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Hope y'all are having a great week and have a great 4th! 🇺🇸 Y'all be safe out there on the water – it could be a little crazy out there!

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Profile matters more than color in summer?

Eric Cagle is an AL/MS guide who has put in a ton of time chasing black crappie all over the country, including CA giants like the one in the pic ☝️. I called him to talk summer bait colors, but he said that bait profile can be a bigger deal. So here's Eric with the 🧃!

How much does bait color matter for black crappie in the summer?

> "I've got about 4 colors I use on black crappie. That's about it. It's more of a profile thing than a color thing.

> "I have seen color matter when there's a water-clarity [change]. We fish clear-water lakes, so if the water gets muddy, we'll change shades and try different colors to see what they can see best in.

> "In the clear water we fish mostly natural colors. That's gonna be 'monkey milk'-type colors – [BoneHead's] 'slick diablo' [left 👇], natural gray and black.

> "If it gets dark or the water gets muddy, we'll go to chartreuse or black/chartreuse."

Okay how do you choose the profiles you fish in the summer?

> "After the [bait] hatches, all that bait is small, so you want to match it with a smaller bait.

> "I like a minnow profile. I also like a little movement, but it's weird with black crappie because too much movement can keep them from eating.

> "A lot of people use curly tails, and that tail is going 100 mph when you're reeling. I've found those finicky fish just don't like that.

> "We've been working on a bait with a small ball on the tail. When you slow-roll that jig like we do most of the time, that ball barely quivers. I've tested them, and it seems like black crappie want a little motion but not a lot of motion."

Is there one bait you've been relying on most this summer?

> "The [1.75-inch BoneHead] Slim Stick in 'slick diablo' – that's my #1 color. It's half black and half 'slick'. I use those pretty much every day, and very rarely do I have to change colors."

Are you downsizing your jighead weight in the summer?

> "These fish have gotten really deep – 25-30' deep. We'll use some tungsten 1/8-oz weights if we have to, but I use the lightest jig I can get down to them with.

[He's using tungsten jigheads which decrease the jighead size and keeps the whole plastic/jighead profile small.]

> "If I can get down to them with no wind using a 1/32- or 1/16-oz jighead, that's what I'll use. 90% of the time, with them being deep like they are right now, we use 1/16-oz."

When you're fishing small, light baits out deep, how important is having the right rod?

> "You can catch crappie on an Ugly Stik, let's be honest. But when they're biting light, I'll catch 3-4 to 1 with a Dobyns E. C. Special in my hand vs somebody using an Ugly Stik."

[The Dobyns E. C. Special is a rod Eric designed that is dialed in for seeing and feeling light black crappie bites.]

> "When people come on a trip with me, I can watch their rod tip and tell immediately when they get a bite because it has a soft tip.

> "Black crappie are sneaky. They're real finicky and can hit so soft. I'll never know how they can run at that bait and hit it that soft.

> "With some cheaper rods, you're never going to feel that. It's all sight fishing. You have to watch your line or rod tip to know you had a bite."

Summer is the time for scent?

Saw this video from TX pro Tommy "Jig Only" Ezell talkin' tough summer fishing, and he said:

> "Scent is really, really important this time of year. You want to use scent, but most importantly, your presentation and profile need to be right. You want something really small, like a little piece of popcorn."

Which got me thinking – what are the scent options for crappie specifically? 🤔 A few baits have some scent built in, like all the BaitFuel crappie baits. So that means applying scent to our baits?

There's a ton of scents on Tackle Warehouse to do that with, but here's a handful of cool ones I found to make your own "crappie popcorn."

BaitFuel Freshwater Gel

Man, I remember when this stuff first came out – I felt like I was being sneaky because I was the only one of my fishing buddies who was putting this into my bait bags and soaking my baits in it. 😂

I've seen times when using it will getcha a few more fish on a spot and even turn a brushpile back on. Sweet deal, man – check it out here on Tackle Warehouse.

BaitFuel also has the newer Fuse Gel – similar deal to the OG BaitFuel but is apparently 10x stronger and adheres to baits better if you're putting it on your plastics as you go. They also make the BaitFuel Stick, if you'd rather apply it that way.

