i can see using minnows while sitting back drinking a beer along the bank, but i see people working areas hard using minnows. in my experience if they hit minnows , they hit a jig just the same. the expense and time involved to rebait seems unneccesary imho. am i missing something? do the big ones like minnows? cause if they do, im ready to switch friscofishin

I've slung about a gazillion minnows the last couple years trying to catch crappie. Those lake level risings? That ain't rain...thats me pouring them back into the lake after another unproductive minnow trip. Last weekend I finally use a jig and BAM...caught a crappie. Then the skeeters ran me off and I ain't had time to get back out there.
Frisco...from the looks of that tub 'o fish in your previous post you don't need to change nuthin' !!
I know it's your secret hole, but was it real shallow?

the key is to find them shallow next to deeper water and structure i think

Why ask why ? My potna and I caught 34 Sat using minnows thats why....but you do what you do the best you can do!!!
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98% of the crappie I caught last year were on a jig with a minnow lip hooked on it. Don"t ask me why I just know this is what worked for me.

I have also found I tend to wonder what color jig head / body combo to use.....most of my selections have been wrong color body or right body wrong head, or wrong head right body....too many choices for me....a minnow is a natural bait and no need to try and guess the right combo.
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Ya'll need to talk to Guy Skinner about jigs. He fishes nothing but jigs and produces more crappie than anyone else I have known. And he catches em year round!

He is: aguyintx I think.

as far as color , i use white in clear water and dark (blk/chart.) in stained, dark water. i usually use curly tails for the moving action.

I can fish 4 poles with minnows at one time where with a jig you can only fish one. Simple numbers.
It's also easier to locate what depth of water the fish are in. Jigs or Minnows, its whatever you feel confident with. I've caught just as many crappie on jigs as I have minnows. The other night, the bite was so light, that I had to resort to jigs. The fish will tell you what they want.

Joseph

My dad and I went to Lewisville saturday and we were both using minnows and jigs he caught 8 on the minnows. I didn't catch any on minnows but I caught 3 on a blue and white jig. I was fishing with a minnow at the same brush pile I was using the jig and at the same depth. That's the first time I've really tried to use jigs, I think I like fishing with the jigs better but I'll just use both and let them choose what they want.

Where do you buy minnow lips?

I love fishing for spawning crappie with a minnow & slip bobber. i can put it in almost as tight of cover as I can a jig. Theres not much more exciting than watching that cork go under..

jthomas, tie a jig on to half of the poles you have in the water and let them just sit there at the depth you are fishing. I did. I caught just as many on jigs as I did on the minnows. Now I don't spend the time and money. Sometimes jigs won't work and minnows will. Sometimes its the other way around. Everytime I have put them up against each other, I can't tell a difference in the effectiveness, just in the convenience. Now I use jigs...