Well I thought I would ask since I see all the really nice colors in jigs out there.. Do you think all the slight color changes really make a big difference when catching crappie? In clear water I use a white jig a lot. Some with a little pepper or glitter and catch fish on them. Maybe a subtle blue or silver mixed in. But all factory colors. If the water is a little stained I’ll dip the tail in chartreuse Dip and dye. I also will use a blue and white jig. Then I’ll go to a pink and chartreuse jig in more stained water. I’ll go back and forth between the pink/ chartreuse and white / chartreuse dipped tail jig. Catching fish on all of them. I have 4 rods on the deck all with a different jig and most of the time it really doesn’t matter which one I use. It seams to me it’s the presentation is more important. Sometimes they want it dead still. Other days I’ll do better dropping it in on them. Just wondering what everyone thought about it.

Bait size, presentation and profile probably account for 90% of the success or failure IMHO.

I feel like colors are often overhyped for crappie. As stated above, profile and presentation are way more important to me. I am not big on scent and feel that crappie are sight oriented and are more triggered to bite by sight. The only thing with colors I have noticed is that when you get on a bite and it dies, switching colors can get you a few more bites.

I am no expert but what I have found on the gin clear lake I fish (PK) is that crappie really look over a bait in clear water. When the water at PK is super clear down lake you can actually see them do this on a still day. Even when fishing with minnows or shad, quite often perch, which school with them under deep shady docks will take the bait while the crappie is looking at it. Because these perch are almost always present I end up using live minnows allot with a No. 8 snelled hook (Eagleclaw Lazersharp). I sometimes loose LM Bass and striper using this technique but it works well on the perch and crappie.

When I can get away from the perch, I find a jig or jig with minnow works better. Crappie are lazy and wont chase a lively minnow all the time. I find white jigs with a chartreuse flash works very well. The Big perch will sometimes take this and all of them will hit it but the No 4 size sickle hook it too big to catch them most of the time. These jigs have worked extremely well for me tipped with a minnow or shad at Texoma, Ray Roberts and Lake Fork. As for all the "wild" colors it may be in stained water this allows the fish to see them better. I also slowly reel the minnow or jig up after leaving it still for a time. I was fishing the railroad bridge at Buck creek once doing this and caught a limit, while a boat right next to me was skunked and left in disgust after fishing minnows on a slip bobber.

I like the Giltmore Tackle Fuzzy Bug in White



I will fish with anything that works and could care less what color it is. This is what has worked for me. Tipping a jig with a dead or dying shad or minnow seems to be the best bait.

Interesting read!

Like anything fishing a lot has to do with your personal experience, lake itself, water stain/clarity, and so forth.

Ray Roberts probably one of the best "Fishy" looking lakes I have ever fished and I honestly do not like fishing it. I would rather drive to Tawokini or Fork.
In my experience with Ray Roberts it is a "Minnow" lake and I have gotten more bites with a minnow than without. Sure I have caught them on jigs, but for me on Ray Roberts I get more with meat on the hook.
For others they absolutely love Ray Roberts. It is 30 minutes from my house and I would rather drive 90 minutes to Fork.

Leader or no Leader? I am sure there are many lakes that you do not need a leader. Plenty of folks on here say it does not matter. I can tell you on Tawokini a Leader DOES MATTER from my personal experience. There will be some that have a different opinion and disagree with me and that is fine. There were 3 of us on a boat and in 15 minutes with all 3 of us fishing the same jig, jig color, presentation with two of us having a leader and one tied directly to the braid and in 15 minutes the leaders caught fish and not a bite direct to braid. Tied a leader on his line and he got a bite the second it got down there. I use a Leader that is my personal preference.

The Great Ernest Patty once told me color does not matter...Until it does.

Everyone knows that White and Chartreuse and Black and Chartreuse will almost always work they will hit one or the other.

Fork- Cinnamon Body with a Royal Blue Tail or Gray Body with a Royal Blue Tail is a killer combo on that lake.

In Stained water I like using an orange head or body or black and orange.

The rest of the time if I am fishing plastic I prefer Pink heads even though I have plenty of plain lead heads that they hit just fine. I have had trips where the pink head made the difference.

On Tawokini Purple anything is like a Crappie Magnet on that lake.

I know a lake that a black body with red flakes was the only thing they would hit. We put every other color we had down there and they would not touch it.

Probably many times color, leader, minnow do not matter. Other times it does.

In late summer when they get really funky I have found the smaller bait works better.

When they are in transition many times they want the meat where the rest of the year a plain jig works just fine.

Sometimes they will hit it better with a nibble on the hook.

I broke down and finally bought some of that slab slobber spray and I absolutely love that stuff. I will spray some on my bait before I start fishing. I prefer the Garlic one. I still use Chartreuse Spike it as well. The slab slobber is like the Spike it without the color dye.

When I smell that Garlic from Slab Slobber or Spike it they both smell like Crappie Bites!!! Fish love that stuff.

When it comes to fishing your gear, baits, techniques, etc. are all personal choices. Fish whatever you are confident in doing and whatever puts slabs in your boat.

Tight Lines To All!!

Well it sounds like crappie are like most fish .. lol one day they will hit a bare hook and the next day it takes dynamite to get a few out of the lake. JK.. But I guess really like anything it has a lot to do with when, where, and how you fish and not so much the exact bait. Time on the water tells all. Thanks guys

I think profile and presentation are more important than color but that said color doesn’t matter until it does. Most recent example is 2 weeks ago at lake Washington. I prefished all week with a grey and black hand tie and they hit it all week and the day of the tourney big fish would just follow it and not bite it. Later on I changed to a chart and white and they choked it down!’ Why they bite one for 3 days and then nothing IDK but I sure wish I had changed jigs a little sooner that day!!

When the subject of jig color comes up there are two different situations... Those with live tech and those without..... This was one of the several topics we discussed in my last Live YouTube show where we had two live scope fishermen and two none users and the big difference in color is different between the two where with live scope you can get your jig inches from a fish and without live scope you may have to entice a fish from a couple to several feet....
Here's a link to the vid if any of you care to get some knowledge on this subject and several other crappie fishing related topics....
Crappie Fishing Live | Crappie Fishing Chat