thermocline crappie lures

Hi all, I have been looking at getting some Lil'Fry's or slab stingers but don't know which colors are generally good producers. If you were going to buy 5 or 6 different colors for fishing Cooper, Coffee Mill, Pat Mayse and Hugo, what would be your choices and what weight jig head would you generally use?

Black Emerald shiner has been HOT lately,
The Go-To (White/Chart) is always a good choice,
Blue Glo-Treuse
Night Prowler
Natural Shad
Strawberry Seed Banana
Ice Shad
Silver Flash Chart
Go-To Greenie
OK, I'm getting carried away - LOL
Zombie Juice is another of my Fav's

Does it matter whether they are lil'fry's or slab stingers and what weight jig would you recommend?

If Thermocline Lures are producing "BIG HAWWWG" crappie, I may have to get a few packs to try out!! I'm a "constant pursuit outfitter junky" myself but don't mind trying new lures especially if they produce nice slabs! What size is the best sellers for the "Fry" type lures??

I like both styles, but the Lil' Frys are great when the fish are feeding on small fry or being finicky.
Depth will dictate jig weight, this time of year I use a 1/16 or a 1/32 if the wind is not blowing bad to get the slow rate of fall which is when I pick up a lot of strikes.
Some use a 1/8 year round, but I like to slowly pull my jig up through the fish with my free hand on the line above the reel pulling the line out to the side, then let go and let it fall back down. Most times the you'll see the line jump a little or it will just quit falling before all the slack is out - SET THE HOOK!
I'd use a #4 sickle hook for both those 2 body styles.

I'm no master, that's just how I like to fish.

Ghostrider, "the pattern is full"



1/8 or 1/16th jig head depending on how deep. I stopped by there a few weeks ago. They have some really good new jig heads.

You have two good choices on bait types.
I also really like the slab bug for a small presentation with a LOT of action from the legs. I've caught them on l'il frys too...
Here's a few colors and other folks can chime in with their favorites:

BES - Can't go wrong with Black Emerald Shiner
Billy's backup - bright chartreuse tail
Any of the blue or black & chartreuse


Here's a 2 pound crappie that came off the slab bug



They choke it -



I also like this color, but I'm not sure what it's called.
I think maybe sapphire something... Also call Belinda and Todd and ask what colors they recommend that have been hot lately on your lakes. There are some additional new hot colors not on the website yet.

Oops, I had to get back to work, so others posted before me.. lol

Yep, strawberry seed banana is very bright! for our dingy and flooded water
I just got some and looking forward to getting the thump
Good color

I agree on the slab bug doing it's job. I have been tied up and haven't had a chance to go in a month so I wouldn't want to say what they are biting right now but the black chartreuse slab bug will be on the end of one of my rods all of next week.

Lil' Frys as I stated are my go to bait when the fish are feeding on small fry or being tight lipped, the Mr. Fry is the style I prefer, but during the winter or if I'm after big fish , Super Fry will be getting wet.

Forgive my ignorance but what are the Mr. fry and Super Fry? All I see on your website are Lil'Fry, Slab Stingers and Slab Bugs.

That's good.

The blue and or white is the color on lakes you fish and 1/16th is good on any lake. When possible 1/32 will slow it down some. I have been making my own hand tied jigs for 55 years but the last 2 weeks and looks like near future its been all plastic baits. There is more than a dozen makers of those and they are all good, just who has the color you want. Good luck

On the website, click "Crappie Lures"....all are listed under the drop down that will come up.

My favorites:
Black Emerald Shiner
East TX Killer
Ice Shad
Silver Flash Chart
I generally fish the Mr Fry except in July Aug and I'll fish the Lil Fry.
When you get to Thermocline Lures, click the Online Store and then look under crappie lures for the drop box.

When I mentioned "any of the blue" I remembered the color when I tied it on yesterday and caught this one.
I think its called 'copperhead blue'. It works too.
You can barely see it in the pict, but its back is a copperhead color. Maybe the crappie don't like snakes, so they smack it.
Belinda or Todd will know the color, I might be getting it wrong. lol

Here's a few from this morning caught on black emerald shiner:

All the colors stated above are my favorite colors as well and Thermocline are the first baits to get tied on my rods. Get you a few in each color you think will work and get them wet and you won't be disappointed. Nice people to do business with as well.

Shoot, I placed an order on Saturday and Todd brought them out to the lake for me. Talk about Customer Service!!!! Placed another order yesterday because they wore out the Lil Fry in Black Emerald Shiner on Sunday.



Had many more throwbacks.

Thanks all.

The construction of these lures is AMAZING. They are super tough. I just got a couple packs the other day and they just won't quit. Most of my other jigs will last a few fish. I have already caught over 20 crappie on my emerald shiners and they are still on my line still look brand new. I feel like the only way I will need to buy more is when I get hung up and have to break my lines through a whole pack. The crappie love them too. I mean LOVE THEM. I haven't had one not slam it with a passion caught a 13 incher I thought was gonna rip my pole out of my hand. So far I am impressed with them. One more thing the tails on this things are absolutely ridiculous. You can't hold them still enough to stop that tail from moving.

Does anyone have experience with the "Fort Knox" slab bug? The color caught my eye so I ordered a pack among some others but have not seen any reports on them. I was thinking it might be good under the green LED lights at night?

I caught fish on Lake Cypress Springs the 1st time I fished that color, but have only used it a couple of times since on cloudy days and it caught fish then.
It's being phased out as it isn't selling as well as others.
The Silver Flash has been good under green led lights.


Please let me know how the Fort Knox works for you.

These baits are awesome. I have been fishing these baits for about the past 6 months, and have not picked up another brand since. Not to mention the customer service is 2nd to none, went by there on Sunday and re stocked. Todd was very helpful, not only on colors that have been producing fish, but just crappie fishing in general. Thanks again Todd.

I'm new to crappie jig fishing, I just got my order in and I'm chompin at the bit to wet my Mr fry and super frys. Iwill be getting some lil frys too.

I will post a report on the fort Knox after giving them a go. Hopefully it will be productive!
Also ordered some of those black emerald shiners to use as a back up:)

When y'all are using the 1/16th or 1/32nd oz. jig head for the slow fall, are you using a single jig or are y'all using a double jig set up? Just since this late fall, I started using a double jig most of the time and have had good success even through the summer. But I've been using an 1/8th on the top jig and a 1/4th oz. head on the bottom jig. I see a lot of people on TFF prefer the lighter jig heads. Do most use the lighter jig heads year round or mostly when the bite is not as aggressive and they want a slower fall of the jig?

I prefer tandem jigs of different colors till I find what they want, then I'll switch to the color they are biting.

I like using 1/16 heads to get the bait down, but sometimes the fall is what triggers the bite.

In the winter in deep water, I'll use 1/4 heads.

Gman

I use the light jig head when the fish get finicky and bite slow; usually late July thru Aug. Otherwise, it's 1/8 oz. Rarely use tandem rig, but if I do it's 1/8 and 1/16 or two 1/16ths. I'll use 1/4 if fishing 30+ ft.