DD, I ain't never tried the shad for crappie fishing, but I have had pretty good luck catching minnows at my boat ramp. I fish Long Branch pretty much exclusively, and I don't usually have much trouble getting a minnow bucket full in just a few minutes. Granted that is about all I can catch! Sometimes though, there isn't a single minnow out there for the catching so I always buy some just to be sure I got me some bait.