Weirdest bait to catch a crappie on?

I was fishing the local DNR pond by the house this morning hoping to catch dinner. Not only I brought my crappie set up on the boat, but I also brought a catfish set up baited up frozen smelly mark down shrimp from the local IGA since the crappie reliability can't be trusted. I put the catfish out in the rod holder as I was tossing out a jig in search of crappie. I heard the catfish rod making a ruckus in its holder. Just a tip slap to the surface with the line going in a circle without the typical catfish pulldown. I set the hook and up comes a keeper crappie with a 1/0 hook kahle hook down its gullet. Kept him. Finally caught a catfish on a piece of shrimp but only couple dink crappies on the jig.

Largest crappie I have ever seen with my own eyes was caught on my dads trotline with a goldfish as bait. It was a 3+ pounder for sure. Dad keep him in the freezer for years and always showed him off to his friends when they would come visit.

Salted shrimp (non iodine) is good for tipping jigs. I read at certain times of the year male black crappies crappie feed heavier on malocostracans. Goldfish also make excellent bait but are illegal to use in a lot of states

I've caught crappie on large deep diving crank baits while bass fishing. They will bite large baits.

I saw a girl trying to catch bass on a gummy worm. Just being silly to see how it would work. She caught 3 bass and 2 crappie.

I also watched a guy catch a crappie on a cigarette butt.

I think I carry too much tackle [emoji28]

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Originally Posted by Grainraiser

Largest crappie I have ever seen with my own eyes was caught on my dads trotline with a goldfish as bait. It was a 3+ pounder for sure. Dad keep him in the freezer for years and always showed him off to his friends when they would come visit.

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I know several that use Goldfish as they are real hardy and live much better than Shiners .

I have caught them on bare unpainted lead heads. Been tying my own jigs using red thread, super glue and Walmart sacks. These jigs catch as many as 300 or more before hook breaks off if I don't break them off first .:Rofl

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When I had just turned 15, I was fishing the pond below the Kildaire Farm barn with a buddy under the covered boat dock on a cold, rainy day in February in 1976 (sometimes ya' just gotta fish). The water was muddy and it had been sleeting off & on. The fish weren't interested in anything we'd been fishing with. My buddy took his jig and tipped it with a piece of baloney from the sandwiches he'd brought. When he dropped it over the side of the dock, the jig never hit the bottom. A nice crappie had inhaled it and was hooked the the throat. The baloney was still on the hook and he caught another crappie within a minute of catching the first. Both fish went in the bucket. I was hitting him up for a sliver of baloney when he caught a third crappie... Excitedly, I dropped my jig off the dock, but it did hit the bottom. I jigged it up & down a few times, then it hung on something heavy. I snatched up on the rod and it lifted off the bottom, then went back down. It wasn't bucking like a catfish or eel, and I knew turtles wouldn't be active in the cold. I pulled up on the rod again and it lifted off the bottom again, so I reeled down and pumped the rod up, gaining line. Finally, it broke the surface, it was 6 unopened 16 oz. cans of Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull that somebody must have kocked off the dock by accident. My jig had hooked into the plastic rings that held all the cans together. Being mischevious young men, we decided not to waste the beers and drank them all like we were dying of thirst. Bad idea, as it wasn't too long before I had to go home. I walked in the door and went straight to bed, because that Bull was kicking every inch of my 15 year old 110 pound butt. That was the last time I tried to grab a bull by the horns.

Hadn't thought about that day in a long time! Thanks for the thread to help dredge that memory up. There's a strip mall where the barn used to sit and Kildaire Farm Road is now 5 lanes wide, very developed, there's a Parkway running right through the middle of the farm, and I have no idea where the nearest cow is to there anymore. There's houses and townhomes built all around that pond. It's sad to see. I'm happy to have seen and experienced that place when it was a working farm.

