Hey guys, I'm a diehard bass fisherman but have always liked crappie fishin, drownin minnows usually, fixin to buy a house on a lake and want to get serious about crappie fishin, I have a boat, so I was wandering what to look for stucture or location wise this spring. I would like to concentrate on jigs and roadrunners, what rod,reel, line etc. would ya'll recommend to get started. I'm not sure what is the best size jig to start with or color or manufacturer etc. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again and have a good one.

I'm new to it as well, but have been given some good advice by folks here:

> 8 foot Pro Angler crappie rod.
> 6 lb. line (braid, perhaps bonehead or Sufix)
> ultralight spinning reel (I have a Pflueger President 6920)
> I am using 1/8-1/16 jigs (store bought roadrunners, and am looking to add hand-ties this Spring).
> jigs with some chartreuse in the body or tail is good. Black body/chartreuse tail, for example. Hard to say one specific color works in all situations. That's what I'm trying to learn. Lots of folks here on this forum have been pretty helpful in giving advice and sharing their tips with me. I'm sure they'll chime in soon enough.

Thanks for the reply, Scott. Where did you get your rod and why do you use braid, it's not too heavy for light jigs?

You get the rods at the website listed below. Free shipping on crappie rods.

http://proanglertackle.com/CrappieRods.htm

Looks like Scott got you off to a good start. Being a bass fisherman the transition won't be too hard. Crappie are predators like bass only on a smaller scale. A lot of crappie fishermen use braid because the fish hang out in the brush and you will get hung up several times a day. The braided line will save you lots of jigs. Good luck with your new addiction. (I'm a converted bass fisherman too, but I'm still prone to toss a Senko if the crappie aren't biting)

I always have a few packs of Senkos on hand to weightless Texas Rig if the crappie aren't biting.

Also, if you are jig fishing brush straight down and get hung up, use an old spark plug attached to a swivel snap and drop it down your line and shake your rod a little. Will usually unhook you pretty well, and you'll save a lot of jigs this way. Learned that here from a fellow TFF member. Works great!

Scott in Flower Mound

Is there a advantage to using a 8 ft rod, does it help cast the lighter jigs? Is six lb test good for light jigs, do you use a fluoro leader? I am familiar with the president spinning reel, I use a bigger version for my shaky head fishing, they are great reels. Sorry for all the questions, just want to get started right. I appreciate all the help.

I use a baitcaster on an 8ft pro angler with 20lb braid. Sickle hook jigs with pearltreuse slab bandit jigs (Crazy Angler Tackle) and crappie nibbles.

8fter will be for vertical jigging.

This is my idea of a crappie starter kit...

Jig heads:
http://stores.crazyanglertackle.com/new-category/

Jig bodies:

http://stores.crazyanglertackle.com/slab-bandits-1/

Rod:
http://www.proanglertackle.com/CrappieRods.htm

Line (couldn't get their braid to show on website. This is good mono)

http://www.boneheadtackle.com/6lb-Hi-Viz-Superior-Mono-Line_p_97.html

Hi Greg R, welcome to the world of crappie fishing!!
There is a ton of useful information on this forum and some of the best crappie anglers in the state are on here some times.

My tip for you is to get you a jar of Berkley Crappie Nibbles aka "niblets" - I like the chartreuse color.
When the bite is slow, put one of these on your jig hook and they will help you catch a few more. When the bite is hot you don't need them. I've even seen improvement to live minnows at certain times by adding a nibble after hooking on the minnow.

If you're a tight wad like me, you can cut them in half and they work just fine. Also helps to take a new jar and dump them all out on a paper plate to air dry for about 30 minutes then put back in the jar. That toughens them up and they stay on the hook longer. I've caught up to 3 fish on one nibble after drying them out a little.

With a nibble, they will also usually take the jig a little deeper in their mouth when they suck the jig in. I think they bite it more aggressively but not sure - whatever the reason it will hook them a little farther back and often right in the solid part of the roof of their mouth when using one.
That can help on those days when they're barely being hooked in the top lip and you are losing a lot pulling off when you try to lift them out of the water.

Some folks don't think the nibbles make any difference but I sure do. I've proved it to myself many times by trying with and without on exact same jig dropped to exact same spot 5-10 minutes apart. Some things - if you're pretty sure they don't work, guess what? They won't work for you! Now these won't make any difference when you're fishing where there aren't any crappie or on those days when they have lockjaw. But give them a fair try sometime when the bite is slow and make up your own mind.

Good fishing to you.

Nibbles do work. Just don't call them crappie nipples like my father in law does!

If you are gearing up for the spring I would go with a 10ft bonehead rod. 12lb bonehead braid. 1/8oz sickle hook jig head painted pink. And constantpursuitoutfitters frog bait in pink. I would fish anything from 6ft to 1ft of water vertical jigging in any cover you can find. Good luck!! I like pink in the spring. As you can tell. Constantpursuitoutfitters has the best baits on the market in my opinion. You can get the pink jig heads there as well.

Welcome, we are glad to have you here. Get little to start with as for supply's as a trip or two you will see what works in your lakes and what you want to use.