Crappie fishing is a load of fun and a great way to fill the freezer. Whether you’re fishing for food or fishing your fun you will find 10 of the best spring crappie lures below!.
Best Spring Crappie Lures
- Mule Fishing Mule Minnows – Our Favorite Overall
- Mule Fishing Donkey Tail Jr. – Our Other Favorite
- Strike King Mr. Crappie Slabalicious
- Bobby Garland Baby Shad Soft Plastic Lure
- Berkley PowerBait Pre-Rigged Atomic Tubes
- Crappie Magnet Kit
- Johnson Beetle Bou
- Original Rooster Tail Inline Spinner
- Rebel Super Teeny Wee-R Lure
- Rapala Ultra Light Shad
Best Hook Size for Crappie Fishing
Crappie have pretty big mouths compared to their size which allows for some wiggle room in the size of hook you can use when you are fishing for them. However we recommend using either a #4 size to #6 size hook.
This size range allows you to fish a wide range of plastics, but if you need bigger hooks you can easily size up to #2 or #1 sized hooks.
Signup for my monthly newsletter to get content and gear recommendations every month. I'll send you stuff I like, I will never spam you.
Best Crappie Jig Head
Crappie jig heads come in all different colors, styles, and hook sizes. You can spend all day looking at all the different types of crappie jig heads and still not be able to decide on which ones are the right ones for you. Luckily we have narrowed down the best ones down below.
Mule Jigs
Mule Fishing Mule Jigs
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Mule jigs are great ultralight jigs. They come in a few different sizes and pair up well with Mule Fishing Plastics like the Mule Minnow. We like them for crappie because of the different color options that have been proven to attract crappie. Our favorite is the Fire Red 1/32 oz Mule Jig.
Pair this up with your favorite plastic and you’ll be slamming a school of crappie in now time. Pick up a pack by clicking the link above.
Crappie Magnet Jig
Crappie Magnet Double Cross Jig
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Crappie Magnet Jigs are another great jig to keep in your tackle box. The double hook keeper does a great job of keeping your plastics on the hook. The placement of the eyelet makes it easy to suspend your lure vertically to make sure your presentation is perfect in front of crappie.
They come in a variety of colors and weights and pair perfectly with Crappie Magnet plastics.
Strike King Mr Crappie Jig Head
Strike King Mr. Crappie Jig Heads
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.The Mr. Crappie Jig head is a classic crappie jig that has been around for years. If you’ve gone into your local big box store and looked in the fishing section, you have seen these lures. These come in as many colors as the Crappie Magnet jigs, but also come with an eye painted on which can be the ticket to getting finicky crappie to bite.
We like these because if you’re running low on jig heads you can head into any store with fishing tackle and you’re likely to find a pack of these and get on the water quickly.
Best Color Jig for dirty water
The best colors for dirty or stained water are going to be dark and opaque colors or bright and vibrant colors. You either want to create a nice dark silhouette with your crappie jig or make it stand out as much as possible. Here are the best color options for jigs for dirty water.
- Black
- Pink
- White
- Red
- Gold
Best crappie Jig color for clear water
Clear water crappie fishing gives you some freedom to use more subdued or natural colors. You can still use bright colors to attract crappie, but natural color jig heads work great too and make it easier for crappie to focus on the plastic. Here are some of our favorites below.
- Green Pumpkin
- White
- Chartreuse
- Purple
- Pink
- Red
Best Crappie Lure Soft Plastic
You have your jigs, now you need some plastics to pair those jigs with. If you thought jig selection was intense, plastics are even more crazy. Hundreds of brands, thousands of styles, and tens of thousands of color options. But, just like before we have made it easy and collected some of our favorites.
Mule Minnows
Mule Fishing Mule Minnow
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Crappies love the minnow profile and the Mule Minnow fits the bill. It comes in three sizes ranging from 1.2 inches all the way up to 3.2 inches. It is buoyant so it floats easily and it’s made of high stretch plastic which makes it very durable. Our favorite color combination is a Pink Mule Jig with a Karma colored 2.2 Mule Minnow. That always works and gets crappie fired up.
Donkey Tail Jr.
Mule Fishing Donkey Tail Jr.
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.When they aren’t hitting the Mule Minnow we like to switch up to the Donkey Tail Jr. It is buoyant and has high stretch durable plastic like the Mule Minnow, but a little more action because of the boot tail. It is 1.6 inches long and can be shortened to be even smaller. The True Chartreuse color paired with a True Chartreuse Mule jig is the ticket for us when we are throwing the Donkey Tail Jr. around.
Strike King Mr. Crappie Slabalicious
Strike King Mr. Crappie Slabalicious Bait
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.The Strike King Mr. Crappie Slabalicious is a crappie catcher for sure. Our favorite thing about this lure is the action the tail kicks out even in the most light current giving it a great action. The ribbed section allows you to customize the size by making it as small as possible. It is 2 inches in length and comes in several different colors.
Bobby Garland Baby Shad
Bobby Garland Baby Shad
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.The good Ol’ Bobby Garland Baby Shad is a lure that everyone has probably used if you’ve gone out Crappie fishing. It is a solid body bait with a thin spear-tail with a ton of great action designed for enticing crappie to bite. It’s pretty durable and last pretty long so it will hold up to short strikes, snags, and anything else you throw at it.
