Lures for Bluegill and Crappie/other smaller fish?

[Nattyboh74]

I recently got into bass fishing again, so now Im looking to get a little setup, tackle wise , for BG, Crappie and other smaller specie fish. Im going to be fishing them off of an ultra-lite rod.

 

Curious on lure types/weights that I should buy... I appreciate any and all help here. Thanks.

[MickD]

Norman Deep Tiny N. Or Norman Crappie Crankbait.  They are almost identical.   Crappies, bluegills, and larger fish too.  They have a really good action compared to many other small cranks.  

[PersicoTrotaVA]

Crappie fishing is like bass fishing only with smaller lures. I like using small spinnerbaits(booyah pond magic, strike kings rocket shad) for crappie. You will want to fish in upper portion of the water column. Crappie feed looking up so I like lifting and letting it drop. They usually take it as soon as the bait starts to drop.  Beetlespins work amazing for them as well. 

 

Bluegill and other panfish are a little more difficult because they don't have the mouth size of a crappie of similar size. You want fly size lures. The smaller the better. I personally don't like lure fishing for bluegill and bream. I'll bring a 12 ft panfish pole, dig up a worm or grub and fish for bluegill that way. It's more exciting for me, the fight on a 12 ft pole than on a 5 ft ultralight rod and reel. 

[Dorado]

Big crappie fan with artificials.  Gold Beetlespins with chartreuse black dot body caught my PB this year. Strongly recommend the following: Bobby Garland baby Shad (monkey milk is my fav) Powerbait atomic tubes (grasshopper is amazing), Rapala ultralight cranks, Crappie Magnet, Powerbait grubs (pearl white) and 2" Kalins triple action grubs (Albino and John deere especially). 

 

I avoided getting too much into colors because it depends on your forage. We have Threadfin Shad and clearer waters where I fish so I'm partial to natural baitfish colors, like silver or pearlescent and light blues. One exception- spawn. I go with loud and aggressive colors (pinks and bright greens and yellows) because I'm trying to tick em off when they're guarding beds 

 

If if all of that doesn't work, pair a 2" black Shad Gulp!Alive! Minnow on a chartreuse roadrunner. 

 

This might comes across wrong, but if all that above doesn't work then there are no crappies. Good luck! 

[Can't Catch Bass]

I've had good luck with roadrunners and a powerbait 2" curly tail grub trailer.

[Looking for the big one]

This is a list of species my brother has caught fishing trout magnets with an ultralight rod over the course of one summer: 

Bluegill

Crappie

Redbreast Sunfish

Redear Sunfish

Green Sunfish

Largemouth Bass

Spotted Bass

Yellow Perch

Golden Shiner

 

He never fails to catch fish while I'm always desperate trying to catch a single bass. The Bobby Garland Baby Shad was what he used last year with success, but the shape of the trout magnets allows sunfish to engulf it better.

[Nattyboh74]

Thanks guys. I threw some 6# Trilene on there because its what I have. I hope it wont be too much line, although I dont see why. 4# just seems too light for me.

[WRB]

Ultra light 4 lb mono is heavy line!

Your top lure for pan fish including crappie is a 1/32 to 1/16 oz crappie tube jig.

You can fish the jig with or without a (Thill) slip float and with or without tipped with a meal worm.

There are some "bean" size crankbaits, small underspins and inline spinners that work for crappie at times, bluegill you are better off using the jig/ meal worm combo.

Tom

[lo n slo]

dont forget to tie on a road runner

[Nattyboh74]

With the grubs, what are you guys using? Just a 1/8 or 1/16oz ball head jig? With a spinner?

 

Also on those Beetlespins, do I just buy one and toss it once the bait is tore up? Or cna you reuse the jig/spinner for say other smaller grubs/crappie style tubes etc

[Fried Lemons]

I like to throw a 1/8oz kastmaster as a search bait. Casts very far on light tackle and attracts fish from a good distance. Retrieve it just fast enough to avoid snagging the bottom. Once I locate a fish I'll throw a 2 inch grub on a 1/16oz ball head. Usually where there's one there is a school.

[Dorado]

1/8 oz Kastmaster is one of my favorite trout lures. Never thought of giving it a try on crappies. Smart

[Spankey]

They make a crappie and panfish magnet. A bit larger. Works great for smallies also. 

