Curious as to whether or not you folks use these for crappie in the summertime periods? I'm talking about the marabou models, but am also interested in the plastic trailer models as well.
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Curious as to whether or not you folks use these for crappie in the summertime periods? I'm talking about the marabou models, but am also interested in the plastic trailer models as well.
they work real good
This is my go-to for many different methods. I even use it as my bottom lure when spider riggin. Just remember to separate the tail skirt a little when new. I highly recommend the following color.
Attachment 169673
it's a good bait. The chartreuse color is good year round. I have in my head that pink is a good summertime color but the cooler the water gets, the less fish are attracted to it. I use roadrunners for the bottom hook when trolling double rigs. Orange to black to chartreuse is another bait that I fish year round.
Use em all the time!!!!!!!! even under floats in grassy areas in my local pond. X2 on separating skirts even ones you tie yourself.
Love them. Cast and retrieve slowly, under a float, slow trolled behind boat. Have used them on the beetle spin wire giving a two blade effect.
Well I guess it's not to hard to tell I am a big fan of the roadrunner.I buy the original heads in the bulk packs (14) from Monk's Crappie each year and use mostly curly tails with them.As far as casting goes the best times of the year for me are when the water temp gets in the mid 50's in spring right on through summer and early fall.Cast over brush and count down or slowly retrieve but always pause retrieve.One of the most effective ways to catch crappie this time of year is to throw it around brush and let it go all the way to the bottom.Many times when you go to crank it a little to hop it again they will already be on it.I mostly use chartreuse and pink in 1/16 and always with a crappie nibble.
Thanks for all the feedback folks! We'll be trying out some Roadrunners with our speed drifting the next time the wind kicks up. I may just put a straight tail on it though, instead of the curly tail. Since the straights have been out-performing the curly tails for us on plain jigs, this might work even better. Will keep you posted.
r runners are great baits. jigged in cover they hill hook anything and everything though. one thing you need to do to it is get the blade going/tuned. usually that means removing paint from swivel. i also find they spin better, when going slow, if swivel is bent down away from the body. that blade calls to fish farther than a plain jig with no blade. especially in dirty water it can be the thing. i also prefer the colorado/indiana blades. tiny ones can be great for summer bull gills too.
good luck
They will work year round. Tip them with a crappie nibble or some scent and fsh it slow. When you think you are going slow then slow down some more. Black and chartreuse, white and chartreuse, aqua and chartreuse or pink and chartreuse are proven color combinations.
They will work year around.....great for spider rigging but they really shine as a longlineing bait
Solid chartruse 1/4oz tipped with a crawler is my #1 walleye setup.
The one problem I'm always seeming to experience is that they paint the swivels. This causes the blades not to rotate at all, or not at slow speeds. I use to chuck the blades in a hand drill and buzz it a few times to free it up. This has given me better results, but you'd think that with the popularity of this lure, that the manufacturers would pay more attention to this detail? In any case, rain has prevented us from going out several times this week, so we'll give these a whirl next time we are able to go out and not get wet! :)
Love especially the 1/32 marabou, have fished it spring and fall long line trolling since at least 1979! All I use in spring is Roadrunners that I tie for my self. Actually I do go to a regular jig for tight lining in summer. We have so many trees in this lake that I doubt trolling would work well in summer, but I have not tried it then either.
As far as I can tell they don't cure that paint either and why I paint and tie my own. I make sure to protect the swivel when painting which is not the easy part of this and I am good as long as the half the swivel works. If the one connected to the head is painted stuck and the other end is free it will still do it magic! I put tin foil over the swivel before painting and take the tin foil off before I cure the paint.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crestliner08
Attachment 170078Attachment 170079 Pink and chartreuse and black and chartreuse
One thing Iv'e noticed was a lot of the 5 pack heads I got from Walmart would sometimes have a poor,dull,chalky type paint job and the finish would come off very easily.The 14 pack heads I get from Monk's have a bright,epoxy type finish.He also has the pink heads which around here are hard to find.
X2 with Skip on covering the swivel - I know others have different methods but his one works well for me. On another board one of the guys used an alligator clip over the swivel and I might try a few that way, but still think powder is going to get in there? We'll see. I pour my own and even after curing check the swivel to make sure both ends are spinning. Sometimes all it takes is a razor blade knife and a couple of easy scrapes against the top wire of the swivel to have both ends spinning really well.
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/100_4298.jpg
200 - 1/32nds with #6 Black chrome sickles
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...3/100_6023.jpg
50 1/16th oz with #2 Red Sickles
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...2/100_5091.jpg
I don't know of anyone else that gets Roadrunner heads unpainted in bulk like I do, but that lets me paint them what ever color I want to and I know mine will not come apart on me. I also know my paint will be cured properly! The swivels are a pain to deal with, but they can be done well enough that the blade will turn and they will catch fish. The 1/32 oz Roadrunner is all me and my neighbor use in spring and I do mean the only bait!
I love roadrunners. I useta drive one.
All I'm gonna say about Roadrunners is ... they've accounted for nearly 30% of all the keeper Crappie I've caught over the last 30yrs, and probably over 50% of all Crappie over 2lbs that I've EVER caught.
That would be the solid chartreuse marabou 1/16oz Roadrunner & the solid pink marabou 1/16oz Roadrunner ... to be specific.
... cp :kewl
Our local wal-mart cannot keep 1/8 oz red head/chart marabou tail roadrunner's!!! Like 22 ammo!! As soon as they stock the self they are gone!!!! It don't matter the price!!! They are gone!!
If you told me I could only keep one type of bait in my boat to crappie fish it would be a 1/16 chartreuse roadrunner.I would like to know how many fish Iv'e caught with this bait over the last 30 years.
Thanks for that information! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
You're very welcome, and I hope they work as well for you !!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crestliner08
... cp :kewl
100% of mine are caught on roadrunner heads but that's all I use. :biggrin
I never heard a good reason for why I shouldn't use one. :dono
When I two pole I like to use a ball head on one rod and a pony head on the other. Here's some I poured.
http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0448a8f2.jpg
Sorry, duplicate post.
Are those the Rosco swivels?? They look different than the crane swivels that I've been using.
I've never found one yet that had an issue. Maybe I'm just lucky.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crestliner08
I don't remember the brand but they are rollers swivels, bought them from Janns years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatman
Justin, they still sell them. That's where I get mine. Spin a lot better than standard crane swivel.Quote:
Originally Posted by justinp61
Thanks for the info!! Janns bulk price is $40.90 for 500. Hagens has a deluxe crane that looks just like it and a 1000 are $29.32. I need more of their german split rings so I'll go with Hagens.
Thanks again for the info!!
I gotta post too, I am a newbie to spider rigging, bought my stuff this past Winter and tied several double lure rigs of the tasteiest lures I had, ahead of time to see what worked, well this past Friday my grandson and I went fishing armed with 2 dozen small minnows, when the minnow supply got low, I started trying my pre tied rigs, the 1/16th oz curley tail Roadrunners black with chartruse tails, caught just as many Crappie as the Minnows. So that night I tied 4 more double Roadrunner rigs that night for the next time out! I am a believer now, also I learned hooking minnows from the tail instead of the jaw seemed to work better!