fish live bait, such as minnows. Start with the white tube with a silver skirt, this represents a minnow more closely in the water.

How To Use The Crappie Tube and Shiner Combination

Two ways I use this bait is by fishing the weed-lines or by chasing Crappies around the lake. Chasing Crappies seems to produce large fish, but you need to know what to look for. Crappies chase minnows, which stay close to the surface, so if you see any water disturbance, shallow or deep and it keeps moving, these are most likely Crappies. So take your bait and toss it into the area, if they are Crappies you will catch one or two before having to move, following them around. What I use is a tube bobber with 2 feet of line, let it set for 5 seconds then reel in a foot and let it set again. Continue this until it’s out of the area the Crappies are in.

Why I Recommend This Bait

Even though it may cost you $10 to get hooked up with this Crappie Bait Combination it will pay off, as your cost per Crappie will be much less than using other baits. And by chasing the Crappies around you will increase the size of your catch.