I wont crappie fish without...

[Spoonminnow]

You didn't mention whether you're fishing from shore or from a boat. From a boat, sonar helps establish depth and shoreline patterns. I'm blind without my cheapy color Lowrance graph.

Light action 5.6-6' rod to cast unpainted, ballhead 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 oz. jigheads and soft plastic lures.

Hundreds of lures work for panfish but in my experience those 1.5-2.5" do best a majority of the time.
Search on-line for the Crappie Magnet cone tail grub. Other than those I make myself, the Magnet is an all around multispecies soft plastic grub and child can catch fish using.

Spinning and spincast reels with braided line spooled are a must for me along with a 6# test fluorocarbon leader.

[kmc06005]

I do a little of both, but I'm looking to target crappie from a boat. Usually my bank fishing is for bluegill and catfish. I just recently purchased a boat with the intent to pursue crappie filets.

Thanks again for the contributions everyone!

[Spoonminnow]

You can not target certain species when using light lures whether they be soft plastic, hair or feather. All species are provoked to striking slow moving, subtle action lures regardless of human-designated motive.

Larger fish often hit larger lures (lengthwise) as do school fish which bite from a contagious excitement, but finding a size range is essential: if fish aren't striking larger lures as in the case of soft plastics, reduce size 1/4" - it can make all the difference. If jig head size is too heavy or presents too large a target, downsize to the next smaller weight.

I like the visual emphasis to be on the lure to the exclusion of the jighead which is why I only use unpainted jigs. Of course there are many lure types that don't use jigs such as small jerkbaits (floating Rapala), Mepps spinners, small spoons, Beetle Spins and small poppers, but for my time on the water I prefer soft plastics.

Most important is not staying in a area where strikes don't happen whether casting from boat or shore. After fan casting and saturating a large area with casts, time to move on. One area may hold the majority of striking fish in a water though other areas may come alive at a different time of day.