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  Choosing the right weight and style of sinker to get your minnow or artificial lure where the fish live is one of the fundamental challenges of crappie angling.

  The variables involved in sinker selection are seemingly endless. You need to factor in the depth of the fish, the amount and type of cover, wind velocity, boat speed and more. Too much weight can spook the fish or put your presentation too deep. Too little weight may keep your presentation too high in the water column and make it too hard to cast your offering into the wind.
“Spider-rigging is unquestionably the hottest presentation tactic in crappie fishing, and heavy sinkers play a huge role in this multi-pole approach,
One of the most proficient “spidermen” in the country, Whitehead employs a mixture of lead sinkers and tungsten weights on his poles.
“Spider-rigging is a vertical approach, meaning it puts your lures straight down under the boat,”. “This method demands a heavy sinker in order to position your lure close to isolated pieces of cover and suspended crappie.”
In winter, spring and fall, most fishing poles are rigged with 1- and 2-ounce Xcalibur Tg sinkers.
  “The Tg weight is a barrel-shaped tungsten sinker with a hole running completely through it, similar in style to the sinkers bass anglers favor for their Carolina plastic-worm rigs,” he notes. “It has a sleeve running through it that protects your line.”
Whitehead claims tungsten sinkers are superior to lead because they are harder, environmentally friendly and more compact.
“They’re considerably smaller than lead sinkers of equivalent weight,” he says. “Tungsten sinkers cost more than lead sinkers, but as long as you’re not fishing places where break-offs are frequent, I feel the added expense is worth it because their smaller size allows a stealthier presentation. This is especially beneficial in clear water, where crappie are likely to be extremely spooky.”
Whitehead uses both lightweight tube jigs and crankbaits on his spider rigs, depending on the season and crappie location/mood.
During post-spawn,
  “After crappie leave their shallow spawning areas in the backs of coves and start gravitating toward the main lake, they often go into a suspending mode and can be hard to catch,” he says. “Plus, the lake is starting to clear up now that the rainy season is over, making the bite even tougher. Catching post-spawn fish in clear water usually requires that you downsize your presentation.”
remove the super-heavy sinkers from his spider rigs and replaces them with less obtrusive ¼-ounce to 5⁄8-ounce weights.
“During post-spawn, crappie are extremely finicky, so I’ll slow-troll a combination of tube jigs and live minnows, watching my graph for scattered schools of fish,” he says. “You’ll often find them suspending around a migration route leading from shallow to deeper water, such as a submerged ditch or shallow creek channel.”
bobber fishing.
  “Using a small sinker below the bobber gets your minnow or tube down quicker and keeps it where you want it. “When bobber fishing, use tiny 1⁄16- and 1⁄8-ounce Tru-Tungsten bullet worm weights, depending on how deep the fish are suspending. You can also use their Peter T pegging system, which allows you to peg the sinker so you can position it anywhere along the line you desire without the line abrasion you get from pegging with a toothpick.”
  To keep break-offs to a minimum, Duckworth recommends braided line when fishing with costlier tungsten sinkers.
use 20-pound Spider Wire with tungsten weight “This super-strong line minimizes break-offs, yet its slim diameter helps you maintain a low profile in clear water.”