Crappie Plastics

By: Mark Romanack

Big Bite Baits is just one of many companies that produce excellent soft plastics designed for catching crappie north, south, east and west. Kits like these are a great way to get started into crappie fishing for a modest investment.

​ Time once was, the only consistent way of catching a crappie involved using live bait. It’s hard to imagine exactly how many crappie have fallen victim to a live minnow, but it’s safe to say the minnows have been the “go to” bait for crappie fishing my entire life.

​ Soft plastic lures aren’t exactly new, but the soft plastics produced these days are head and shoulders better than those of yesteryear. What makes modern plastics better are the designs that replicate common forage species. Soft plastics are also softer than ever before making them feel like food when a fish bites and they also generate more action. And don’t forget the importance of impregnating scent into soft plastics. Scent makes plastics even more difficult for fish to discern from real food and encourages them to strike harder and with more determination.

​We can thank the bass fishing industry for pushing the development of soft plastics steadily up the evolutionary trail. Naturally, technology that benefits bass fishing is quickly applied to other fishing interests. Crappie fishing has fallen right in line with this agenda. Because bass and crappie fishing both have their roots in the south, it’s no surprise that crappie have become the “table fish” niche that perch and walleye fill up here in the Great White North.

​While the nation’s top crappie fisheries are primarily found south of the Mason Dixon Line, the northern states and even Ontario have some excellent crappie fishing destinations. Still it’s hard to ignore what the south offers for crappie fishing opportunities. If you want to learn more about the crappie fishing game, the south is the place to do it.

The author’s annual trip to Florida has taught him much about crappie and how best to catch them. Soft plastics dominate the crappie fishing scene much like plastics have stolen the show with bass anglers. 

​For several years I’ve been making an annual crappie fishing trip to Florida. In part this annual pilgrimage is about escaping the Michigan winter, but it’s also about learning a thing or two about catching and cooking crappie.

​Watching how guys in the south attack crappie fishing is the fast track to success. One glance at their boats and gear and it’s plain to see crappie fishermen are every bit as passionate about catching crappie as a bass angler is about catching a bucket mouth. Long longing, spider rigging, dock skipping and cork fishing the pads and brush piles are just a few of the techniques crappie fishermen use to fill the live well and put food on the table. All of these tactics depend heavily on soft plastic lures, many of which were designed especially to catch slab crappie.

​Every year as my knowledge of crappie fishing grows, the selection of soft plastics in the boat keeps pace. Action-tail grubs, split-tail minnows, mini shad paddle-tails, tube-baits and a host of spikes and other plastics designed for skipping docks come to mind.

Crappie are beautiful fish, abundant in many waters and they are excellent table fare. It’s no surprise that crappie are the “table fish” of the south much like perch and walleye fill that niche up here in the north country.

​Just like bass fishing, there is a crappie soft plastic bait designed for literally every one of the popular presentations used to catch crappie. So does this mean the era of the live minnow is over. Certainly not. When fishing gets tough, nothing beats a lively minnow for triggering strikes. That goes double for fishing in cold water and triple for ice fishing.

​The moral of this story is simple. If you haven’t looked closely at the soft plastic lures made especially with crappie in mind, it’s time to take that step. Give soft plastics a try and I’m confident in no time, soft plastics will change the way you fish for crappie.