i prefer minnows myself but 9.50 for a half pound is getting pricey. bait store has been out of shiners so been using tuffies (i hate tuffies) when i bass fish i love plastics, and ive got tons of plastics for crappie just no faith in them. are you guys casting and slow retrieving. my buddy will use a small float and a small tube jig and wear them out.. ive tried it but just never got the hang of it. i really enjoy shooting docks but the small lakes i fish now are water reservoirs with very few docks..