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Crappie crankbaits?

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  • Super User

Any recommendations? Looking to add something to the arsenal

  • Super User

   The only one I've used to any effect was the Mr. Crappie Slab Hammer, by Strike King. It wasn't great, just so-so. I've caught ten times as many crappie on small spoons, jigs and spinners, so I've never really gotten aggressive with cranks.             jj

  • Global Moderator

Only cranks I've had a lot of success with for crappie is shad raps or Bandits, trolling them. Suspending jerkbaits have been far more successful for crappie for me. 

  • Super User

I don’t fish for crappies all that often, but do nail them bass fishing on occasions on Shad raps, bandits and bombers also. 
 

If I were to fish for them I most likely use small grubs or tubes. 
 

Bandit and Strike King make a crappie series CB. 

Those little crappie-sized crank baits look like fun for ultralight rigs, so I bought some a few years ago.  I found that it can sometimes be frustrating to unhook and release fish from those tiny trebles.

 

I prefer single-hook presentations for crappies but have caught my largest ones on normal-sized crank baits...

  • Super User

Bandit, Strike King and Pico all make a line of popular cranks in crappie colors. They would be the best options, but crappie will bite a variety of cranks. Some of the more popular ones are smaller sized Shad Raps and Flicker Shads, Bandit 100, 200 and 300 cranks, or any other smaller sized mid depth crank (Arkie, Jenko, Mr. Crappie). I’ve actually caught quite a few on some of the larger DT series of baits.

14 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

Any recommendations? Looking to add something to the arsenal

Hands down, the Strike King Bitsy Minnow Crankbait. Crawfish color has always produced for me.

 

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Trolling a flicker shad is my Go-To.

  • Author
  • Super User
48 minutes ago, bassh8er said:

Trolling a flicker shad is my Go-To.

Just did that yesterday with a buddy and we did well. Funny that you brought up flicker shads.

Flicker shads and shad raps are my go to crappie crankbaits. They both come in a #4 and #5, which is my preferred crappie size. 

They can be deadly when the crappie are shallower.

  • 2 weeks later...

Flicker Shads are also my top producer.  If I'm trolling for crappies, I have one in the water all the time.  The Blue Tiger pattern is by far the best I've used so far.

My favorite of that size class are Rapala Ultralight Cranks. I don't think I've ever caught a crappie with one though, but they have caught plenty of sunfish and a handful of largemouths and dink channel cats. What hardbaits do catch crappie for me are 1/8 and 1/4oz X-Raps. This one was with a 1/4. 

 

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