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8 Best Crappie Lures in 2023 (Tried and Tested)

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Crappie fishing could be any angler’s challenging experience. Crappies are picky, and their diverse diet means that anglers have to be wise in picking lures.

Targeting crappie requires pulling lures in various designs, shapes, and colors to attract and stimulate bites easily. Hence, finding the best crappie lures is important for every angler.

The best quality of a crappie lure is the one that makes it stand out. Mainly, it should have a bright, attractive lure color. Also, it should be versatile, durable, and presents like a life-like creature.

Emitting a smell and exhibiting unique fluttering action are additional attractions for crappies.

Crappie fishing could already be an arduous job. So, you will make things easier with the best crappie lures in the market.

As you scroll, get more knowledge on crappie bait color guidelines. Plus, get answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. Let’s get started!

Catch more crappie! Read our article on crappie fishing tips to improve your fishing skills!t

Best Crappie Lures in 2023

1. Berkley PowerBait Fishing Soft Bait

Best Overall for Expert Anglers

Key Features

  • Presents like a realistic baitfish
  • Emits scent to attract fish bites
  • Perfect to use in open or shallow water
  • Versatile and moves smoothly in the water

The Berkley PowerBait is ideal for use as a jig head or a spinner. Its split-tail design allows it to move like an injured baitfish. Furthermore, it functions admirably as an artful show for fast-moving lakes. This soft bait additionally looks amazingly practical with its 3D eyes.

It is impregnated with Berkley’s unique PowerBait aroma and flavor, enticing fish to bite longer, permitting you to set your lure appropriately. Did these soft baits hook your interest? You can find it in nearby Bass Pro shops.


2. Yakima Bait Wordens Original Rooster Tail Spinner Lure

Best Spinning Action

Key Features

  • Excellent spinning performance in the water
  • The in-line spinner body design
  • Vibrating tail attracts crappies
  • Available in copper blades, brass, and silver blades

This Yakima Bait emits a novel pulsation from the tail as it goes through the water. Its spinner dislodges water and blazes to draw in fish. When nothing works to catch crappie, you can rely on its in-line spinner design to attract more fish. Great for Rapala mini fat rap.

Interestingly, it comes in shining colors to stand out even in the stained water. If you want these in-line spinners, Mepps spinners, and the like, you can buy many at any Bass Pro shop.


3. Strike King Mr. Crappie Thunder Bait

Best Tube Baits in Bright Colors

Key Features

  • Tube body design works well as a sinking lure
  • Features flickering tentacle-like curly tail
  • Available in color Junebug Chartreuse Glitter Tail

Mr. Crappie Thunder Bait highlights a tube body, which works excellently as a soft plastic grub. It has a muscular, strong body that is equipped for being gotten through the substantial cover. The lure is large and massive; crappie can spot it effectively even if you use a johnson beetle. So when it’s dropped into the center of the cover.


4. Storm WildEye Swim Shad 04 Fishing Lures

Best Holographic Foil Finish for Ice Fishing

Key Features

  • Superb life-like chartreuse shad which features a soft plastic body that attracts predator fish
  • Highlights bio-salt impregnated tails.
  • Durable body with internal lead heads and realistic 3D eyes
  • Offered in a pre-rigged package with higher-grade VMC needlepoint hooks

These super-sensible swim shad highlight extremely delicate bodies that may entice you to take a chomp yourself. Furthermore, it appears as live minnows with interior lead heads and bio-salt impregnated tails that work perfectly to catch fish.

Its superb holographic foil polish and 3D eyes attract the picky crappie. Most anglers will find joy in this pre-rigged lure with high-quality VMC needle point hooks.


5. AGOOL Marabou Jigs Fishing Lure Kit

Best Breathing Quality for Any Game Fish

Key Features

  • Excellent undulating quality in the water during the windy days
  • Features natural hairdressing, which exhibits vivid action
  • Offered in the tackle box with various color choices
  • Irresistible life-like jigs for catching crappie

These tube jigs are generally utilized in freshwater and saltwater. They are a deal for Crappie, Trout, Speckled Bass, Bluegill, and different fish species.

Notably, the hooks are made of high carbon steel with high strength and corrosion-resistance quality—Marabous regular hairdressing grants normal, clear activity. When lowered in the water, the hair opens up and throbs to give the dance a natural appearance.


6. Eagle Claw Crappie Jig

Best Feathered Jig

Key Features

  • Excellent to use for vertical jigging or jerking beneath a bobber
  • includes a metalhead and shaft
  • Exhibits a strong body and a feather tail for in-water activity
  • Jig head mirrors the eye of a baitfish

The Eagle Claw may very well be fished in various manners. It includes a metalhead and shaft, a strong body, and a feather tail for in-water activity. These qualities make the perfect type of vibration trigger crappie’s interest, which is more likely suitable for Blakemore road runner, its like, and others.

