| Over looked crappie baits | | | | to eat sunfish fry and in the early spring this is a |
| Can crappie be caught on natural crappie baits other | | | | great is one of the great crappie baits to use in |
| then minnows? Yes, but few anglers rigging live bait | | | | ponds. Head to the shallowest points in the pond you |
| for crappie ever switch from minnows to other | | | | are going to fish and start throwing your cast net to |
| enticing live baits because 90 percent of the time | | | | catch your sunfish fry. Only keep the 1 to 2 inch fry |
| there is no need to. Rosey reds and shiners are | | | | this is the size you will want to be rigging live bait for |
| enticing meals for crappies and it is hard for them to | | | | crappie. |
| pass up an easy meal, but what kind of other crappie | | | | Shad |
| baits can you use when crappie minnows are not | | | | If you fish for crappie where there is a healthy |
| producing? In my article today I have identified two | | | | population of shad, chances are these fish will end up |
| top producers. | | | | being about 50% of the crappies daily diet, and it is |
| Sunfish Fry | | | | important to use them in these locations when rigging |
| Young sunfish fry are a very overlooked bait | | | | live bait for crappie. Shad are on the underused list |
| probably bait probably because you will not find them | | | | because you cannot purchase them in bait shops, and |
| in a bait shop. Probably another reason is because it is | | | | because they do not keep well in a bait bucket. Many |
| not legal to fish with sunfish fry in all states, so make | | | | bait stores sell frozen shad as cutbait for catfish but |
| sure your state allows you to use bluegill fry as for | | | | shad do not keep well alive in captivity. Fortunately, if |
| crappie baits. Many small and large ponds hold good | | | | you can find the shad schools they are very easy to |
| populations of crappie so if you are not rigging live | | | | catch with a throw net and then you can use them |
| bait for crappie using sunfish fry you are missing out | | | | immediately after you catch them, use them as |
| on a excellent bait source to catch crappie in ponds. | | | | crappie baits by fishing them on the outer edges of |
| Sunfish fry will stay alive in your bait bucket longer | | | | the shad schools. Make sure you only keep shad 1 to |
| then most minnows so they are not only a excellent | | | | 3 inches in length that you capture with your throw |
| bait source but a very hardy one as well. You will | | | | net. |
| have to catch them yourself though. Big crappie love | | | | |