As the rule goes, sometimes matching the hatch means loading the boat on any given day. Not so when it comes to fishing for Black crappie. They can be so finicky and color selective that trying to catch a few can be tough during the summer months. I have found several awesome Crappie jig makers that have some great color combo's for finicky Panfish. Southern pro has a huge selection of lil' Hustler and crappie stinger tails to choose from. Of course, the favorite food of Mr. Crappie usually consists of minnows and aquatic insects. While serving in the Army in Georgia back in the 80's, I was introduced to live minnow fishing with a cork bobber and I caught literally hundreds of Crappie, White Bass and Rockbass using shiners in the Chattahoochie River Basin. But up here in Washington State , you can't use live minnows for bait. The solution for me occured on a fishing trip to Brownley Resevoir in Oregon in May, 2004. My cousin Kavin and I were fishing with my older brother Bill on Bill's Bass Tracker boat. The Smallmouth fishing was slow at first, but I noticed a 2lb Bass that my brother had caught, coughing up a 2" steelhead smolt. Taking a cue from that, I rigged up a 2" Lunker City lures Finesse Fish in rainbow trout color on a green/watermelon silver 1/16th oz Blue fox foxxie jighead. My first cast with that jig produced a 3lb bass and out of the 36 bass we caught on that shoal, 33 came on my new jig! And soon I found out how those Brownley Crappie liked them smolt jigs as well. All told, the three of us boated nearly 140 crappie and bass that afternoon...all but 9 fish came on my prototype smolt jig. Berkley powerbait 2" Smelt minnows, Perch Realistx, Gulp watermelon pearl 2.5" minnows matched with Gitzit brand 1/16th oz Littlle tough guy fish jigheads and Canyon lure eyeball jigheads, Pucci brand red hook style jigheads have allowed me to duplicate what Nature provides for Crappie and other game fish to feed on: Realistic looking minnow baits. I like to use sharpie markers to make Baby largemouth Bass minnows. Olive green backs, silver sides with black tips on thier tails. Ultra realism for sight fishing 14 to 16" Crappie in late Summer on Moses Lake. Slabs to 17" on Banks in April and May. Big crappie are meat eaters and when you know where thiy're stacked up-feeding them a minnow can be just the ticket for catching the biggest Crappie of you life! The Jigmiester

This should be put in the panfish forum.