The best crappie rigs: four that cover the whole season

Every crappie rig is answering one question

Crappie suspend. They sit at a depth in the water column and they will come up to eat far more readily than they will go down. Which means a bait an inch above them is being fished and a bait an inch below them is not.

So every rig below exists to put a small jig at a chosen depth and keep it there. The differences are how precisely, how far out, and how much cover you can get it into.

Our crappie jigs page covers what goes on the end of all four, and our crappie setup page covers the rod and reel.

1. The slip float rig

A bobber stop on the line, then a bead, then a slip float, then a small split shot and the jig. The float slides freely until it hits the stop, so you can fish 12 ft of water on a 7 ft rod and still cast it.

This is the most useful crappie rig there is, because depth becomes a dial. Slide the stop up a foot, cast again, repeat until something happens.

The float has to be sized so a 1/16 oz jig and a split shot pull it down to its waterline. An over-buoyant float is why bites get missed. Our floats page covers weighting one properly, and the Thill Pro Series publishes a balsa body with a brass grommet line path, which is what lets the line run freely rather than sticking.

Fish it in spring when crappie are shallow in brush, and any time you can see the cover you are fishing.

2. The double jig rig

Two jigs on one line, tied about 18 in apart — the lower one on the tag end, the upper one on a dropper loop or a second tag.

It exists to answer the depth question twice per cast. Fish take one of the two consistently, and once they do you know where they are and can move both jigs to that band.

It is also the rig for a vertical presentation over brush from a boat, where you are lowering rather than casting.

Two jigs means twice the snags, so it is the wrong rig in heavy timber. Check your state rules as well — some limit the number of hooks per line.

3. The bottom bouncer, for the deep summer pattern

A sinker on the bottom with the jig on a leader above it. Simple, and it is the rig most crappie anglers skip because it feels like catfish tackle.

It matters in summer, when crappie push out to deep brush piles and creek channel edges in 20 to 30 ft of water. A float rig cannot reach there and a free-falling jig takes forever to arrive.

A bullet or egg sinker of 1/4 to 1/2 oz, a bead, a swivel, then 18 to 24 in of fluorocarbon leader to the jig. Our sinkers page covers the shape choice, and our swivels page covers the connection.

4. The dock shot

Not a rig so much as a delivery method: a single light jig on straight line, skipped under a dock by loading the rod tip and releasing it like a catapult.

Crappie live under docks in summer and the fish that never see a bait are the ones furthest back. Nothing else gets a jig eight feet under a walkway.

It needs a light rod that loads with 1/16 oz, a smooth reel and light line. Our crappie rods page covers the rod side; the technique is the part that takes an afternoon to learn and then never leaves you.

Which rig, by season

Our ice rigs page covers the hard-water version of the same problem, which is the same jigs at the same depths with the float replaced by a rod tip.

The components, and where not to economize

Line. 4 to 6 lb monofilament, replaced every season. Crappie have paper-thin mouths and mono’s stretch is what stops a small hook tearing out.

The leader. Fluorocarbon for the bottom bouncer and for clear water. Our leaders page covers the material choice.

The float. The one component worth buying properly. A cheap plastic float with a rough line path sticks, and a float that sticks is a rig that fishes at the wrong depth without telling you.

Bobber stops. Cheap, and the thing you will run out of. They are sold in packs of a dozen: bobber stops and beads on Amazon.