What they generally call "Perch Minnows". (about 2 inches long) Fish as
light a line as possible. 4# is my favorite. Fish a light wire hook with
a single BB shot 8 inches above the hook. A sliding "Quill" bobber, or a
tiny sliding float with a bobber stop. I fish 4-10 feet deep off a steep
weedy dropoff. May favorite rod is a 13 foot ultralight graphite "noodle"
rod. A crappie will generally take the minnow and move off slowly without
sinking the float completely. Let him move off about 5 feet and gently let
the line go tight. They have fragile mouth structures--- be gentle. Use a
landing net, the weight of the larger ones will tear the hook free.

The second best crappie rig is using a tiny jig and minnow. Generally
fished slowly without a bobber, but a bobber can be effective here, too.
Use a slow steady retrieve. I prefer yellow jigs, other folks like pink,
white, or black to good effect. When fishing jigs on a dropoff, don't
forget to try straight lining, straight down to the bottom of the drop.
This is also a good tactic fishing over brush piles.

Crappie cover a lot of territory. While they will generally congregate near
structure (weeds, dropoffs, brush) , they also swim freely over deeper
water searching for prey. If you fish a second rod, place a bait (using the
same rig) 8-15 feet deep in deep water away from the dropoff. You will
often catch your largest fish on these tiny minnows in deep water.

This time of year fishing the weedy dropoffs is a good chance to nail some
large bluegills. Fish for them with crickets. (the same light bobber rig
is ideal) Fish the crickets 4-5 feet deep on 6 foot flats, or just a few
feet out from weed mats and dropoffs. Big bluegills will swim up and pick
up the cricket without moving. Signs of a bite may be a tiny rise in the
bobber (without tipping or sinking) when the big bull 'gill takes the weight
of the cricket off the bobber. Sometimes they take as the cricket falls,
and the bobber merely does not stand up straight as it normally does. A
slight tic to the hook is enough to set the hook; these big 'gills have
much tougher mouths than the crappies, and may spin your boat a few times
around the anchor line before you can bring them in. The big ones will be
11 inches or so, and 2 inches thick. A limit string of these guys will make
the folks at the boat ramp jealous, and if you locate them (they tend to
school by size) you can take them all in one spot.

Pepperoni

"Flora Beaudry" wrote in message
...
what is the best live bait for crappie?

thanx