ok im trying to break the 2 dollar a dozen habit but just cant seem to catch em as well on jigs as i do on minnows. What do i use? plastic tube jigs or tied jigs??

The reason you catch more on minnows is probably because you have more confidence in them. All jigs will catch fish if you present them right and you work them with confidence. I was stuck on minnows too, but when I got the confidence in jigs I caught more fish with them. Hope this helps.

I use plastics and hand tied jigs. I only buy minnows for tournaments and only put them on the hook when I don't get any bites on jigs. Needless to say I haven't used them in a while. My kids like feeding the local ponds with them though.

any certain brand jigs to use??

Good hand tied jigs:

CV's (SlabmeSilly's) jigs
Jigum Jigs
www.jigumjigs.com
Thumpit Jigs
www.thumpitjigs.com

Good Plastic jigs:

Rocky Top jigs
www.finnytribe.com
Panfish Assassins
Yum 2 inch Beavertails
www.lurenet.com

For me: 1.5 inch white or chartruce tube jigs on a 1/32 oz jig hook and a #3 split shot 10 inches up the line and a crappie nibble accounted for 1178 crappie falling into my livewell last year. And not even one minnow was harmed in the making of this fact.

I use the Rocky Tops as said above and hollowed plastic tube jigs from a company who for the life of me I can�t remember what the name is. Lately, I have been using the great jigs made by SlabmeSilly here on the forum and am now tying my own for some fun. In the end, I fish with whatever I have on hand or feel like fishing with that day. I look at the level of water clarity that I am working with and the style of fishing I am doing.

IMHO, it really doesn�t make a whole heck of a lot of difference as long as you have confidence in what you are using and present the jig how the fish are wanting it. Sometimes they just want it to sit there, some days they will only bite a falling one or one that is being lifted, sometimes the Wally Wiggle works wonders. It�s all in how you jig it. Like others have said, it�s not the jigs it�s the jigger. Colors do sometimes make a difference but the main thing is make sure whatever it is you are using has a really sharp hook.

Rocky Tops and Panfish Assassins for plastics.

Jigum's for hand tied.

Walk away from the minnows and committ to jig fishing and I doubt you'll look back after awhile.

You probably think that minnows give you and "edge"...they don't.
I think Crappie Nibbles give me an "edge"....they do!

This is my opinion and I am the worlds formost expert on my opinion.

Day in and Day out it's shad first then its minnows and then jigs.

Some days it's not that way - but 90% of the time that is just what produces the best. I have to produce - I'm a guide and I want my folks to catch the most that they can everyday.

If we are using jigs - What works best? - that changes daily.

I really like to have 3 or 4 folks in the boat all starting with different colors red & white, Blue & white, chartruce ect.... then as we see what happens and what is working best we all switch over to that color combination for that particular day, it changes over night what might work best on the jigs.

mark , how do you keep the shad alive ?

Im not a BAD jig fisherman per say but, the little lady outfishes me 70% of the time on minners! I usually get the first 2 or 3 then bam.

I agree, as a recently converted jig fisherman. The minnow vs. jig will soon turn into nibble vs. no nibble. You'll start losing confidence without the nibble on there!

i never use nibbles maybe i need to ? what color?

I've been using chartreuse, and they work really well! I just bought white because a lot of guys on here swear by it.