What sunscreen is best for crappie fishing — does sunscreen on my hands hurt the crappie bite?

It can shave a little off a light bite, and it is easy to avoid. The documented repellent is PABA, a sunscreen active that turned bass away in Keith Jones's Berkley research; most modern sunscreens dropped it, and other ingredients are barely studied. So buy a fragrance-free mineral lotion or stick (zinc oxide / titanium dioxide), skip scented sprays, apply at home 20–30 minutes before, and let a UPF hoodie, buff and sun gloves cover the rest. Crappie find a bait by sight and vibration; taste decides whether they keep it. That matters most in cold or stained water, where the fish inspects longer and the take is a faint up-bite. The baits are small — a tube or a minnow your fingers hooked — so a sunscreen film is a big share of the scent. Wash the palms with unscented soap.

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