Yes you will feel the bottom. The rod for my throwing lurers is a chaep shakesphere micro graphite thats 7ft long. The reel is a shimano some type just picked it up a few years ago when i needed one. Just remember on reels and light baits if you want them to go very far get a decent reel with a deep spool. Longer the rod equals more distance. I buy the roadrunners that has no bodies since i like to change colors on any given day and types of bodies as well. Plus they are a lot cheaper just buying the heads. I can use the same head all day long if i want to. I use the 1/8oz even though i think its a bit heavy but i like the size of the blade putting out the vibrations in the muddier water and windy days better then the smaller blade on the 1/16oz.
Lately I have been using a double jig set up with the egg shape type smalll float for that type of fishing since they are agressive this time of the year and gives it more weight to get it out there further. Yesterday they took the bobber under no problem seeing or feeling the bite with that rig. Also i keep my baits about 6-10 inches apart so if im fishing a slope or edge of a drop off if it gets shallower or a hump somewhere even if the bottom jig is dragging the bottom the top jig is still above the bottom to catch fish. Most fish do come on the bottom jig thou.
Any questions feel free to ask

can you see the lake from where you park your car?

lol yep sure can

i'll take 2 of those.

does it seem to matter on the time of day?

not really if they are on beds doesnt matter what time it is, if they are staging to come in i would say yes. Ive had more luck between 2-5 myself but i think towards the end of the day they are coming in closer, then right after the sun comes up it hasnt had enough time to warm the water up yet, once it gets to the magic temp then it wont matter as much. Other people may disagree but that has been my experience in crappie fishing in the past wiether its flooded water, or low water like it is now.

This is one of the more informative threads I have read on this forum. You are to be congratulated, Mark, and those of us who are just beginning to learn crappie fishing owe you a huge thanks!

Do you prefer Roadrunners over Stump Jumpers?

Great stuff Mark. As a real noob when it comes to Crappie fishing, this is really helpful information.

I've often thought that if I concentrated on say 5 or so basic color jigs that I could do just fine vs. trying to pickup every color under the sun, and then as DunkyDude pointed out, trying to present them with a smorgasborg. You confirmed what I thought was the case.

One question on the jig and bobber approach. Are you twitching it periodically, or reeling a few feet and letting it sit, then repeat or are you experimenting with this too? I take it that you don't fish the jig and bobber like you would if you were fishing with a minnow.

The other question is that I always hear people say to look for button willow and then work the cover. Sounds like you're saying that is not necessarily the case and that the key is finding the right bottom. I've heard that Crappie don't like a soft/muddy bottom and will spawn on a sandy/firm or gravel bottom. So when you're not wade fishing, how do you find that? The lake I fish (Lake Lewisville) isn't clear, so unless I'm wading, I'm not sure what the best method would be for finding productive water.

Highcountry never fished with the stumpjumpers myself so cant comment on them. I think the main thing is the size,weight and the blade turns putting out a vibration in muddy water and also in windy conditions helps with the feel especially the weight
Kittywhomper, As far as appproach on jig/bobber i experiment at times i twitch and let sit for a dew seconds at times move a cpl feet let it set maybe pop it other times reel it real slow with no action and at times with action, the fish will let you kow how they prefer it. As afr as the button willows its cover so fish will relate to it but like this year when the water is low and not much cover the fish will still spawn but you just have to find them. On the hard bottoms when wading if you have you will have noticed depth changes and small depressions when wading, in those areas is enough for a fish to spawn in. Just like other fish at times they will roam yes cover is best but at times you have to search for them. As far as out of a boat you can watch the bottom line on a graph and if you can read it, it will tell you if its a hard or soft bottom. If the bottom line in real thin then its a hard bottom, if the bottom line is real thick its softer. The sonar goes as far as it can into the bottom for the return echo and thats why either thin or thick line at the bottom of the screen. If no graph and in shallow water you can also have a stick or anything you can stick in the water to hit bottom with to tell as well. Also just causee one part of the cove is soft doesnt mean the whole thing is. With the way tx lakes are at the bank SOMETIMES will be soft but go out 1-50ft it will turn hard and the reason i believe is low water conditions things grow water comes back up it dies and falls to the bottom same as when a lake starts getting silted in from low water conditions for so long. Also the line where it goes from soft to hard bottom can be a good place to catch spawning fish as well. Yesterday i had to wade to the middle of the cove to catch the fish that i caught. I knew it was a hard bottom but didnt catch much in the past month there but now they are hanging there on a 1 ft drop from 2-3ft of water.
Dont get into thinking like many talk about 1ft is spawning depth is going to be determined by water clarity in the lake you fish. I have caught them off of 175 at cedar creek literally at my ft in knee deep of water and other lakes at 8ft down but very clear water. The lake i fish has some clarity to it about 6-12 inches down so i bilieve thats why they are in 2-4ft to spawn.
As afr as colors basic colors work for me but im sure others they like having a million different colors in case of what? I like the basic colors and natural colors to fish with, some light and dark colors is all thats really needed to me. Some of the colors i think just catch more people then they do fish IMO lol. Plus when wading its easier to carry just some basic colors instead of trying to carry all the colors i have. I have around 40 colors myself and different body styles as well but rarely use them and ive had them a long time.
Take care and hope i answered your questions

Awesome post mark!! thanks for sharing your knowledge with us newbies!

I feel my belly gettin fuller just reading your posts. Thanks.

Great posts and thanks a lot for the sharing. Can you tell us more on how to use roadrunner?
I have white, chartuse, red roadrunners, but I couldn't get more fish with them compared to normal jigs. So I guess I didn't use it right. What I tried is to either retrieve it back steadily or to hop it back along the bottom like a normal jig. I tried to put grubs or tubes to it. One thing I did notice is that bigger crappie were caught by roadrunner.

i change up the retrieve to finSo far ive mainly just been casting and reeling back slowly, when it start hitting the bottom raise the rod tip to get it up off the bottom and at times give the rod tip a twitch while retrieving it. I like using them as a search bait in open water and can cover a lot of water fast with them. When the bite slows in the area then i will try the jig/bobber for the less active fish. You can also use different size roadrunners as well. I like the 1/8oz cause the size of the blade on it but would rather have a 1/16oz for fishing shallower water but the blade isnt as big to give off the vibration. But you would need a calm day then i would use the 1/16oz version. While its been windy the 1/8oc does better on being able to control it better. The roadrunners i use mainly are the ones you can buy in packs that are just the heads and i get them from walmart, that way im not restricted to a certain color only the head color. Then i use a 2 inch tube body on the roadrunner so i can change colors real quick. Make sure you get the heads if you buy them with the color to hold the tube on thou, some are collarlesss that they wont hold a tube on very well unless you are using solid type body tubes

Excellent Mark. Yep, you definitely answered my questions. Now I just need to take that information and get out there and work it.

Thanks again!

Thank you so much for the generous sharing! I'll try out these tips next time and hopefully gain more confidence on this lure and more fish:)