Lure of the Month: Spangle Tinsel Jig
by Terry Madewell
Many new crappie lures on the market are soft plastic varieties, and with good reason. They are crappie killers. But there are other types of often-overlooked lures that enable anglers to hook up with crappie. One that produces consistently is the 6th Sense Spangle Tinsel Jig.
The tinsel-tailed jig was designed in conjunction by 6th Sense Fishing with crappie angler Josh Jones. The Spangle Tinsel Jig was specifically designed to attract fish from a distance, especially with anglers using forward facing sonar. The shimmer and glow of the tinsel tail is designed to catch the fish’s attention, making the 6th Sense Spangle Tinsel Jig the January 2024 CrappieNOW Lure of the Month.
The lure has been on the market for about a year and 6th Sense Fishing Pro-Staff member Kyle Mier, from Malakoff, Texas, said the lure is his “go-to” product for almost daily fishing as a professional, year-round crappie fishing guide.
“I’ll guide about 230-to-260-crappie-trips a year and this is the lure I trust to give my clients to catch limits of crappie,” Mier said. “I primarily guide on Cedar Creek Reservoir, near my home, and the Spangle Tinsel Jig has proven to be effective in all types of conditions. I’ve got to have faith in a lure to hand it to my clients so they can catch crappie, and that’s exactly what I do. And it’s been extremely productive.”
The 25-year-old Mier has been guiding full-time for 4 years and has learned that most jigs, and productive crappie lures in general, have specific attributes that enable them to consistently catch crappie. While he’s fished lots of plastic-bodied lures, he said this specific lure has attributes that make it a daily favorite.
“The entire lure is well-designed but I love the back-end of this jig,” he said. “The tinsel tail of the lure sets it apart from a plastic grub and is one factor that I believe make this lure really stand out. The tinsel shines and shimmers in the water and it attracts fish and it’s even more effective when fishing water that’s a bit turbid or cloudy. The overall design of the lure gives it a very smooth action, and it glides through the water on a cast and retrieve. It’s ideal for my style of fishing.”
Mier said his primary tactic is the cast-and-retrieve technique to sunken brush for much of the year.
“I generally use the 1/32-and-1/16-ounce sizes for my fishing, and I’ll often use a small splitshot above the lure depending on the depth and target being fished,” he said. “Swim it over a brush pile with crappie around it and odds are you’re going to get bit.”
Mier said he’ll use the 1/8-ounce size to successfully shoot docks, and he believes the smooth movement of the lure through the water improves the success using this technique.
Because of the lure’s design, vertical jigging and longlining are also ideal ways to utilize this jig, he said.
Mier said three things impress him about the lure.
“First is durability, it stands up to a lot of fish being caught on a single lure,” he said. “Another is the hook strength and sharpness, it’s exceptional. And the design of the head allows the lure to glide though the water, and I believe that’s a huge asset.”
The beauty of this lure is it demonstrates that lure variety in the crappie fishing market provides an advantage for anglers. Diversifying your crappie fishing arsenal with multiple types of lures puts you in a position to meet whatever challenge the oft-finicky crappie demands.
Terry Madewell of Ridgeway, S.C. has been an outdoor communicator for more than 45 years. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and has a long career as a professional wildlife biologist/natural resources manager. He’s passionate about sharing outdoor adventures with others.
