There is a guy in Waco, TX that has come up with a bait to use for crappie. I've considered this idea in the past but, nothing serious. I sure wouldn't want to draw in trash fish and that would be a fear of mine.
This guy calls his product 'crappie cakes' and reports some truly amazing results.

I gave him a call yesterday, explained our upcoming 'winter crappie camp' coming up next week and he volunteered to give me some to try. If all goes well, I plan to put out the first batch on Wednesday and hopefully be able to report the results before the end of camp.

I don't have a clue what the stuff is made from but, he claims it will NOT attract trash fish and lasts at least a week. One ingredient is 'glitter' which gives it a flashy appeal to crappie. It actually attracts shad and minnows, which in turn brings in the crappie.

I'm curious what you guys think about a product like this?