You can pick these up at any big box store and they come in a variety of colors and sizes. Mix and match them with your favorite jig heads and you’ll be slamming crappie just like Richard Gene the Fishing Machine.
Berkley PowerBait Pre-Rigged Atomic Tubes
Mule Fishing Donkey Tail Jr.
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Berkley is an established brand in the fishing industry and when it comes to proprietary scent, no one else compares. The Pre-Rigged Atomic Tubes are great for crappie fishing. Skip the hassle of rigging your tubes on a tube jig and just open the pack and tie it on and fish!
The Atomic Tubes come in a good number of colors and sizes so you can size up or size down depending on what the fish want. Suspend these under a bobber or jig it weightless and the crappie will come and bite.
Best Crappie Fishing Kit
Crappie Magnet Kit
Crappie Magnet Best of the Best Kit
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Leland’s Lures Crappie Magnet Best of the Best kit lives up to its name. It is the best of the best crappie magnet kit. It has everything you need to go fishing except the fish! We like this kit because it is an all in one package. From lures to jig heads and floats you can target fish in any situation.
The kit comes with 12 different crappie magnet plastic colors that you can use for both clear water and dirty water situations. It also comes with different sized jig heads that will allow you to vary how fast your lure sinks.
The split tail is simple and stays open and that subtle little action is what entices a fish to bite. It’s a great set up and system and if you’re looking for something that has a little bit of everything this is the kit for you.
Best Hair Jig for Crappie
A Marabou jig is a classic crappie fishing lure. The lifelike action of the marabou feathers underwater are killer.
Johnson Beetle Bou
Johnson Beetle Bou
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.The Johnson Beetle Bou is a classic marabou jig and catches crappie across the country. It comes in various colors and weights so you can mix it up and figure out exactly what the crappie are looking to catch.
You can fish it as is or tip it with a little bit of bait when the bite gets really tough. Our favorite way to fish it is under a slip-float rig so you can adjust your depth easily and vertically jig for fish no matter where they are.
Best Rooster Tail for Crappie
Some folks don’t think of a rooster tail when crappie fishing because they think crappie fishing is jigging vertically for crappie around structure. This is true for most crappie anglers, but you can also target aggressive feeding crappie with a bit of flash and movement.
Original Rooster Tail
Yakima Bait Original Rooster Tail Inline Spinner
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Our favorite is the Original Rooster Tail. Affordable, durable, available anywhere and it’s a classic. The spin of the blade creates awesome flash and vibrations that attract all kinds of fish including crappie. The different color variations of the Rooster Tail make it a great crappie bait.
You can target them using more natural colors or make annoy them into biting with something loud and obnoxious. The different weights and sizes let you size up or down to match the conditions and find out what the fish are biting. Add these to your tackle box next time you go crappie fishing.
Best Crappie Crankbait
Crankbaits don’t immediately come to mind for most crappie anglers when you think about the best spring crappie lures. Vertical jigs, slow moving, float rigs, but not crankbaits. But believe it or not crankbait fishing for crappie is a real thing that will catch a ton of crappie.
The vibration of the lures and noise they make as they move through the water attracts any fish including crappie. Take a look at our two favorite crankbaits for crappie fishing below.
Rebel Super Teeny Wee-R Lure
Rebel Super Teeny Wee-R Lure
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Rebel is known for their ultralight and tiny lures. The Super Teeny Wee-R Lure is a great crappie fishing lure. It’s 1 1/2 inch in length and can work as a wake bait or cranked down to 3 feet. You can use it in streams, ponds, or even big lakes. The fat baitfish profile and action attracts crappie and they can’t help but bite it. Toss this around rocks, stumps, and submerged timber and you’ll be catching crappie in no time.
Rapala Ultra Light Shad
Rapala Ultra Light Shad
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Whether you pronounce it Rapala or Rapala, it swims just the same. The Rapala Ultra Light Shad is a classic ultra light crank bait. It is a light 1/8 oz lure and can be trolled or cranked at a super high speed. It has a slow sinking pause that will cause even the must stubborn crappie to come looking to see if it can take a bite out of your lure. Throw this in your tackle box next time you’re trying to catch crappie.
Best Crappie Hooks for Minnows
Not all hooks are created equal and for live minnows, you’re going to want the right hooks so you can catch fish and lose less bait. A #4 Aberdeen hook is great for small minnows, but for larger minnows you’re going to want to size up to a #2 Aberdeen hook.
Mustad Classic Aberdeen Hook
Buy Now Disclaimer – This website uses affiliate links and get a small commission at no additional cost to you.Our favorite Aberdeen hooks are the Mustad Classic Aberdeen hooks. They are strong, durable, and will last you a long time. Pair this up with a live bait or even a Mule Minnow and you’ll be bringing crappie into the boat left and right!
Best Spring Crappie Fishing Lures
Whether you’re fishing for fun or fishing for food these lures will help you catch a ton of crappie. We’ve covered the best spring crappie lures, everything from plastics, to cranks, and even live bait hooks so you are covered in any condition or situation. So get your favorite fishing reel and go fishing.
