Thanks have had success with Skip's Dragon type flies and other generic weighted flymph type bugs.I have a hard time finding crappies in the fall around here.My best crappie bug is an inverted zonker .Lead body on top of hook.Mylar tubing over .Bucktail wing. Lead tape head with stick on 3d eyes The eyes are important if the eyes fall off they seem to stop working.Small cat whiskers are good in shallows.

I have to try tying some of those. I bet the crappie and bluegill around here will love them. Thanks for the hints !

A white Marabou leadhead jig has been killer for me in the spring when the crappie are schooling, just as they come in from deep water.

Wow. Those look like killer crappie flies, and I bet they would work well on bass, panfish and even trout. Ill be trying those out for sure. Thanks!

I have great luck on crappie with very small clousers on size 12 hooks, and I tie beadchain eye pheasant tails on a size 10 hopper hook that work well for all manner of warmwater fish.

Definitely ,and big bass can also be caught on bugs too.I am sure they remember gorging on them as youngsters.Much of the water i fish is full of dragons and damsels.Have caught a few 2 lb+ crappies on nymphs in the rip rap during some massive mayfly hatches.Had many in our group switch from minnows to waxworms as they were keying on hatching mayflies on the lake we fish on our annual trip.I was outfishing live bait in chilly water at times..Crappies will hit on top at times and is really fun.In my waters i have better luck with brownish or pale yellow flies for crappies and black and olive for bluegills redears greenies etc.I will post some pics when i get a chance but my bugs are of a similar style as yours.

No crappie today and no fiberglass rod today, as I opted for my trusty Sage SP 690 two piece due to high winds, but the fish are starting to get very active in the shallow waters. Fished numerous nymphs under Pat Dorsey style indicators and have been catching some nice bass in the evenings the last few weeks on large dragonfly patterns. However, today the Beck’s damsel was only thing they wanted. Caught about a dozen sunfish and small bass on chartreuse Beck’s damsel:











There’s something about that little green nymph.

Going to have to try that nymph should work here at the south end of the great lakes.Also Dave W's red fox squirrel nymph.Have not tied those in a while but am going to fish them often this season.Here are a few i tied the last few days mostly for my annual trip for mostly crappies but also longears bluegills redears etc.



crappie clousers sz 10 crappie zonker hybrid fished erratic like a tiny spoon.Have caught lots of crappies and bass on these.



little yellow glass eyed flymph type flies sz12




sz 14 barebless poppers in damsel colors.




Will add some garside sparrows and a few others .This lake we go to has an excellent mayfly hatch and the crappies as well as everything else will hit nymphs on a sunny afternoon.

Thanks SR .Never used nor heard of glowbrite floss but like the look.I think I have everything else.I met DW and we had a nice chat.The show he was at was not well attended so he had time.His RFS nymph was one of my first tying attempts.I plan on fishing several of his warm water patterns this season.

This is by far my favorite Crappie Fly.

The Little Crappie Fly


https://youtu.be/huBZsTs8ui0

For some reason its Pickerel will not leave it alone either.

Just returned from my annual crappie trip in So Illinois.Been going down there for several years,I fly fish some but with 3 in the boat and usually wind conditions not an easy task,There were not a lot of people this time so many of the ancient wood boat docks were empty where we stay.Has great success between boat rides fishing from i dock and casting under the next one.Caught 40-50 keeper size crappiesand a few bass on 1 fly.Was using 6' browning sila flex 5wt with 6wt wf floating and 6 feet of 8lb mono.Could roll cast under the docks next to the wood posts.IIt was non stop at times.Forgot my camera as i had every intention of lots of pics.Here is the fly i used sz10 crappies clouser.Never changed the fly.




Here are a few prototypes i was making over the winter,Anxious to try these locally.

My pics are awful but nothing like a new fly that works and works well.A simple tie except for glueing the eyes on the brass hour glass eyes.Rode perfectly.Was very snag resistant and durable.Nearĺy 50 fish and bouncing off the docks. The best part is this trip has been going for 40 years.A large group goes and may have a few converts to the fly rod as they could not believe I was catching so many nice fish right where they were parking their boats.

I also tie lots of little jigs but the clouser in nearly any form rides differently than even a weight forward/balanced jig.The only thing i did differently on thes was i used a 3x hook as opposed to a standaed hook like larger clousers.The grass dumbells gave it just enough weight.This fly did NOT hang up at all and very few crappies that hit it did not get hooked.No one was more surprised than me by how well this fly worked.The fishing was not outstanding as the water was murkey and it was 80 degrees and full sun. I will not fish jigs on a flyrod ,i have no problem fishing them on UL spinning and of course they work well.I tie several nymphs flymphs etc with bead chain in muted colors and they are my favorite bugs in deeper pools and along weed edgesI can also tie jig versions of the same.I pretty much fish the same areas no matter what gear i am using.