TELL ME HOW

Who's Tom?

Not sure about Tom, but I'd love to know how Ernest baits the crappie holes.

OK DIDNT CHECK MY SPELLING

Lets hear it, How do you bait a crappie hole?

I use crappie call.

lmao

I think more people go for building structure to fish around instead of baiting a spot to catch crappie.

May have good luck cruising some big lakes and looking for docks that have fish feeders on them and throwing a minner or jig near em

I think the correct answer here is you don't.
You can put out a nice place for them to congregate but that's it. If you build it they will come.
If you put any kind of bait you will get catfish.

All you have to do to have a good place to catch crappie is to build a good brushpile in the right place. NEVER put any kind of 'bait' on it unless you want to attract catfish or carp. You do not have to put anything on a brushpile to attract crappie. It never ceases to amaze me that people go to all the trouble of building a brushpile, and then screw it up be putting dog food, alfalfa, range cubes, etc on it. And yes, all those things will attract bait fish, but I promise that they'll attract all the trash fish you can catch also.

With a minner on a hook (that is if you're into BAIT)

Here's how I bait my Crappie holes.

Place a nice Willow top in about 15'-20' deep water on a big flat near nothing, with wind protection.

Buy some Alfalfa hay and a bag of hog pellets. Feed the cow the hay, feed the hog food to the hogs and go fish the brush pile.

Like Guy, I'm amazed at how many people think that the Crappie come to the Brushpile to eat. Sure they will eat some when it swims buy but they come to the brushpile to hang out, rest, whatever. When it's feeding time they chase whatever schools of bait that swim by or they go looking for shad.

Cover that the fish can relate to is the answer to good fishing, not bait that will attract mainly trash fish.

Just my opinion for what it's worth.

PS: The hay and hog food wasn't wasted, eat the cow and the hog.

Dominant Crappie Urine during pre-spawn then Crappie Estrous during the spawn.

I couldn’t resist!

Seriously, what about the rice in a paper bag trick from the Field and Stream a few months back? Has anyone tried it? I would like to hear.

I agree with cottonseed cake, soured wheat/milo and cubes on drawing in the carp, buffalo and catfish.

Around these parts, I have seen some of the better crappie fishermen, toss out live or dead shad and minnows either dead or alive around brushpiles when the bite gets real slow in the summer time. Often enough, it gets the crappie to activate if they are not in a feeding mood. Best have a cast net to catch some shad and ghost minnows to try that however, as the minnows are way to high to be wasting. It does work perhaps 50 percent of the time.

Also if and when it rains we often get mayfly hatches in the summer and they stick to cement or the sides of docks, if you will brush them down into the water, many times the crappie start feeding when otherwise the bite is slow. Worst part on that may be the perch are mixed in with the crappie.

No way do I use grain products though, to many rough fish are attracted.

Ron, Mud-Dabber

I have tried it twice on an active crappie BP at DeVine.
Only thing I saw was more bass, sandies and cats came in.

Mack, we also tried it at Lewisville with no such luck

Using the right type of brush and setting it in the right locations is the key to having a sucessful brush pile.

Willow is mostly all I use for brush piles it has proved to be the most productive. It is better to set it out while it has leaves on it.

Setting the brush along a ridge or drop off will also improve the productivity of the pile. Crappie travel down these ridges and you will find that you will get new fish on the piles more frequently. Sure you can just set out any type of brush out in any area and it may produce a few crappie but if you do it right you will have a long lasting productie brush pile.

Depths to set it out in are differant on some lakes but if you set it in 15 to 20 ft of water it should work for you.

True that crappie do not just come to brush piles to feed. But on the same hand they do feed on them. This is one of the main reasons that willow piles produce more fish. The leaves on the willows stay green for a few months and the leaves will bring in the bait fish which will help hold the crappie on the piles. They don't have to travel off the pile to feed.

I don't and will not set out any type of mill product. That will bring in the carp and cats. I will disagree with Ernest and Guy both on the use of alfalfa hay blocks. Is it necessary to use alfalfa hay? No. Can it help hold more crappie? Yes. Being raised on a dairy farm we always had alfalfa hay in the barn and through many years we set some out on brush piles for crappie. We never had any problems with carp or catfish on those piles. Alfalfa hay is a great draw for minnows.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Fish will hold more on areas that the food is available. This is why if you just set out brush with just limbs or condos the fish hold to more once it has time to collect algae. The fish don't feed on the algae they feed of the bait that the algae produces.

Each has his own opinion on this and this is mine.

some time ago i had an old timer tell me of the days when bait out crappie holes in the timber with range cubes, go back the next day and sack em up.. though i had heard of people doing such before i acted as though he were senile.. but guess who had to go put the theory to test at his tree'd out boat slip..ya that would be me... wish i had the $10 back i spent on cubes.

I was going to mention this as I too have that issue of F&S but I figured everyone would think I was crazy posting that up hehe

It's good that we don't all agree. Probably most of us are correct at times. Whatever you have confidence in and that works for you is right. More idea's the better.

Here ya go Crappie_hook

Just brush, they will come.

i was being very sarcastic in case you didnt notice the obvious..lol Just wanting to hear all the bs people would say...

willow tree