Fishing Spinnerbaits

Spinnerbaits are an excellent change of pace when fishing for crappie. When we start thinking of crappie fishing most anglers assume we are going to talk about the use of jigs or live baits. Fishing Spinnerbaits is actually a very easy way to fish that offers easy depth control and a added movement not seen on the jigs or live bait rigs. If you use a few simple rules and tips, fishing with spinners can be a very productive method to catch crappie. I am going to identify below some simple spinnerbait set ups and how to fish them.

When and What spinnerbaits to use for crappie:

Offset spinners are best used in spring when the crappie are in the shallows.
Spinners with the blade under the body can be fished any time at all depths.
Inline spinners are best used in shallow water in open water areas.
Inline spinners with the blade on the tail are best used for vertical jigging in deep water.

More spinner tips:

Slab crappie are very big eaters and if you are out for the big fish use lures in the 1/4oz to 1/2oz size range. Make sure they have large blades for a lot of flash. Now remember when you fish these large spinners you won't be catching any small crappie. If you have a passion for multiple casts with limited hits , then by all means use the larger spinners. Just don't expect to catch a lot of fish with these lures, but when you get a hit you can expect the fight of your life landing a big crappie. Fish these artificial baits from the shallows to about mid depth.

One easy way to fish the best of two worlds is to attach a flashy blade in front of your hook on your minnow rig. Fish this rig with a heavy sinker in deep water and a split shot in shallow water. This rig needs to be retrieved after you cast very slowly. The blade doesn't need to rotate just move back and forth showing a flash to the crappie.

Heres' a key tip:
Spinnerbaits are better fished slowly for crappie. Start very slow and increase your retrieve until you get the right speed for your particular habitat situation. As a rule of thumb, slow is better then fast.

Here's a key tip for smaller fish:
If you want a lot of action and you are not as concerned about catching the big slabs then use spinner baits in the 1/16ox to 1/32oz size range. When you use the smaller baits very your retrieve from very slow to fast. Some of the smaller crappies will be very aggressive and hit your lure when retrieved at a faster pace.

Weedless spinnerbaits are good fit for cover areas, such as brush, rocks and weeds. You can put the spinner right on top of the cover. It will bounce off because of the weedless protection around the hooks.

The stop and go retrieve is a good bait presentation to crappie who are attacking while the bait is falling. Cast your line then crack 5 or six turns quickly, stop for 3 or 4 seconds and then repeat. Make sure you take up all the slack when reeling the second and following reeling sets.

Depth control is important when you are using spinnerbaits, or any bait presentations for that matter. After your cast, do a countdown before you start your reeling. You can determine your different depths bye the number of counts. This is a must step to identify where the crappie are. The crappies eyes can only see bait above, or level with them. Start your casts shallow then increase your counts for deeper reeling.

Follow the simple techniques and tips above and you will catch crappie. The more you use these resources, the you will find yourself start to develop you own variations .Now you are ready to fish spinnerbaits for crappie.