Crappie lures

[Derek1]

I was thinking I could set my grandson up next spring using the smaller crappie lures to make catching the sunfish a little more interesting for him. He gets to impatient fishing for bass with soft plastics. He gets bored with a worm and bobber also. Sunfish are everywhere he can reach to cast and they are so aggressive, I think I might give this a shot. I’m trying to keep him interested until he gets out of the six year old impatient stage. Small spinners would probably work also. Would love to hear any thoughts. 

[Angry John]

There are a few wet nymphs like the copper john that can do some amazing work if you want fast action.

[ItsHardwick]

The tiny inline spinners have been best for the sunfish and bream in our lake. I’ve taken my boys many times and tried crappie jigs and all sorts of other artificials as well as live night crawlers. Nothing beats live worms when you get into a whole mess of them, pulling them out cast after cast. But a worms no fun for a 4 year old or an 11 year old when the bites a little tougher. So if you’re not on a whole bunch of fish the in-line spinner is the way to go, you can catch pretty much any species on them too which is a bonus. 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Itsy bitsy strike king square bill. Red craw. Flat wear out red breasts/panfish with them.

 

Good ole white/red dot beetle spin is a classic

I put a small grub body to change colors as well. 

[Junger]

1" gulp minnow under a bobber. I know you said he gets bored of a worm and bobber, but with the gulp minnow, he can put a little action on it to entice bites.

 

 

[bassguytom]

I use a trout magnet when I have  impatient youngsters on the boat. Ultralight rod 2lb. Test and they are good to go. They catch everything. 

[fishwizzard]

A roadrunner with a little grub on it is a fun lure to cast and retrieve with.  The hooks on the small ones are soft enough that with like 8lb line you can bend them out of snags and keep on fishing them.  

[Todd2]

I'm a huge fan of  1/16 to 1/8 Crappie Slider jig heads. I fish grubs, tubes, and of course Slider paddletails. Comes through laydowns, brush piles, standing timber like a champ. Cast and slow retrieve works well for me.

[Derek1]

Thanks for all the info guys. I’m sure he’ll have allot of fun doing this. Good thing is he can catch all kids of stuff including all the little 5/6” bass swimming around also. 

[MickD]

As above , Beetle Spin is very good.  Another way to fish them that is very effective if they are in the top 6-7 feet of water are small Norman Crappie Crankbaits and Deep Tiny N's .  The gel coat crawdad finish is very good, but not the only one that takes not only crappies, but bluegills, perch, smallmouths, largemouths, and walleyes.  

 

Retrieve quite slowly, stopping now and then if a steady retrieve doesn't work.

 

The two lures are so similar that I really don't know what the differences are.  But they both are very good lures, easy and fun to fish when that bobber is getting boring.

[Bankbeater]

I like a white or silver 1/16 rooster tail. I’ve caught bluegill, crappie, and bass on those things. 

[Derek1]

Great info guys thank you. Gonna have to think how to st him up. I’ll probably give him his new stuff for Easter, so I have some time. Right now he’s 6 years old, not quite ready for a spinning real yet and he’s only 3’7” tall so he’s a little guy. I really just need a half decent small spincast reel and the right size rod for him. He gets frustrated because he can’t cast far like us, but he can’t handle much of a rod yet either. I’m hoping to make fishing a little more exciting until he gets to the point we’re he’s old enough and big enough for a decent spinning setup that will give him a variety of options. I still remember when my father gave me my first decent 5’6” spinning set up, it was like a whole new world of fishing opened up to me.   It was a ugly stick and I Sure was proud of it, and I caught a ton of fish on it until I was old enough to buy my own stuff. 

[Crestliner2008]

Get yourself a bunch of 1/16 oz. ball head jigs and some plastics to dress them with and they'll catch a boat load! And the kids love to select their own colors (which the fish don't mind one bit!).

 

Get some straight tailed plastics, like the Bobby Garland Baby Shads.

 

Some Charlie Brewer Slider Grubs.

 

Had some neat pics to show the results, but it says my files are too big! LOL! Funny....the other sites don't think so? Oh well, you get the picture.

 

 

[The Short Fisherman]

Mr crappie lightning shads on a jighead works well, and so do lake fork live baby shads

[Derek1]

Can anyone suggest a rod about 4’6” for the purpose above. I’ve been looking found a couple possibilities at Walmart and bps but nothing really jumps out at me. I’ve been thinking about the Ike dude youth combo but it’s 5’6” and the real is a little sloppy.  Found a couple ugly sticks that would be good but no trigger for the spin cast. Anyone use the zebco 33 micro. Any help would be appreciated, he’s small with small hands so it’s a tough spot between the little character combos and something bigger/better. 

[haggard]

For sunnies I had good luck on a trout magnet (with a small split shot weight about a foot up from the lure, to help casting).

 

[Junger]

On 1/17/2019 at 11:02 PM, Derek1 said:

Can anyone suggest a rod about 4’6” for the purpose above. I’ve been looking found a couple possibilities at Walmart and bps but nothing really jumps out at me. I’ve been thinking about the Ike dude youth combo but it’s 5’6” and the real is a little sloppy.  Found a couple ugly sticks that would be good but no trigger for the spin cast. Anyone use the zebco 33 micro. Any help would be appreciated, he’s small with small hands so it’s a tough spot between the little character combos and something bigger/better. 

I bought 2 versions the Shakespeare 4'6 micro spincaster (push button baitcaster style, and trigger under style) for my sons a couple years ago. They work fine, but they can't take a huge beating. My son ran one into the wall by accident and snapped the tip off, but Dick's replaced it. The guides can bend pretty easy. The size and weight is perfect for small kids though.

[scaleface]

Bluegills are a riot  to catch on a fly rod . Your son maybe too young to use one but if you had  a light weight model something he could flip out there 15 foot  , he will have a blast .