Crappie Equipment

[MaineFishah]

I'm new to fishing Crappie and am looking to get estabished with the basic equipment. What is the must have Crappie equipment? I have some small jigs ranging from teardrops to Hali's to swedish pimples but other that that, I have nothing. What action jig pole do I need? Bait, jigs, etc.? Thanks for the help.

[Berkley4life]

Im not much of a crappie fisherman, but i would say that some kind of a flasher is a must.  Crappies tend to hang at a specific range in the water column, whether it be 3 feet off bottom or 3 feet below the ice, so finding is the hardest part.

[Yopy]

flasher, ne pole really will work as long as u got a spring bobber on the end of it to detect the hits, you can catch em with ne bait really, minnow, waxie, or no bait at all.

[icehousepsycho]

Crappies are my thing on ice.  You will want 2 or 3 rods, one a deadstick.  See the topic on that.  The other 2 should be a light action and a medium action in the 24-30" range.  That gives room for a hookset in a shanty.  I like the ice blues series by HT.  A flasher is a must, if it is within your budget, and get one with a zoom.  I have a Vexilar FL-18 and love it.  Line should be 2 or 3 lb test.  I like mono, but seems the majority here prefer flourocarbon.  I've used them both, like the floro for open water bass, the cold water designed mono for ice.  The tackle is the fun part.  So many options.  You will need some jigs with a horizontal presentation, like a Bro's Bug or a Genz worm, I use them both and have had great success.  Sometimes the fish want a vertical presentation, teardrops and Moon Jigs work great for these.  It is good to have an assortment of plain hooks as well.  I like an assortment of different colors in hooks.  Several hair and tinsel jigs can also produce very well at times.  My jig size ranges from 1/100 oz to 1/16 oz.  I also like the small Gill Pill by Custom Jigs and Spins for crappies as well.  Make sure you have an assortment of colors and different shapes to your jig selection.  Also get a color or two of Gulp maggots, they work great as a supplement to your bait or in case you run out, you can still get the fish.  Minnows, maggots, and waxies are all good for the crappies.  Just experiment and let the fish tell you what they want.  Finally get a couple of small ice bobbers, either the small foam ones or the small Thill stick bobbers, can't go wrong either way.  Hope this helps.

[rlowery]

I really like tipdowns, you can cover water and depths, to find what they are doing. A lantern is also a good idea because the night bite is often better than the day. I agree with the flasher as well, its highly recommended. A few light rods, assorted jigs, plain gold hooks,and your ready for slabs. Good luck

[icehousepsycho]

Good catch on the lantern, I missed that one.  You're dead on about the nite bite.

[98600xc]

I would definitely buy a flasher,  multiple light or ultralight noodle rods, a deadstick rod, a big assortment of jigs and bobbers, spring bobbers ( they can be a must ), and use minnows or waxworms, depending on the fish's attitude.

[Paul D.]

Lake Maps

Once you learn what types of  structure the crappie relate to on what types of lakes, you'll be able to find them on almost ever outing.

I'd add some glow jigs and a couple of small spoons the the lists above. 

[skinnytrucker]

I am new to ice fishing so forgive me if this sounds stupid but, I was wondering if any of you have tried using a crappie rig. I went ice fishing for the first time this past weekend and I used one on a jig pole and ended up catching my first Northern Pike.

[bassandbucks1]

I noticed the HT ice blue rod was mentioned early any other good crappie rods people could suggest? I've caught a lot of crappie on the rod I have (old rod do'nt know brand) but last night was driving me crazy, I lost 8 fish at the hole. I was using tiny jigs and i'm sure the hooks could use some tweaking but was just curious what other rods people might suggest.

[Townie]

I noticed the HT ice blue rod was mentioned early any other good crappie rods people could suggest? I've caught a lot of crappie on the rod I have (old rod do'nt know brand) but last night was driving me crazy, I lost 8 fish at the hole. I was using tiny jigs and i'm sure the hooks could use some tweaking but was just curious what other rods people might suggest.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=133318.0 

[Van_Cleaver]

I've recently been lucky enough to fish a lake with good supply of crappie, and here are some tips that sort of piggyback on earlier ones. If the weather is reasonably warm Mr jigger's are great, you can get them on sale at Cabelas early and late. They are basically a tip down, but I rig little flaps on a gator clip on the wire so the wind jigs them. I was catching a lot of fish on a Schooley rig Fri. It was set up with a horizontal jig tipped with a fat head. Just sitting on the ice as a dead stick. The take would slowly draw the spring bobber down, so I had to grab and sweep set the rod, because as soon as the crappie felt resistance, they let go. Also jigged up several by fishing in the same general areas; the bite went on throughout the day. As for losing fish at the hole I dumped two both 11-12" on a tiny Wolfram jig. Lesson learned; reach in with your hand or a shallow angle ladle before the fish hits the air. Once it's nose is out of the water you are lifting the full weight; they don't call them paper mouths for nothing! I kept seven all about 10-11.5 and released a bunch for another day.

Best fish of the day

[Townie]

Sweet slabbage! 

[Van_Cleaver]

Really only one slab, but they were all really nicely colored fish. The lake was the darkest tannin color I've seen yet, and the crappie were a really deep olive on top when I first caught them. The Schooley rod has to be one of the best rigs for the money; comes with a reel, drag is adjustable, spring bobber, and less than ten bucks! It is embarrassing how many times it catches more fish than I do with my fancy jigging sticks.

[slipperybob]

I can never say that there's a single do it all rod...you can but getting a more specialized rod will enhance your catch ratio.

Deadstick type rod.  Any noodly rod will do the job too, just be sure to put a little more hook set into them.  I have a Shakespeare Cajun Ice Rod UL, but too bad they no longer make it...Was planning to buy a second one for back up.

UL to L type rod.  You need a sensitive yet light rod to work the small jigs and feel extremely light bites.  I have a St.Croix Premiere 28" UL rod for that.  The rod has a very weak backbone and loads very easily.  Works great and you'll almost never tear the mouth on a crappie.

ML to M type rod.  You need a rod that can work some jigging raps or spoons.  I have a St.Croix Premiere 28" ML rod that can handle light weight jigging raps and small spoons.  Loads easily and has a light backbone for the job.

As for premium equipment...I have a few Thorne Bros. rods.  These rods allow me to work my lures more effectively and can load on a fish much better.