Jigs rigged with soft plastics is one of the most popular ways to target crappie. There are so many different types of soft plastic baits that anglers use for crappie. Whether you are using curly tail grubs, spear tails, shad-style baits or others, soft plastics will put a lot of crappie in the boat.
Popular Soft Baits
Small curly tail grubs in the 1″ to 3″ range work well for crappie. A simple jighead is the most common way to rig a curly tail grub for crappie, however, a drop shot rig can also be effective. You can swim the curly tail grubs, hop them along the bottom or vertical jig with them. Most crappie anglers will swim a jig and curly tail grub with a slow and steady retrieve. Using the countdown method, they can cover a variety of depths to find where the active crappie are feeding. Swimming a curly tail grub is also a very effective way to cover more water quickly in search for crappie in the shallows during the spring spawn.
Paddle tails or spear tails are very popular baits for crappie fishing. They look good on a jighead and a drop shot rig. Fish them with a jigging motion or swim them slowly and you can do well with crappie.
The shad or stinger tails are a popular minnow style bait that many crappie anglers use to load their livewell with. It imitates a small minnow. Jig it on a jighead or a drop shot rig and you will catch some crappie.
Split tails are great baits for crappie. There are many different types of these on the market. The split tails gives the bait some action. Work these with a jigging motion on a jighead or drop shot rig and you’ll put some crappie in the boat.
There are a lot of manufacturers that make some awesome looking swimbaits for panfish. These smaller swimbaits work great for crappie. You may have to go a little heavier with the jighead to take advantage of the kicking action from their tails. You want the bait to swim down because you will get a lot of bites as you are waiting for your bait to get down to the desired depth before retrieving. A slow and steady swimming motion will get you a lot of bites.
There are many different types of swimming tails that are added to a variety of soft plastic baits. Curly tail grubs are still the top choice for swimming a grub style bait for crappie, but there are a lot of other options if you want a bait with a swimming tail action.
Tubes are one of the better soft plastic baits for targeting crappie. They are a great action bait and they catch big fish too. Jig them or swim them with a slow and steady retrieve and you will catch crappie.
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