Up-sizing Plastics for Bigger Crappies

[Matt Johnson]

Crappies like small plastics. Tubes, twister tails, grubs, scented, unscented...you name it, a hungry crappie will eat it. But can the size of your presentation make a difference in the size of your catch? Everyone has heard the saying, "bigger baits catch bigger fish," but does that phrase go hand in hand with crappies...during certain times of the year you bet it does, and we are experiencing one of those times.

Throwing 1 - 1.5 inch plastics will catch you crappies right now, no doubt about it, but by up-sizing your plastics you can increase your odds of landing some bigger fish. As the water continues to warm, the crappies will get more aggressive and you will find them chasing baits and devouring, often times, whatever is in their path. Once these crappies put on the feedbags they will look for something to fulfill their appetite, and that can mean plastics bigger then 1.5 inches. Throwing plastics in the 2 or 2.5 inch range may be what those slabs are looking for. Minnow imitations are a good way to start. By minnow imitations, I don't mean an actual minnow shaped body, but those are an option, I also mean plastics like tubes and stingers that can give off a minnow appeal when worked through the water. These plastics rigged with a either a ball-jig head or a tube-jig head can be fished below a float to fool those slabs into striking.

Corey Bechtold, an avid crappie fisherman and FM Member who has a knack for finding slab crappies, spent a day on the water this past weekend chasing some slabs with plastics. After finding the fish in the shallow lily pads, Corey rigged up a float and plastic combo. Setting the 1/32 oz jig below the float about 24 inches was the ticket. Working the 2 inch Power Minnow with a twitch/pause approach sealed the deal.

"Upgrading to larger profile baits increased the size of the fish." Says Corey. "All in all, we managed at least 150 crappies...with 30 fish measuring over 13 inches..."

Corey with a couple slabs...including a nice 15 incher!

Try up-sizing your plastics next time you are chasing crappies, who knows, you might need the net! Good luck!

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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Matt Johnson Outdoors
Metro Area Ice Fishing, Team Catch-N, and more...

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[huskiesplayer15]

Nice article MJ!
Best Fishes
Chris