Jim

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Originally Posted by Grainraiser

Largest crappie I have ever seen with my own eyes was caught on my dads trotline with a goldfish as bait. It was a 3+ pounder for sure. Dad keep him in the freezer for years and always showed him off to his friends when they would come visit.

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my step dad told me about a fish that might have been that fish way back when , it was over 3 as well and on a trotline baited with goldfish too

hotdogs , we hammered em one winter day on hotdogs , my grandson was flipping em faster than I could get them off the hook ....not even kidding

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Originally Posted by Yak Fish

When I had just turned 15, I was fishing the pond below the Kildaire Farm barn with a buddy under the covered boat dock on a cold, rainy day in February in 1976 (sometimes ya' just gotta fish). The water was muddy and it had been sleeting off & on. The fish weren't interested in anything we'd been fishing with. My buddy took his jig and tipped it with a piece of baloney from the sandwiches he'd brought. When he dropped it over the side of the dock, the jig never hit the bottom. A nice crappie had inhaled it and was hooked the the throat. The baloney was still on the hook and he caught another crappie within a minute of catching the first. Both fish went in the bucket. I was hitting him up for a sliver of baloney when he caught a third crappie... Excitedly, I dropped my jig off the dock, but it did hit the bottom. I jigged it up & down a few times, then it hung on something heavy. I snatched up on the rod and it lifted off the bottom, then went back down. It wasn't bucking like a catfish or eel, and I knew turtles wouldn't be active in the cold. I pulled up on the rod again and it lifted off the bottom again, so I reeled down and pumped the rod up, gaining line. Finally, it broke the surface, it was 6 unopened 16 oz. cans of Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull that somebody must have kocked off the dock by accident. My jig had hooked into the plastic rings that held all the cans together. Being mischevious young men, we decided not to waste the beers and drank them all like we were dying of thirst. Bad idea, as it wasn't too long before I had to go home. I walked in the door and went straight to bed, because that Bull was kicking every inch of my 15 year old 110 pound butt. That was the last time I tried to grab a bull by the horns.

Hadn't thought about that day in a long time! Thanks for the thread to help dredge that memory up. There's a strip mall where the barn used to sit and Kildaire Farm Road is now 5 lanes wide, very developed, there's a Parkway running right through the middle of the farm, and I have no idea where the nearest cow is to there anymore. There's houses and townhomes built all around that pond. It's sad to see. I'm happy to have seen and experienced that place when it was a working farm.

Jim

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Terrific story! Enjoyed the 6 pack part!
Bob

Trolling for striper hybrids with a 6 in deep diving redfin. Caught a monster crappie . I have also caught crappie on a 4 inch sassy shad,
again , an accidental catch while fishing for hybrids.

Mo

Had a buddy of mine catch a Slab White Crappie while casting a 1/2oz Spinnerbait (for Bass) ... and I caught a 1.5lb Black Crappie while casting a 4" plastic Crawfish (for Bass). (both fish released)
I've also caught Crappie on a mealworm ... but I was fishing for them, then ... I just don't remember WHY I was using mealworms :Rofl

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Originally Posted by justinp61

I've caught crappie on large deep diving crank baits while bass fishing. They will bite large baits.

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Caught one on bass rig spinner bait.

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Big Baits for Big Crappie - In-Fisherman

Catching crappie's on bigger baits is actually common amongst some anglers

I've caught crappie on stink bait while fishing for catfish and chicken liver as well.

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Originally Posted by JUNGLEJIMJIGS

I've caught crappie on stink bait while fishing for catfish and chicken liver as well.

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The love fish cut bluegill laying on the bottom as well ….don’t ask how I know …:Rofl

They must be starving to eat stink bait, that's wild. There's a pond I fish for cats and I know there's 14" plus crappies in there but I've never caught one, but never really tried there either

Blueberry.....Pond at scout camp was lined with blueberries, the campers would often toss blueberries into the water. I caught a few bluegill and one small crappie using a line and a hook baited with a blueberry, no rod...I chummed the area with blueberries then cast with the chum. That was 40 years ago