Change of Heart-or Legs

[jaybo41]

Joe those are nice looking flies and while I don't fish for crappie, I bet they will get you into some fish.

Here's one that has been producing for me well over the past couple of years.

“Topside for Redfish” | MidCurrent

I tie mine a little different. Tail, is the same--flash and marabou, add some pearl estaz instead of hackling and I use a beetle cutter to cut the foam, tied on the hook of your choice. White and chartreuse have been my more productive colors for smallmouth.

Give one a try, my guess is you won't be disappointed.

[tbblom]

Top left fly has caught me a few crappie and trout.
Very similar to what you are tying, but add a bead and a shaggy collar (swishers GenX and grizzly marabou hackle collar on that one).

I was going for a nymph/damsel/baby crayfish look depending on retrieve.

At ice off last spring I hung it under a beetle and caught lots of stocked rainbows on it.

Now to go tie some gurglers for upcoming Florida trip

[FlyFlinger2421]

Try tying them on 1/100 oz trout jig hooks. Fish them under an indicator. They work great for big bluegill.

[dar]

I live in Central Iowa and the closest trout stream is a 3 hr drive one way. My favorite are a bit over 4. So, I tend to fly fish for warm water species when it is impractical to go fish for trout.

I do a lot of pond fishing that has bluegills, largemouth bass and carp. And, a few crappies. So I tie flys for both these species and trout.

Dave

[Rip Tide]

I go on binges.
I remember one time many years ago being in a fly shop looking to buy some stinger hooks for spinning bass bugs. A friend had wanted me to go fish with him and he only fished for bass (like those guys on TV ) . I wasn't too happy and I remember telling the shop owner that I thought "if you weren't fishing for trout, you were wasting your time" . I remember the guy looked at me like I was nutz and whispered " Yeah right"
It was a memorable foot-in-mouth moment on my part as I discovered that I loved spinning hair bugs and fishing for bass.

This year has been a mostly trout year for me , but other seasons were mostly warm water and there was at least a dozen seasons that were nearly exclusively all salt.
It's all good.

[theboz]

Originally Posted by lotech_joe

Here is a picture of some of the bugs I'm talking about. I figure they ought to work well for crappies.

Those flys should work great! Every spring I make several outings for crappie some for fun some to get some nice fillets for the pan . My partner is a die hard crappie guy with the telescoping rods little reels and jigs in every color you can imagine. He uses his rig and I fish nymphs ( usually beadhead scuds and hares ears) and I usually outfish him! While he's waiting for his ultra tiny bobber to move I'm twitching the nymphs and hooking up quick! Every year he says he's gonna convert after I school him! Never does cause we split the fillets anyway and that's all he's interested in !