What's your favorite crappie bait colors??

[JRitzo]

I have been crappie fishing for most of life but until I started shooting my own baits and getting requests for what seemed like odd colors too me I didn't realize that some of these color combos were so popular. I am curious what some of you guys are using. Any information would be helpful!

Thanks
Josh

[ctom]

Purple transparent/chartreuse tail, blue transparent/chartreuse tail. Junebug/chartreuse tail purple transparent/hot pink tail, blue transparent/ hot pink tail, clear with blue, green, purple and copper glitter [bluegill], oystershell, firecracker and pro blue over white pearl or the bluegill belly.

I'll pop a pic in here tomorrow of these.

[JRitzo]

I appreciate your response. Some of those are popular and often used in my arsenal however there were many I haven't used or seen. I would love to check out the pics.
Thanks again

[pjmcla]

Here in the TVA chain lakes -  Monkey milk, Albino shad, Blue and chartreuse, Black and chartreuse, Electric chicken,  Cajun cricket, Pink and pearl. 

[ctom]

Here is a pic with some of the colors we mentioned.



Over the last two years I have made a concerted effort to get more in line with using natural colored baits in addition to those that I keep as my hotties. Mixed in with the bolder colors in the smaller small fry baits are a couple more subdued baits. At the top right and second up from the bottom on the right are colors that fall into the natural baits. The six fluke baits are all colors that appear more natural. The six fluke colors have been added into the smaller bait line up but I used the larger baits for color seperation in the pic.

At any rate, this should show you some diversity in the colors used by crappie anglers.

[fsh4fun]

ctom,is that the 1.75 or the 2.25 small fry? I have the Nano,but it seems too small.Any thoughts?

[ctom]

That's the 1.75" fry. I love it. Shoots easy and does the laminate thing easy with a plate or by hand-pour.

[BareKnuckleJigs]

I don't think I have any "favorites" as of now.  I've got some serious colors from one end of the spectrum to the other, but no favorites, I don't think.  Mr. Tom sure has me pondering some form of Purple with a Chartreuse tail, though!

[Billmo]

my favorite color is boring.. Not like Toms.. My favorite is black or a black sparkle..

[andrewlamberson]

My go to color is white

I also fish a lot of natural colors like silver & CCM Green and my "not natural" favorite is chartreuse.

[MO QWACK]

I'm a crappie FREAK..... in truth 99% of the time char/black. If its after a cold front blue/white the rest of the time if they don't hit those two go home  . With that said black /pink mostly in the summer..... blue/char all year but spring is a go to color......  orange/char is good some times. Purple combos are good as well. I find when the  fishing pressure is up than my custom made color will out fish anything because they have never seen it before.
I think   With crappie shapes make more of a difference than any thing
Spring 3/4-1 3/4 tubes and stingers
Summer 2 -2 1/2 carrots and paddle tails.... this is when paddle tails shine!
Fall  2 tubes and 2.5 carrots
Winter 2.5 -4 inch carrot or any BIG profile bait
That is based in the shad life cycle on our lakes. Might be different place to place but in Missouri  you can take that to the bank.

[JRitzo]

I appreciate all the feed back from everyone this helps a lot. ctom those really do look great! I am excited to throw some purple in the mix as well. I seem to sell black with chartreuse tail, red sparkle chartreuse tail, blue pearl with white tail, and pearl white and chartreuse tail by far the most. These combos make up for about 70% of what I sell. Lately hot pink with chart/white tail and and the local bait store says lavender with chartreuse tail have been great sellers for winter. 

[JRitzo]

MO QWACK,

I appreciate the advice and input. I had not really thought much about the shad life cycle. Makes great sense. I am from Missouri as well. I am going to put your size/shape theory to the test this year. Thanks again!

[Botanophilia]

Panfish in general, top 2 colors for me are chartreuse and white.  Red w/ chartreuse tail works ok, I made some chartreuse w/ .04 red flake as well as red bodies w/ chartreuse tails w/ red flake.  I plan on doing a little more crappie fishing this year, so I will try new colors too.  I like the purple/pink one Tom, which purple is that?

[ctom]

That's Caney"s X2. Got a little purple .015 glitter, maybe a small bit of >015 blue glitter and just a smidge of violet hi lite. That's Caney's X2 Hot pink too.