This soft plastic mimics everything from minnows to nymphs
Word about hot artificial lures spreads fast on the water, even faster off the water, as Jeff Smith and Todd Leland Gainer discovered in the mid-90s.
Smith and Gainer’s go-to soft plastic they made for themselves for freshwater trout was outed years ago. As a result, their hobby that allowed them, friends and family to consistently catch more fish in the streams than others led to starting an artificial lure manufacturing company, Leland’s Lures.
Trout Magnet was born in 1977. The rest is history. Word filtered back that many anglers were using Trout Magnets to put crappie in the ice chest. They later researched and experimented to learn what shapes, colors, etc., crappie prefer and used their findings to design the Crappie Magnet in the early 2000s.
With the Crappie Magnet’s introduction, the world of fishing for crappie (also known as sac-a-lait or white perch) changed for the better at a time when few others made specialized soft plastics with one well-known exception, the long-established Bobby Garland Crappie Baits.
“There wasn’t a lot of competition at the time,” Smith said.
The original Crappie Magnet’s success, coupled with the highly popular Trout Magnet, helped the company expand to making jigheads, including its unique and eye-opening Eye Hole Scent Holder Jigs, and other soft plastics for crappie such as the Roo, which quickly is becoming as popular as the first Crappie Magnet.
Fast forward to around 2020, the start of the Covid period that coincided with the introduction of forward facing sonar.
“We had a lot of product on the market when the boom happened the last five years,” Smith said. “There are so many different plastic lures in our lineup now. God has really blessed us, the connections we’ve made.”
Popular colors
The Searcy, Ark., angler proudly emphasized the Crappie Magnets and Trout Magnets, et al, are American made in several buildings located in Searcy. He noted 100,000-150,000 soft plastics are made daily by 12 to 15 full-time staffers and 30-40 part-time workers.
The 55-year co-owner who moved to Arkansas from West Virginia, where he and his buddy first started making their homemade artificials, said Crappie Magnets account for many white perch for one of his pro staffers who guides at Toledo Bend. The guide, who calls the Crappie Magnet his “silver bullet,” relies on Tennessee shad-colored Crappie Magnets.
“It catches fish,” Smith said. “It’s one of the ugliest baits we’ve got but it flat out catches fish. I can’t even explain it.”
The soft plastic grub body has a split tail. It is 1 ¾ inches long.
Typically, its best action is on jigheads anywhere from 1/32 to ⅛ to 1/16 ounces, Smith said. The most popular colors in stained water are black/chartreuse and Isom (orange/chartreuse), while clear water conditions call for the ShoNuff (pearl/black flake).
Why are they so effective?
Unlike freshwater trout, crappie aren’t partial to soft plastics that are falling totally horizontally, Smith said.
“It does not fall as horizontal as a Trout Magnet,” he said. “We alter lures (and action) until we get the best reaction. We find what each species likes. Each lure is made for certain areas, too.”
The Crappie Magnet has developed a reputation as one of the most versatile soft plastics for crappie. It can be cast and reeled, pushed, trolled, vertical jigged, shot under docks, tight-lined, dipped in shallow cover and more.
Smith said he and others stick to 4-pound test line when fishing with a Crappie Magnet.
For more information on the Crappie Magnet and other Leland’s Lures products go to troutmagnet.com/crappie-magnet.html or call (501) 268-0754.
