kelkay, I have always had real good luck the a "Creme" lit'l fishie shad 3" and rattle trap 3/4oz in diamond dust. This is what I throw from the bank. If I know the are hitting topwater I'll toss something the size of a super spook. I have always caught my biggest and most hybrids before daylight or no more than 1 hour after sunrise. We like it windy over here. If your not surfing the topwater plug back in it's not windy enough. 10mph-15mph blowing straight into the bank is almost perfect.

Ballon is used as a bobber and tied directly to the line (blown up just enough to floatit) and set to the depth you want. Keeps it out of the trash or at the depth the fish are. A big bobber would work too. I would have it out while I cast sassy shads, topwaters, and dynamite on the slow days .

I have a decent bobber I believe called a Launcher. It is awesome. I got a couple from Academy, they are the only place I know around here that sell them. Do you jig it or just let it sit there, or do you do a slow or a fast retrieve with it under the bobber? I will probably try with, and without the bobber to see what happens. I like the bobber and it casts a long distance.

Thanks Deckhand, I will have to look those up.

dynamite on slow days eh?

Took me a while to see what Diamond Dust looked like. I have that same color in a smaller size. If I get the Creme lure I would have to order them. I have something very similar to it. I get the idea though now of what all they seem to like. But if more replies come in, that is just the cherry on the top of the cake for me...hehe.

If nothing else is working for you put on a white crappie jig in the biggest size you can find. On days when nothing else will work I always catch whites and hybrids on crappie jigs; especially below dams. The only problem is they don't cast very far.

Sounds good Theendeavor, I do have crappie jigs for sure. But an all white one...I am not sure. I know I have like a red head with white body if I remember right...grub tail.

Kelkay,
Here's one for ya. Tie a Clouser about 18 inches above whatever you chunk and wind. Use a dropper loop to put it on your line. I know you can make a clouser if you can make that cool "Kelkay Krappy Kandy"...just do the same thing with a 1/0 or 2/0 hook for hybrids.
If you'd rather not bother with tying a bunch of stuff I strongly recommend "Tag-a-Longs" by Matthew Carroll (See the Jigum jigs link below.)
For the non-fly tiers, a clouser is a fly designed to look like a minnow. It's the fly version of the original style Rapala.

You know Fly, you are right, that would be a heck of a thing to do. I forgot about my crappie candy flies. They are too heavy for my 5 wt....but I sure could jig em or add them to a slab spoon...even under a float....excellent advice, thanks. :-)

Went to Academy today and saw that Strike King has a lure very dang close to the Humdinger. (even more so than a Little George...it is much closer than that) I was surprised a little. Kinda like Kastmaster has a certain design spoon and there are others who seem to have the exact same thing...but different name. Anyway just thought I would mention it.

Kelkay,

Check out the flies by night toppers. I have been absolutely wearing them out on them. www.flies-by-night.com These work GREAT!!!!

Yeah I saw them, good looking alright. I bet they do work great. I didn't see any prices though, in fact I am sure I could tie some like them.

Would you believe I got two of my new Humdingers stuck at the spillway and never even got to see how they worked? I am still fuming over it. I put two in one tackle box, two in another....I never lose lures hardly at all....lost them right off the bat, got them hung up. Then to top it off I hung up a spoon too. (brand new and it got stuck on my first cast) I did manage to catch about 8 small crappie. One was almost a keeper.....caught it on a marabou jig I made, caught a couple more on a fly I made called Crappie Candy. No big fish bit at all yesterday. Everyone was catching, but they were all small. I just knew I would get a white or a hybrid.......NOT.