The last couple of years I have been trying a bass technique out to catch crappie. It works, but it works best in cold water when the crappie are on the bottom. I have managed to catch alot of very very large slabs with this technique. Some Of you may have already tried it or you may not have tried it. Its the drop shot rig (you can find rigging techniques on the web, just google drop shot rig), Its best applied when the water is cold and the shad are plentiful with the crappie right on the bottom. The bait I use has never changed and when I mention the bait I use you will see why all I catch is very large slabs with this rig, its a big fish tactic. I use a 5 inch ZOOM SUPER FLUKE for my bait, look it up if you dont know what it is, When I rig my drop shot rig, I rig it with about a 16 to 18 inch spacing from my weight (1/2oz bell sinker) to my bait. I use a 1/8th ounce jig head for my bait. The way I fish it is, I cast it 30 0r 40 feet away, and with my rod tip at the eleven oclock position I twitch it, pause ten seconds and then twitch it, repeating till I get it back to the boat, the 1/2 ounce weight allows you to twitch it and pause it on a tight line, the bites are intense, the bite will generally happen on the pause. The five inch super fluke is a bass bait many colors to chose from. I have never caught a crappie under two pounds with this rig, and several over the 3 pound mark. don't get me wrong I catch my share of small fish just not with this technique.