When the bobber hits the water, the Beetle Spin’s weight will pull line through the float until the bobber abuts the bobber stop. Your bait is now at the depth you selected, and you can easily adjust the depth by moving the bobber stop up or down.

The benefit of this rig is that it allows you to slow your presentation and keep the spinner in the strike zone. Use a variety of retrieves -- small twitches, a slow steady retrieve or long pulls interrupted by a few motionless seconds -- until you determine the best pattern.

MISTER TWISTER
CURLYTAIL GRUB
The undulating tail of this classic gets the attention of every crappie. You can buy grubs alone or pre-rigged with jigheads or spinners. They come in three sizes ideal for crappie -- the 1-inch Li’l Bit, the 2-inch Teenie and the 3-inch Meenie.

Power Tactic: This is one of my favorite cypress lake lures. Cast your curlytail right into the broad buttress of a cypress tree, let it roll into the water and immediately start a smooth, steady retrieve through the knees that surround the tree.

LUHR JENSEN SHYSTER
I’ve probably caught more crappie on this polka-dotted, feather-tailed in-line spinner than any other lure. I started fishing Shysters almost 40 years ago, casting and retrieving in ponds stocked with crappie. The treble hook tends to snag a lot, but if you learn to work the lure close to --but not in -- the cover, crappie will rush out to hit it on the pass.

Power Tactic: The Shyster is one of the few crappie lures that seem to work best with a fast retrieve. Buzz it past stumps. Rip it over brushpiles. Troll it behind your boat. Be ready for the hard strikes it produces.

COTTON CORDELL
LITTLE MICKEY
Few crappie can resist this 1 1/2-inch, 1/4-ounce jigging spoon. The dressed treble with red thread offers a tempting target.

Power Tactic: The Little Mickey is ideal for fishing standing timber in 15 to 25 feet of water. Use a long, sensitive jigging pole with an attached spinning or underspin reel to lower the spoon beside a tree. Let the lure slide down, maintaining contact with the wood. Crappie often are close enough to touch the tree, which gives them a sense of security.

Give the spoon a short sideways snap every two feet, then let it fall a foot on slack line. Flicks of the wrist load the long pole, making the spoon hop erratically. If the spoon reaches bottom before a strike, move the lure up slowly in controlled fashion, stopping briefly every few feet.

BILL LEWIS LURES
TINY TRAP
I like fishing lipless crankbaits for crappie and one of my favorites is the 1/8-ounce Tiny Trap. I often use it when crappie are suspended around deep ledges, bridge pilings, sunken islands, bluffs and isolated brushpiles.

Power Tactic: Lower the lure to the target structure. Reel up slack, then begin a delicate upward sweep of your rod tip to activate the lure.

Move the rod tip as little as 12 inches or as much as 36 inches, experimenting as you fish to determine if crappie have a preference. Then slowly drop the rod tip, letting the lure free-fall back down.