I've been experimenting all summer fishing with no live bait. I've been using crappie nibbles mostly, but have also tried gulp maggots and some powerbait products. The results have been mixed. At Lake Darling I'm able to catch tons of small crappie, none exceeding 8". Other lakes, not so much. At Hawthorn, for example, I caught 7 crappies in about 4 hours, with fish ranging in size from 8" up to 13". I think I should have done better than that. I don't know why the fish on one lake would respond differently than fish on another.

I'd love to find a good minnow substitute, but I'm about ready to chuck the artificials and go back to the real thing. Does anybody have any experience with crappie nibbles and the like and what do you think of them?