The crappie is known to be a sucker for a properly presented small jig, especially one with Marabou on it as a tail, etc. The reason that maribou is favored is that Ole man Crappie is a slo motion aficionado. Way back when Wapsi came out with one called the Mitey Mite and it looked like this: http://siouxcityjournal.com/sports/r...f4061bb0f.html the article also gives a bit of history and talks about marabou. Since then any number of flys and jigs have taken the name in one form or another and the latest rounds seem to either involve a hellagra "mite," tied fly or naming ice fishing jigs. I've been using and have some of those original jigs somewhere amongst my crappie lures, jigs and flies and they are still great. Of late a company has been putting out a rubber tailed jig that they call the Miny Mite and again it's a good jig but not as good as some others I've found.

Moving on to using them, fish them under a light bobber, (aka strike indicator) almost motionless at the depth the fish are holding or slightly above the fish and you can fill your freezer for certain. Years back when noting the jigs success and bead head flies were becoming popular I came up with my BS Fly. A 2x long, straight eyed, size 6-10 bead head tied with marabou and Estaz. I tie in a large copper bead head (Copperhead, aka Bluegill or Sunfish, hence BS Fly) then add a dark olive marabou tail. Wind on some dark Peacock Estaz, and tie in a dark olive wing that extends back to the tail's end and tie in a pinch of orange marabou for the throat. With that fly I have taken most species of freshwater fish including the IGFA all tackle world record Tilapia and several salt water fish. It is a killer on crappie and I tie them ranging from that orange throat to more of a bright yellow and with wings that range from light olive/brown to the dark olive I favor. I've also varied the bead head from bronze to silver but copper seems best.