I have been building lures of one sort or another for years. Over the last couple of years I have been playing around with inline spinners. I ordered Jed Davis' book Spinner Fishing for Steelhead, Salmon, and Trout. It is a fantastic read on spinner building and how conditions affect the chances a fish will strike different size and color spinners. His theory on spinners is they are an attractor lure. He wants to excite a fish into striking it almost to the point of spooking it. He has kept records and fishing logs for many years. He has concluded that environmental factors like water temp, water clarity, prevailing light conditions, and water height play major roles in the selection of the correct amount of flash and dash when it comes to the spinner.

After tinkering around with his theory's and techniques, I have to say I think he is onto something here. This certainly works on bass here in Mississippi during the winter. During the summer months here we wear the crappie out with spinners. We often out fish others who are using more traditional methods such as minnows and/or jigs. Often we will catch 2 and 3 to their 1 while using spinners.

During the winter we can't seem to buy a bite from a crappie on a inline spinner. I just can't seem to figure it out. I am hoping to start a thread here where we discuss lures you would cast and use as search type baits. Not just inline spinners here but all sort of cast-able lures. Be it spoons, roadrunners, beetle spins, crankbaits, or whatever you are building to find crappie. Maybe we can all learn something about exciter type lures and baits that don't have to be dropped on a crappie's nose to get it to bite in the winter and early spring.

So what do you use and how do you fish it? What conditions do you fish it in? Bank or boat? Deep or shallow? Day or Night? There will always a place for the vertical jigged tube or minnow but what else do you find effective?

So what say You?