Why Downsizing Your Lures Will Catch More Spring Crappie

May 04, 2026

While the this adage may sound backwards to some anglers, B’n’M Pro Matt Foster has spent years studying Lake Wappapello crappie. From his observations and experimentations, he has found that even during the spring, when crappie are assumed to be more active, downsizing your lures catches more spring crappie on highland impoundments like his.

“One thing that has stuck with me that an old timer shared a long time ago was that nobody eats steak and potatoes nine times a day,” he said, “but there’s always room for a snack.”

Following this assessment, Foster has increased his catch rates tremendously by shrinking the size of the meal on the end of his line.

Crappie Magnet’s Eye hole jig head is the perfect sized “snack” for Wappapello crappie.

Wappapello differs from most other crappie lakes in his Missouri region. Sometimes referred to as “Whop-A-Prop”, the lake's riverine nature and relatively shallow, stained water disguises the many tractor-tire-sized stumps just below the surface. 

The spawn heats up at Wappapello in late April, so he generally expects to find the predominately white crappie populations that call the lake home to suspend 4 to 8-feet deep while staging before moving in to spawn.

Like many crappie anglers these days, Foster has two favorite methods for catching spawning crappie. The first is his old-school, tried-and-true method of randomly casting 1/32-ounce Crappie Magnet Eyehole jigs under a cork around places that historically have or look like they might hold crappie. Sonar electronics has little to do with this style of fishing, and it’s his favorite tactic whenever he’s taking his kids or newcomers to the sport for the anticipation of that bobber coming to life, doing a little backward dance, then disappearing altogether.

B’n’M’s TCB spinning rod allows anglers to cast tiny baits on small diameter line with ease and accuracy.

When casting the cork and jig, he generally targets pea gravel banks where crappie will eventually settle in to spawn. He throws the rig on a 6 1/2-foot B’n’M TCB ultralight spinning rod using Crappie Magnet’s S.O.S. fishing line that’s a mere 2-pound test. When he says small, he means it. His jig, line and especially the bait, a Trout Magnet, measures just barely1-inch.

Even the bobber he uses, a Crappie Magnet EZ-Float model, has a purpose in the overall presentation. Foster said a lot of anglers using run of the mill bait shop corks for this type of fishing miss bites because the cork does not properly telegraph when a crappie grabs the bait and continues upward with it.

“My basic retrieve is to cast the rig, then use a twitch-twitch-crank retrieve,” said Foster. “Anywhere in that movement, when a fish takes the jig, the balance of the E-Z Float will let you know by flipping over or giving off an irregular wobble. That’s when it’s time to set the hook.”

Foster adds another crappie to the livewell.

His second method involves targeting crappie in open water using his marine electronics. Using forward-facing, real-time sonar Foster identifies individual fish and uses the same B’n’M TCB rod to put the same Crappie Magnet bait on the same 1/32-ounce jighead on a crappie's nose to tempt it into biting.

Foster customized his FFS settings to make the jig “pop” onscreen as soon as it comes into view of the transducer cone. He sets his forward range at 120 – 125 feet, but waits to cast to fish until they get within 45 feet of the boat.

"I set my boat up with plenty of room in the front," Foster said. The 16-inch Garmin screen is mounted on a Cornfield Fishing Gear bridge mount with a single telescopic swivel mount.  I can see a long way out front and when I identify the fish I’m after, I hit the crappie brakes on my anchor poles, try to get the jig to it as quick as I can, and get the party started.”

Article by Phillip Gentry

**********

Wherever fishing takes you, B’n’M has been there. Visit our website at bnmpoles.com

 

 

---

Also in Weekly Tips and Techniques