Additionally, the head is painted with a differentiating dab that impersonates the eye of a baitfish. If you find this handy, you can purchase it in Bass Pro shops.


7. Crappie Pro Mo’ Glo Glow-in-The-Dark Jig Heads

Best Shallow-water Bait for Boat Fishing

Key Features

  • Superb jig heads that glow in the dark
  • Perfectly formed sharp treble hook to catch crappie easily
  • Accurately balanced and hang the crappie correctly
  • Shines outstandingly regardless of water clarity

This product is highly preferred by anglers who love angling in the boat. Its glow-in-the-dark quality is perfect for any water column as it remains visible in it.

Interestingly, anglers can easily target crappie with its excellently formed hook. Like any other lures, you can find this one in Bass Pro shops.


8. K & E Moon Jigs

Best Lure for Year-Round Fishing

Key Features

  • Outstanding UV glow ice jigs for any weather
  • Packaged in 24 cards
  • Available in four different colors, with six jigs for each color
  • Highlights a black chartreuse body design

Moon jigs are the favorite lure of most ice anglers. Particularly, the K&E Moon Jigs are the ones that began the “Glow in the Dark” frenzy! They are painted with high permeability glow and spotted with a splendid fluorescent dab. Many expert anglers suggest these crappie jigs for year-round angling.


best crappie lures
Crappie! Source: Patrick Lewis

Crappie Bait Color Guidelines

When you glance around in nature, you don’t see things that are only one tone. You see things that are in differentiating colors. Most sorts of rummage fish are not only one tone.

So it simply bodes well that the best baits are in differentiating color patterns. A few things to remember when picking the finest crappie bait color are:

  • Many anglers suggest that three colors are perfect for jigs—a white body with a redhead and a pink marabou tail.
  • For clear water on a bright day, it’s good to use a blue head with a white body. Interestingly, there are other fantastic color combinations, such as chartreuse, pink-white, orange-white, and red-white.
  • In clear yet warm waters, the white color is not very effective. As an alternative, you can use greens, lime-black, brown-orange, or full-chartreuse. 
  • In muddy waters on a bright day, fishing for crappie will be successful if you use chartreuse, lime, green, or orange.
  • Furthermore, a low light condition in muddy waters will work best with all-black, all-brown, black-lime, and brown-orange to catch black crappie.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I catch crappie?

The best way to catch one or any other fish is to keep the rod holders low and maintain them while recovering the lure. The next step is to snap your wrist in an upward motion to set the hook. In this way, you can hook the fish without dashing its tender mouth.
Furthermore, take time to reel it in, whip your light line after the cast, and focus on the live bait. To get crappie, you may try spider rigging with your buddies.

How do I fish for crappie at night?

Here’s a night fishing tip, night anglers utilize fish finder and submarine lights that guide them in attracting crappie to their spots. Coming in groups, they do spider rigging. The lights draw in microscopic fish. The tiny fish charms baitfish. The baitfish charms crappie.
Understanding this cycle is critical to your success. They also understand that the cycle requires a few minutes to an hour or more to work. Hence, the crappie won’t begin gnawing upon placing your lights.
Give it enough time, and when you see baitfish gathering in the lit water, you realize it’s an ideal opportunity to drop crappie baits.

What is the best month to catch crappie?

You can seize crappie at any time of the year. However, the best time is throughout the spring season when the fish are in depthless water.
Crappie regularly gathers in school. Hence, if one is caught, more are normally present. From mid-February to mid-June, you can find them under 15 feet of water.

What are crappie attracted to?

Generally, crappies are attracted to live bait, such as minnows and jigs. To increase your chances of alluring this fish, you can try mixing up and experimenting with different colors. If none of these works, you should have a wide variety of crappie baits along with your fishing gear.

Conclusion

Fishing for crappie is extra challenging if you don’t know the perfect lure to use. Hoping this guide encourages you for a wise buying decision. Also, don’t forget to apply the color guidelines you’ve learned. Finally, have fun in your angling escapade!

Diana Nadim
Fishing Expert
Diana began fishing at the age of seven, as it has been a long-time family tradition. From catching small bullheads to catching strippers on the backwaters of Bighorn, she loves to get out in the wild and have a marvelous day on the water. Her dad was an expert angler, and he taught her fishing along with her two siblings. They used to go to the Bighorn River in Montana and Henry’s fork, Idaho. As a pragmatic person, she is obsessed with creating well-researched and practical guides and reviews of the best fishing methods and gear.
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