[tholmes]

Lots of great suggestions here. I'll add one of my favorite bluegill/sunfish lures to the mix. The Rebel Teeny Wee Crawfish, both the shallow and deep versions. Also, a Panther Martin 1/16th oz. spinner, black w/gold blade.

 

Tom

[Dorado]

Has anyone used the Lake Fork Live Baby Shad or Spro Phat Flies for crappie? 

[Bluebasser86]

A 2" grub on a 1/32oz jighead will catch about anything. 6lb is heavier than I like on my ultralight. I actually have 3.5lb Techtan on mine and landed channel and flathead catfish to almost 10 pounds on it. Gives those tiny lures the best casting distance and most natural look. 

[Dorado]

19 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

A 2" grub on a 1/32oz jighead will catch about anything. 6lb is heavier than I like on my ultralight. I actually have 3.5lb Techtan on mine and landed channel and flathead catfish to almost 10 pounds on it. Gives those tiny lures the best casting distance and most natural look. 

Good line recommendation. I've always thrown 2" grub with bobbers to give me casting distance but hated the trade off of impeding that natural look during the retrieve. We catch channel cats all the time with 3" grubs and roadrunnners, but a flathead would be insane One of my favorite ways to ultralight fish 

25 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

A 2" grub on a 1/32oz jighead will catch about anything. 6lb is heavier than I like on my ultralight. I actually have 3.5lb Techtan on mine and landed channel and flathead catfish to almost 10 pounds on it. Gives those tiny lures the best casting distance and most natural look. 

Also, what reel and rod are you using with your ultralight set up? I ask because you definitely know your stuff! 

[NYWayfarer]

For panfish I love the Trout Magnet and Trout Slayer. For the Magnet I sometimes switch out the soft plastic body it comes with and use a Berkley Gulp minnow.

 

Gulp 1" minnows on any kind of small jig head are fantastic panfish bait.

 

Big panfish seem to love my Ned Rig. Z-man has the finesse TRD and the Big TRD they need to make a Tiny TRD for panfishing.

 

 

[ClackerBuzz]

On 9/4/2017 at 11:36 AM, Dorado said:

 Strongly recommend the following: Bobby Garland baby Shad

90% of the time this is the only bluegill/crappie lure I need.  Things are ridiculous.

1/64 or 1/32 if ur fishing vertical.  1/16 if ur casting. 1/8 only if it's windy or when you need it fast so they can't get a good look at it.

 

if they aren't biting that I switch to any sinking fly fishing lure that has a gold bead on it.

[fishwizzard]

On 9/7/2017 at 9:41 AM, NYWayfarer said:

Big panfish seem to love my Ned Rig. Z-man has the finesse TRD and the Big TRD they need to make a Tiny TRD for panfishing.

I have tried that with the 1" cut off ends of some Hula Stickz.  I called it the "Ed Rig".  Never even got a single hit the two times I tried it.  

[Crestliner2008]

On 9/7/2017 at 1:05 AM, Dorado said:

Has anyone used the Lake Fork Live Baby Shad or Spro Phat Flies for crappie? 

Yes I have LFLBS and still do. However, you go through a lot of plastics with this style of lure, both on crappie and the large sizes for bass. The great action of the segmented body is certainly attractive to most species, but it tends to make them much more fragile - and costly in the longer haul.

 

My preference for crappie/panfish are 1/16 - 1/8 oz. ball head jigs with a variety of plastics. Some of these, which I find most effective, are Charlie Brewers Crappie Sliders (paddle tails), Bobby Garland's Baby Shads (straight tails), and just about any 2" curly tail plastic out there - however, I'm really fond of SK ShadPole CT (curly tails). And I never go crappie fishing without a selection of 1/16 oz. marabou tailed Roadrunners.

 

I fish these lures mainly on B n' M rods, preferring the 7' & 9' Sam Heaton Super Sensitive models. Balanced with Pflueger President #6920 reels. I use 2# test Fireline Crystal fused line for the mainline, with a 4# test fluorocarbon leader which is attaced using the Alberto knot. Very effective panfish setups if you do not have to deal with a lot of brush and debris.

[Bankbeater]

I use a 2" sassy shad with a 1/8 ounce jighead, or a 2" floating minnow.  I like a ML rig more than an UL rig because you never know what is going to hit these baits.