Whats in your tackle box?

[CrappieJohn]

As we watch the ice start to fall apart, many of us are passing time by doing some catch-up work regarding what to put in our tackle arsenals. This gets to be an annual thing and I have long since put the catalogs away and stopped bumping my nose waiting for Fleet Farm or Gander Mountain to open their doors just so I can get in to spend money.

There are some interesting toys out there again this year. Some I have already mentioned elsewhere in this forum. For those who are just starting to feel their way around here at FM, I am talking plastics. To all though, I will help get things along here by saying..."If you don't fish plastic, you should".

A couple of the different units I've seen now are found at Cabelas. One is a "lure in a tube" type of bait called a pegleg. I ordered several different colors of these and find them intersesting, but I don't know if I am totally sold on the button tail end. Open water will tell the tale on this animal. Along with Cabelas other lure of interest "The Tiny Tot", Jr's has one of similar design Both have very fine profiles and both have a modified paddle tail shaped more on the order of a spade tail. The JR's bait (they refer to it as their "Paddletail") and the "tot" I have used in open water throughout the winter months on crappies and have found both to be excellent at catching fish. Both are nice to have around when downsizing becomes essential.

Culprit Paddletails are the standard for me anymore. They fit basically every niche very nicely. They are soft and they are durable and they catch fish like there is no tomorrow. I have narrowed dow my color preferences in these baits to about five. These little gems come in at 1.75 inches in length with a sexy waistline. This is all around the BEST lure I have ever fished for crappies!

A step up the profile ladder but still in the paddletail division we will find the Brewer Crappie Sliders. These will measure up at 2" but are a bit thick thru the middle. Still, aggressive fish will smoke these baits. They too come in a broad range of colors, but most are eye catchers for the fishermen.

Falls Baits make what is called the Flicktail. They come in four sizes and I find favor in the second to the smalles. And in the pink. These little guys can be deadly at times for fairly shallow water panfish and crappies.

The tubes and stingers made by Southern Pro are still a good standby bait and I will go to these when the fish fall off the bite on paddletails. As a matter of fact, this is the first direction I will go. The tubes in the 1.5 inch are best in my book, providing the best action in tube land and the sliders are the ticket when cold fronts come to visit and the fish are in tight cover. The panfish version of this slider is far more durable than the cousin lure, the "Crappie Slider". Sliders seem to have a limited window of use, but they more than get the job done when they are called for.

We have seen several references in the ice season where plastics designed to finesse tight lipped pannies get some use. Do not think that they haven't a place in the open water arena. Fished on a 1/32 to even a 1/80th ounce jig and under a very small float these little guys can be tough bite terrors. Custom Jigs and Spins has a n assortment of the finesse plastics as does Techniglo products. All of these have a place in the summer box.

Many designs of the minnow plastics are available from Plain Jane thumper tailed bodies to streamlined and scented models that quiver just by breathing on them. When the bite heats up and casting a jig and retrieving it are in order the minnows can be regular assassins. The PowerBait minnow inthe 2" panfish version are favored by many who moderate in this forum. Stanley has come out with a thumper tailed minnow in 1.5 an 2" models. The Mr. Twister Pogo type body, another thumper tail type, along with the Stanley will make for excellent catching in dark and/or stained waters when the fish need to rely on more than visual effects to eat. The Stanley products are not a hyper bulky product and are much less imposing in body profile that the Pogo type lures, but both have their spots in the ars

[Sportland_Bait]

Great post Tom. All great lures, and they all catch fish. My favorite crappie tail is the 2 inch Puddle Jumper. I've been using them for about 10 years and I can honestly say they are tough to beat. Tom email me your mailing address, I'll get a few in the mail for you to try. You will be impressed.

Jason Erlandson

[Bobb-o]

tom, you mention the button tails on the lure in a tube, i have been using a jig for years called the cubby mini-mite jig in a tube. The trick to using it is to try and hold it as still as possible and the tail will just twitch, it works really well when the crappies are neutral.

[bmc]

My go to lure is a 1/32 oz marabou jig. The body is chenille wrapped around the hook shank and the tail is marabou. I'm not even sure of the name of these jigs, but they're usually sold 12 on a card. I fish them with or without bait and they are crappie killers!!! I usually set the kid's and my wife up with Thill slip bobbers, demon jigs, and a crappie minnow. The only problem I have is when the bite is hot, I don't get to fish! LOL I'm trying to get them to bait their own hooks and take fish off their hooks, but it's slow going. LOL Those marabou jigs, jigged back to the boat a couple feet below the water surface are just plain deadly. The girl's couldn't believe it last summer when I went 7 crappies in 7 casts with the jig, no minnow either!

Brian