This spawning crappie fell victim to a safety pin style spinning lure. Such lures, like Beetlespins, have been around for decades. They work especially well fishing around cover. (Photo: Ed Mashburn)
Don’t Forget the Beetlespin – Spinnerbaits for Crappie
by Ed Mashburn
My little spinnerbait flashed as I cast toward the cover where I thought crappie might be hiding. As I started my retrieve, I could feel the steady “tick-tick-tick” as the blade rotated.
About halfway back to the boat, that “tick-tick-tick” stopped, replaced by the tell-tell “thump” of a crappie bite. On my ultralight gear, this big crappie gave me all the struggle I wanted. I unhooked the fish, adding him to my stringer with a few of his friends. For perhaps the millionth time, I was amazed at just how effective spinnerbaits can be for catching crappie anywhere and anytime.
Spinnerbaits for crappie are not a new technique but they are still very effective.
Types of Spinnerbaits
We’re looking at basically three different kinds of spinnerbait construction when it comes to crappie fishing. Each type of spinner has its best applications, but one thing spinners have in common – they catch a lot of crappie and have been for a long time.
Safety-pin style spinnerbaits are historical favorites for many anglers. The most well-known example is the venerable Johnson Beetlespin a lure which has been around for more than forty years. This lure has accounted for untold numbers of crappie all over the country, and it works just as well now as it did decades ago. A crappie angler with a variety of Beetlespins in the tacklebox is set up for good fishing.
Another variety is what is called underspin lures. They combine the flash of a spinner with the standard crappie catching form of a lead head jig. The spinning blades rides beneath the jig head.
These lures can be cast a long way, and they tend to be weedless and snag less, which can be important when fishing in thick cover. Perhaps the best-known example of an underspin lure is the Roadrunner which comes in a wide range of colors and weights, This lure is very easy to use, and the built-in flash of the spinner makes this offering doubly attractive to crappie
While not quite as popular, inline spinners are the third traditional crappie offering which have been around a very long time. One of the most commonly used inline spinnerbaits is the Worden’s Roostertail, but there are many other brands of inline spinners, such as Mepps which all work. Inline spinners come in a wide range of weights, sizes, and colors.
The downside of inline spinners is that they sometimes require a faster retrieve to keep the blade spinning and unless they’re in a very aggressive mood, crappie often prefer a slower presentation.
How and When to Fish Spinnerbaits
Rigging for spinnerbaits is pretty simple. Find a rod and reel which can cast a light lure – most crappie spinners will weigh a quarter-ounce or less – on four or six pound line and you’re good to go.
I like an ultra-light spinning rig with a five-to-six-foot-long limber rod and a 1000 series reel which can handle the light line without tangling. Trying to fish a small, lightweight spinner on too heavy line can be very frustrating.
One of the best ways to fish any spinner for crappie is the simplest: throw it out and just reel it in. The steady retrieve with the spinner flashing creating vibration in the water will often be enough to trigger crappie bites.
Spinner blades come in various colors, and like the color of the lure body, blade color can make a difference. The standard silver blade is traditional, but gold and even fluorescent- colored blades can be very effective crappie catchers – have a variety on hand and see what the fish want.
When the crappie are holding deep and close to cover, the underspin lures and safety pin style spinners are probably most effective. Sometimes they even work best when dropped to the crappie, held almost motionless then adding an occasional slow and gentle lift and then let the lure fall. In deep cold winter or hot, hot summer, this “ease up and slow drop” of the spinner baits can make all the difference in catching fish and going home fishless. The inline spinner does not do this technique nearly as well as the other types.
When the crappie are scattered either before or after spawning, spinnerbaits can be great fish locators. These lures can be cast a long way, and this allows a lot of water to be covered. When a crappie bites, the depth and the speed of retrieve should be repeated.
Finally, in spring when the crappie are on the beds, spinnerbaits worked over spawning areas can be deadly and produce lots of bites in short order. When the crappie are holding in very shallow water on the beds, a very small and light inline spinner buzzed over the spawning area can result in some very hard strikes from big crappie. The inline spinner is easier to keep higher in the water column, so it is a good choice when fishing very skinny water.
Don’t Be Shy about Making Changes
No lure works all the time in all places. However, spinnerbaits offer crappie anglers much more flexibility than almost any other kind of lure. For instance, if the crappie were eating up a certain size and color spinnerbait and then the bite just died, it just might be time to try another color or another weight of spinner.
Crappie can and do move around a lot, but much of the time when a bite dies, the fish are still in the area where they were originally found. By changing up the lure offering, a dead bite can sometimes be revived.
Just recently I was fishing my favorite local crappie lake near some deep-water cover. I found some hungry crappie which loved my inline spinner. But after a half-dozen hard strikes and fish caught, the bites stopped coming. So, I switched to a different color underspin lure, and I was pleased to find the crappie were still near their cover, and they would still bite, just on a different offering.
Problems with Spinnerbaits
Although spinnerbaits are absolutely effective crappie catchers, there are some problems which anglers will need to be aware of. Most of these problems have to do with inline spinners, which are, of course, my favorite kind of spinnerbait for crappie.
First, inline spinners can be terrible line twisters, and after each cast the lure may need to be allowed to hang free to untwist the line. A tiny swivel between the leader and main line can help control the line twist, but your lure action won’t be as good and some twist will still probably happen.
The next problem with inline spinners is that the exposed treble hooks seem determined to grab and hook into every possible limb and snag around. It’s reasonable to assume that a crappie angler using inline spinners will need to have a good supply of these lures on hand- some lures will be lost. Or some inline spinners do come with a single hook versus a treble hook and are less likely to snag.
Finally – while some wouldn’t consider it “a problem,” is the fact that largemouth and smallmouth bass love to intercept and eat spinnerbaits intended for crappie. But it is a problem most crappie anglers can deal with, and even feel good about.
Ed Mashburn is a retired school teacher and boatbuilder who fishes from a small skiff for saltwater fish and a kayak for freshwater species. He has chased after slabs all over the country for many years and he finds the “thump” of a crappie strike to be one of life’s true pleasures.
