Crappies... how picky can they be when feeding?

[fisherman-andy]

So me and buddy did some fishing yesterday on a smaller North Metro lake. I pulled out and pitched just about every non-scented or non-flavored plastics I had in my arsenal except the unopen Berkley Powerbait and Gulp stuff.

Being it was a smaller lake, we practically combed the whole lake from shallow to deep and wasnt really triggering much bites from Crappies.

Then my buddy switched over to a 3" Berkley Powerbait white curly tail grub and bam! The Crappies started hitting. I am like what the heck? I on the other hand was pitching also a 3" white curly tail white grub by "Riverside" brand bought at your local Wally world. It's supposedly scented/flavored by "Yum". To my surprise not a single fish hit. We were using green glow jigheads with nearly identical looking baits other than his was powerbait and mines wasnt.

After 10 or so Crappies that my buddy caught I was fed up and opened up a package of 3" white grub powerbait that I had hidden in a pouch of my tackle bag. And what do you know? First cast. Bam a 11" Crappie. Followed by several more.

So now I was scratching my head, during the Spring & Summer they were never this picky? I had to make sure this wasnt a coincidence so I switched back to other plastics didnt catch me another fish, not even one! I finally put all other plastics away and stayed with the Berkley stuff the rest of the day.

I am not entirely all surprised as I have had days where Crappies will only hit minnows over any thing artifical...

[delmuts]

yep! have this happen many times. that is why many of my plastics are powerbaits ! been doing well lately with the 2" minnow.

[Grant Pearson]

crappies can and usually are pretty picky. That, and the way they taste, is why they are so much fun!

[Matt Johnson]

You could be experiencing a "transition period" in behavior. This is common during the fall period of the calender season. Lakes temps jump all over and fish become more moody. There will be a period where you'll have to pry their mouths open in order to get them to bite.

Good news though, you found a way to make them eat. So I would consider your day on the water a success!