Crappie crankbaits

Does anyone fish for crappie with cranksbaits like the crappie maxx and stuff I've never had much luck using them I mostly use jigs

Go to the Mississippi forum and read some of the stuff there. The answer is a resounding YES!! It's a lot of fun.

Welcome from Central Florida.

I use crank baits


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Yes, I do use crankbaits for crappie and do catch them on those. It is surprising how large a bait a crappie will hit. I have caught crappie on crankbaits as large as a Rapala JSR7 and on soft plastic swim baits 4 inches long.

My favorite technique involves crankbaits.

Cranks work, but they seem to be best suited for warm to hot water conditions (70 deg & up) ... when Shad schools are roaming around in open water. They also seem to be more effective on White Crappie, than Black Crappie, although Black Crappie can be caught on them.

I haven't used cranks all that much, pushing or pulling them, but when I have done it ... I have caught Crappie. Some were not much bigger than the cranks themselves, some were under the length limit, and some were keepers. Some weren't even Crappie (I've caught a few Catfish, too !!)

I've even caught Crappie while longline trolling with cranks, though I was actually "fishing" for Hybrid Striped Bass.

As with any bait or presentation method, you don't "always" catch fish when using them ... but, when applied at the proper time & place, and under the right conditions, your odds of success increase.

Welcome to c.c ! Yes they work great . I have never been skunked while fishing crank baits .check out the Arkie cranks they make a great bait at a good price.a lot of folks like the bandits and they r good but usually about twice the price :twocents

Absolutely my favorite way to crappie fish. Like mentioned above make sure you find a lake with white crappie (my biggest problem where I am) because it is rare to catch a black crappie on crank baits although they do occasionally hit them. Favorite colors are naturals, silvers, pink black and chartreuse mixes. I love it because you never know what you are going to catch. I have caught 10 lb stripers, 15 lb flatheads, huge bass, and huge crappie do it. It is not a numbers game. You are not going out and putting 90 in the boat like you can long lining or spider rigging, you may only get 10 or 15 instead, but they will generally be much bigger. Lots of fun. I use bandits almost exclusively because I know exactly what each series will run. I use a trolling plate on my 140 hp suz to reduce speed down to about 1.5 mph. You can use a trolling motor, but I really have not seen a difference with the noise the big motor makes and it is just easier for me in my skiff. Good luck.

Have caught 3 crappie over 3 lbs. and several 2+ on baby hellbender with blue back!!!!

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First crappie is on a crank for me lol

Crankbaits work for me when crappie get shallow

I was bass fishing on Norman with a spinnerbait 1/4 oz. and caught a crappie on it.

Crankbaits work great for white crappie in the summertime

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Like G said they do great trolling in the summer! They are a ton of fun!

I caught a 14.5" black crappie on Barkley today pulling a pink 220 Arkie behind one of tenncrappie's planer boards. Cranks can be death from mid 50s water temps up to low 90s and back down.

I use cranks also. They can be purchased for less than $1.00 a piece if you don't mind painting them and adding the hardware yourself.



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I saw some tiny crank baits on amazon for less that a dollar a piece. Anyone ever use these Chinese things?

That's where a lot of ours come from anyway. I have used some from wlure and have caught a lot of fish with them. Don't let anyone tell you it isn't a numbers game either. It depends on the waters you fish and how you fish. I have had some days catching over 50, and other days get 5. Point is it can be done. I kept going back through the school and watching all the rods go down, one after the other. My granddaughter loves fishing this way.

You bet we use cranks, especially during the warmer summer months. Don't use much of the tiny cranks
you see at BPS, but rather Bandit 300's, Arkie 350's,Cadron Creek 300's and now have added some of the
Strike King Slab Hammer cranks as well as the Slab Hammer 3XD cranks to the collection. Very successful
program for crappie! Tight Lines - Dave

I purchase mine from aliexpress.com I also get things like swivels and hook sharpeners there. I even have a couple of 13bb bait casting reels there that I purchased in the $30.00 range that cast a crappie jig every bit as well as a REVO