While shiners can be used to fish for post-spawning crappie, most fishermen ease through the stump fields fishing about 10 feet deep with jigs.
Tipping the jig with a shiner can also sometimes make the difference between a limit of fish and a bust.
Some of the more popular baits are Bobby Garland Blue Thunder and Pink Panther Stinger Shad solid jigs, Black Lake gray/chartreuse and solid-white hair jigs, and pink/white and black/chartreuse tube jigs.
D’Arbonne crappie angler LaBorde is particularly fond of the Black Lake white hair jig.
“I never really used it much, but an article I read said it shows up in all conditions and depths at all times of the day better than any other color, so I gave it a try and did real well with it,” he said.
Both LaBorde and I like to use rather heavy jigheads so we can keep the bait down 10 or 12 feet without having to add a sinker to the line. I prefer a 1/8-ounce head, but LaBorde often uses a ¼-ounce version.
“I have been getting a little better result with the larger head because it is easier to fool with and you can often knock it loose with the end of your pole if you get hung up on a stump,” LaBorde said.
Using a weedless setup, such as a Charlie Brewer slider or the Bass Pro Shop Super Squirt, also is a good idea because you need to fish right next to the stumps.
“If you’re getting hung up, you’re missing out on a chance to catch a big one,” LaBorde said. “You want your jigs to bump up against those stumps. Don’t avoid them, because that’s where the big dogs are.”
Laborde also makes his own marabou jigs so he can offer the white perch something different.
“Hand tying my own jigs gave me the option to customize what colors I wanted to present in front of the fish,” he said. “I began looking up the different types of shad crappie feed on and mimicking that in my color contrast.
“It seems as though the Bobby Garlands and Stinger Shad dominate the area lakes, but there aren’t too many marabou jigs swimming by the crappie in our bodies of water.”