What Is The Best Colors To Use To Catch Crappie In Different Water Clarity

When the h2o is clear and visibility is loftier, crappie tend to exist fairly agile, and with the right lures and colors, you can expect plenty of bites and a lot of activity.

With a presentation that won't spook the fish, articulate water crappie fishing can produce impressive results. If you stick to white, silver, chartreuse, and carmine jigs, inline spinners, or spinnerbaits, you'll exist certain to hook upwardly with some corking slabs.

If you relish fishing in waters with loftier visibility, you are in for a true treat. Hither is how you catch crappie in such conditions!

DISCLAIMER:All images and tips on how to grab clear water crappies were provided by pro staffer and crappie expert Brian Harford.

How Do You Catch Crappie in Clear Water?

a happy angler on his boat holding a huge crappie that he has caught near a structure — Courtesy of Brian Harford

The most crucial thing yous have to be aware of when fishing for crappie in articulate water is light intensity. While they can be plant in shallower areas during mornings, evenings, and on cloudy days, they tend to seek out deeper water during the daytime, when the lord's day is at its brightest.

This is an of import aspect to consider because they tend to movement abroad from the common crappie hangouts that you lot would normally target once the light gets besides intense.

It's too essential to take a closer look at how shallow they'll move. Because while you can catch them in depths of only a foot or then in murky water, clear water crappie usually won't go shallower than iv to 5 anxiety (unless during spawning season, that is).

And so, if you can find grass flats and other areas of high vegetation around those 5 feet of water, you're very likely to find the crappie at that place as well! They employ the grass' cover both as an ambush bespeak and to get out of sight.

Retrieval speed is another essential office of crappie angling in clear water weather.

When yous fish for them in deeper water, boring trolling your lures tin exist very constructive. Downward there, the fish will movement around quite a lot. Trolling for them out here in the open allows you lot to comprehend a lot of water, which increases your chance of finding the fish.

When targeting shallower depths, casting smaller lures that y'all can retrieve slowly higher up, or close to the weeds tin be admittedly deadly for clear h2o crappie.

Some presentations piece of work regardless of the h2o condition, but this is non e'er the example. Usually, it is best to create a setup specifically adjusted to the h2o body you're currently targeting.

What Are the All-time Lures for Crappie in Clear Water?

an angler on a lake with a nice crappie caught on a jig — Courtesy of Brian Harford

Jigs

All in all, jigs are the all-time lure for crappie fishing in clear water. They'll catch yous fish yr-round, and crappies love them!

When fishing near structures or vegetation, cast a low-cal 1/xvi ounce jig every bit close to the shade line as you dare.

When deadening trolling over deeper water, fish a 3/16-1/8 ounce jig on a skid bobber rig and endeavour out different depths until you hook up.

Check out a set up of archetype Marabou jigs that are perfect for clear water crappie fishing on Amazon right here

Berkley Nibbles

Berkley makes several great artificial crappie baits that thousands of anglers swear by. Their crappie nibbles are little bait balls that are chartreuse and have congenital-in attractants.

Tip your jigs or hooks with them for extra visual allure and scent. On difficult days, these trivial baits can make all the difference!

Yous can check out Berkley'southward Crappie Nibbles on Amazon hither

Spinnerbaits

Forth with sight, crappie take advantage of their lateral line to chase for prey. Having a lure that creates a lot of vibration, flash, and motion can significantly increase your chances of catching difficult articulate h2o crappie.

Additionally, spinnerbaits mimic minnows, which happen to exist the chief food source for crappie.

Especially in the deeper water columns, they'll hunt bigger schools of minnows, which is why using spinnerbaits downwardly there in the deeper water is so constructive for crappie!

If you're new to crappie fishing, try your luck with a safety-pivot spinnerbait. This type of lure is piece of cake to bandage and recall, and on light gear, y'all can encompass a lot of water with it.

The Johnson Beetle Spin, which is a archetype safe-pin spinner for crappie, too happens to be one of the best crappie lures out at that place! And so, it's a definite win-win!

Accept a closer look at the Johnson Beetle Spin on Amazon here

Best Lure Colors for Clear Water Crappie

Here are the most productive lure colors for clear water crappie fishing:

White
Silver
Green/Chartreuse
Red

These colors stick out very well in clear water, and any combination of them is an first-class choice of lure colour.

In clear h2o, your choice of lure colour becomes more than flexible than in stained water conditions.

If you fish for crappy in muddy water, you lot have to take lures that stick out and may not be all that natural. With clear water, you volition always want to match the hatch.

Matching the hatch means that your lure will match the size, action, and colour of what crappie naturally swallow.

Since the fish are mostly sight feeders in clear h2o, using lures that look as natural every bit possible volition significantly increase your chances of catching crappie.

A very underrated colour is red. Reddish signifies blood from an injured baitfish. You tin can mimic such easy prey simply by using carmine hooks or white jig heads with ruby in them.

Also, look into white, silver, and chartreuse. These are very enticing when visibility is high, every bit such colors reflect sunlight very finer.

RELATED Article: What Time of Year Practice Crappie Spawn?

Should You Use a Leader for Crappie in Clear Water Conditions?

a fisher on his boat holding two huge crappie caught on a jig and a thin fluorocarbon leader — Courtesy of Brian Harford

If you are going with a braided line, yous should always use a thin fluorocarbon leader. When the water is clear, braided lines become very visible underwater and can easily spook the fish.

Cull an 8lb test fluorocarbon leader if you're line-fishing near structures, vegetation, or other snags.

If yous're trolling in deeper h2o without the risk of getting snagged, a 6lb examination FC leader will suffice.

If you are, on the reverse, already using a thin fluorocarbon och monofilament mainline, there is no sense in using an additional leader of the aforementioned material.

Just remember to avoid colorful mono lines, every bit they can also be pretty visible in the water.

Is Muddied or Clear H2o Better for Crappie Line-fishing?

As I've mentioned above, water condition tin and does affect crappie patterns and how yous can fish for them. Although there may exist differing opinions within the angling community, articulate water atmospheric condition tin more often than not exist considered better, or perhaps easier for crappie fishing.

Fact: crappie are sight feeders! When they can spot their prey, they are very probable to become for it.

However, if their sight is deterred, the entire fishing process becomes not necessarily more complicated but entirely different, which is something you should always be enlightened of when targeting crappie.

When fishing in muddied water, you'll have to use completely different colors and lure types to get the crappie's attention. And if you don't know what colors and lures to pick, this can be a pretty tough challenge!

RELATED Commodity: If you would like more data about crappie line-fishing in dingy water, you should read the related commodity I wrote on the topic.

So when it comes to crappie, clear water can definitely be your friend! Information technology just makes things a little easier and more than straightforward.

Most importantly, it can lead to more bites and action without the demand for sophisticated lure presentations and fishing methods, which particularly beginners highly appreciate.

Equally long as you employ the tips mentioned in this article, you will be in a skillful position to catch crappie.

Tight lines!

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Featured image courtesy of Brian Harford