Pro-Cure Super Gel

Only reason I'm familiar with this deal is that it's what comes in the Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ, and goodness, DO NOT take a whiff of the bag of 3" Jerk ShadZ before you toss 'em at the crappie! 😂

Wonder if we'll see some scented crappie baits from Z-Man with this stuff? Would love to see a scented Baby BallerZ!

Thump Gel

Little known fact is that Thump Gel first got hot with crappie fishermen. Stays on real well, different gel colors and all with flake which look like little scales when they comes off. So you can match or customize bait colors with the addition of scent. They even have glow in the dark colors.

I use it every once in a while. My favorite thing to do is take a 'wanted monkey' Bobby Garland Baby Shad – a chart/monkey milk combo – and put some of the pink Thump Gel on it to make it a cool-looking 'electric chicken'.

Check out Thump Gel on their site. It's not on Tackle Warehouse yet (why??).

Ever seen pike feed on crappie?

Way cool video from The Technological Angler (who's a Humminbird 🧙‍♂️) of pike hunting crappie on a tree – from his MEGA Live 2. 👀

For a little reference, that 3-prong-looking deal is a tree, and the dots all over the ends of it are big schools of crappie. Those long white marks swimming around are the feeding pike.

Perspective forward-facing sonar for crappie is an awesome deal, especially if you have people in the boat – you always know where the brushpile, grassline, etc is. Even if you don’t have 2 FFS 'ducers, it's still a great tool for being able to accurately cast to groups of fish or track those roaming pods.

Something cool I’ve been doing for folks in my boat is that if they want to fish on the back deck, I’m able to screen-mirror my MEGA Live 2 to my Humminbird XPLORE 12 on the console so they can see everything I see.

Just something cool to get yourself and your fishing buds on mo’ fish!

Another crappie A-Rig option

I thought the YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr and Jr. Colorado were the only smaller Alabama rigs that were "crappie size" but I came across this deal on Tornado Innovations' Facebook – their CUR Evolution Finesse. They also have a bladed version.

It's made out of tubing instead of wire – so it's way lighter – and is specifically made for 1/16- and 1/8-oz jigheads.

In the bassin' world, umbrella rigs re mostly just used in the winter, but I'm wondering – if you throw something like this for crappie with the clear arms and no blades, shouldn't smash it all year? Would you throw it??

Check it out on Tackle Warehouse!

Crappie regs are changing

Before I get into this, I'm just asking a question, not taking a side. I'm also not a biologist or an expert – just seeing some reg changes on certain lakes and hearing some prominent guides talk about this stuff.

Some DNRs are trying to improve crappie populations in lakes with too many small fish, and others are trying to protect their already good fish size/quality. For the latter, live sonar is definitely part of the conversation.

Whatever your opinion is on FFS, with it catch rates have skyrocketed – amazing but it also means some regs probably have to change.

On that note, here's some notable changes that have been going down recently.

Oklahoma

A daily limit of 20 crappie is now in effect for Lake Eufaula and Atoka Lake (was 37):

> ...to address issues with stunted populations where fish rarely exceed 5-6". All daily limits for crappie have been eliminated at all Close to Home Fishing waters, as well as Lakes Dahlgren, Boomer, Holdenville, Purcell, Shell and Wewoka. 

Mississippi

The DNR recently reduced crappie limits from I believe 50 to 20 at the following lakes: Horseshoe Lake, Lake Mary Crawford and Simpson County Lake. Horseshoe Lake will also have an 11" minimum length for crappie.

In 2024 they changed regs on the Big 4 lakes – Enid, Sardis, Grenada, Arkabutla – from 15 to 10 fish/day with a 12" minimum.

The MDWFD did a study to find how folks were catching 'em and:

> "We did a 3-year study on Sardis, Enid and Grenada looking at if they were catching fish with a single pole or trolling. In that 3-year period we saw our fishermen using live sonar increase from 20% to 70%, and it's probably higher than that now."

Louisiana

Starting on Aug 1, the Atchafalaya Basin crappie limit will go from 50/person to 25 with an 8" min length. They are also changing the limit on Saline-Sarto to 25 from 50, with a 10" min.

