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  1. #1
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    minnows vs artificial bait

    Started fishing for crappie this fall. I set up a drop shot rig with 2 hooks about 12 inches apart with the weight about a foot below the bottom hook. Put on toughies and fished for a few hours over small schools without a bite. Decided to change and put on a yellow jig with a white go go minnow and caught 5 in about an hour. I have heard that you can't beat a minnow for crappie but that wasn't the case yesterday on KY Lake. Are there better times of the year for minnows vs artificial baits for these fish?
    Thanks!

  2. Member
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    #2
    Have not used minners in 15 years, fish year round except for the few weeks of ice and I don't think I catch any less than those who use them.

  3. Banned
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    #3
    same here.....cant remember last night I used a minnow..............jigs tipped with a crappie nibble

  4. Member
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    #4
    I never use minnows. 1/32 or 1/24 jig and that's it.

  5. Member
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    #5
    No minnows here either.. give me a Bobby Garland Baby Shad and 1/32 or 1/16 oz jighead and Im good!

  6. Member
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    #6
    I always take minnows, but will switch between the 2 throughout the day.

  7. Lowrance/Garmin/GPS Moderator fishin couillon's Avatar
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    #7
    I use jigs but have been days where i caught them good and others using shiners not so good, vice versa.....
    YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!

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  8. Go Cubs Go cubswin's Avatar
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    #8
    I haven't used minnows in a long time. If I'm getting hits on a spinnerbait fishing for bass, I'll sometimes then start trolling a crankbait and catch those pesky crappies. Most of the time I use tube jigs, though this time of the year I like little hair jigs more.

    Almost always fish 2 on the line, about 1ft apart on 1/32nd heads.
    "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it." Fast Eddie
    I still can't believe they actually won...Cubs Fans Everywhere

  9. Banned
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    #9
    When I had guide trips for crappie, I would always take about 3 dozen small minnows. Once my clients got their limits (or close to it) or ran out of minnows, I would switch them over to jigs. 2inch tubes or Yamamoto crappie grubs. When I go out just for myself, I never take live bait. Gotta have the secret sauce for grubs and jigs though....Smelly Jelly. Never leave home without it!!

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  10. Member CHECrappie's Avatar
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    #10
    I've not used minners in years. Love to feel the thump on the jigs. I know there are times that minnows is all they want so I'll load up and head home. I don't live far from the lake anyway.
    2021 Phoenix 21PHX

  11. Member
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    #11
    half and half for me,somsdays most come onminnows, next day most on jigs,,it seems to change day to day.

  12. Member
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    #12
    I buy minnows occasionally, mostly for my son to play with. I think when you get the right shape color and weight, artificial will out produce minnows 95% of the time.

  13. Major Flagelator Gamblinman's Avatar
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    #13
    I learned to crappie fish using minnows with my dad years ago. Now, I fish with jigs most of the year, but in the spring, I like to relive the years I had with dad and use minnows under a cork.

    Something about watching that cork go under, or turn on its side that I really enjoy in the spring.
    "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

  14. Member
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    #14
    In the spawn, minnows if it's sunny, jigs when it's cloudy.

  15. Member Bass AHolic's Avatar
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    #15
    don't buy minnows either, lake full of them, over years folks buy then dump in lake before going home. sound familiar?? lolo

  16. Member
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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Bass AHolic View Post
    don't buy minnows either, lake full of them, over years folks buy then dump in lake before going home. sound familiar?? lolo
    I'm guilty of doing that.

  17. Member Hammmerhead's Avatar
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    #17
    I have been catching them about 10 on minnows to 1 on jigs. Even a jig tipped with a minnow hasn't been a hit this spring. Im lucky to hit the lake once every 2 weeks, so I always pick up minnows to insure bringing something home.

  18. Member
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    #18
    I have not used live bait for any thing in the last 5 years for any spieces. My catch rates have not been reduced at all.