Arkansas

An AGFC FB post says that as of Jul 1 it is prohibiting "the harvest of crappie under 10 inches from Trimble Dam downstream to Ozark Dam."

Tennessee

Reelfoot Lake – The daily crappie limit was cut from 30 to 20, effective Aug 1, 2025.

Alabama

In response to a recent FB post about whether AL should change their crappie regs, a lot of fishermen are saying yes, whether it's number of fish or a bigger minimum size.

_____

As we get more efficient at finding and catching crappie, should we be keeping fewer fish on certain lakes even when the legal limit says we can keep more?

I don't have that answer, but I do like that agencies are paying closer attention and managing lakes more individually now that we're learning how different each fishery really is.

We'll see where it all goes, man!

1. New Bobby Garland stuff on the way 👀

Some sweet new Bobby Garland baits are coming down the pipe that you can see here on their FB page. They officially release next Tues so you'll get the full deets in next week's Target Crappie!

2. Chase Petty and Max Boone win Ultimate Crappie Challenge

Chase and Max took home $10K with 16.30 on 2 days on Reelfoot Lake, TN. If those names sound familiar, that's because Chase was in Target Crappie a few weeks ago after he and Max won the Crappie Masters on Kentucky Lake. Winning deets on this derb next week!

3. Why Wally ties a loop knot

Good Mr. Crappie vid on how to do it if you're not on that yet. He says he likes that the bait can move more naturally when you're casting at fish.

4. Cool vid from Kistler on the features of the new Big Game poles

REAL nice crappie poles that are American-made and veteran-owned. Pretty cool man!

5. IDFG says anglers prefer panfish over walleye

Dang straight! 😁

6. MN: New/improved boat ramps at Green and Elkhorn lakes

7. AR: Crappie bite going down on...

> Lake Overcup: Crappie are being caught in 8-10' of water, but mostly at night.

> Arkansas River: Crappie are active around wood. A 'blk/chart' jig has been the best bet.

> Bull Shoals: Crappie are still on brush and structure in creeks, mostly in the 15-20' range. Quality is mixed, and both the jig and minnow bite have been slower at times. Cover water until you find the ones that want to bite.

> Beaver Lake: Crappie are off and on. With the recent 3' rise, fish are scattered and will likely stay that way until water temps reach the mid-80s. Trolling should get better in the coming weeks.

> DeGray Lake: Crappie are holding 14-18' deep on brushpiles near deeper-water channels.

> Lake Ouachita: Crappie are still fair. Try a small minnow-colored jig over brush in the 10-20' range.

8. GA: Jig brush for deep Allatoona crappie

> We target docks and brush using a 1/32-oz jighead for a slow fall and slow retrieve. We will also use a 3/32-oz jighead to get down to those deeper crappie faster, especially on windy days, and then use a slow retrieve when the jig gets down to about 12' where the crappie are suspended on brush.

9. ACC Crappie Stix trolling rods on sale

Up to 25% off.

10. UT: See where fishing/hunting license sales $ was allocated

11. TX: New TowBoat US on Rayburn

12. NC: Buckhorn Rez water level at historic low?

13. MN: Best bait shop name ever?

The Ugly Baby Bait Shop in Gunflint Trail. 😆 Amazing!

Don't run fluoro on slip corks?

Cool tip from MN angler Joe Gonska in this In-Fisherman YouTube video on slip-bobberin':

> "Don't run fluoro with bobbers – fluoro sinks. That works against you on a bobber rig and makes it more difficult to mend your line and keep a direct connection. We're running 4-6-lb mono.

> "You can use braid as a main line, but instead of a fluorocarbon leader, we've got mono."

"To be perfectly honest with you, when she folded my pole over the way she did, I thought it was actually a catfish.”

- That's MO's Trey Glenn talking about catching a 3.96 out of Truman Lake, MO! Believe that would be the new lake record. More details next week but here's a pic:

Sent in by Lake Fork, TX guide Parker Emery – I guess this answers the "will crappie eat urchin baits" question! 😂 And that is the bigger version of urchin baits – believe is 4.5" in total width.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH