Crappie Rod

Thinking of getting a new rod for crappies and sunnies. Looking for suggestions from those of you who fish them more regularly than i.

On our lake we have found we can do a lot of drifting or slow trolling with little hair jigs and catch some nice crappies. However, I just use my walleye rods for it. So I’m looking at a St Croix panfish rod.

My question is, does a guy go with a 7′ light or a 6′ ultra light? They dont seem to offer a 7′ ultra light. All my walleye and bass rods are longer so I’m more used to a 7’+ rod. Is there a benefit to shorter?

Not a big panfish guy so appreciate any input.

7 foot light and the st croix panfish series are nice rods. I prefer light vs ultra light as the seem to wippy for my liking. They are harder to cast any distance as well. The light gives good action on smaller panfish and can handle a nicer bass if they get in the way.

I would go with the lite.I have the avid in lite and it’s perfect.The UL are a little to whippy.

I dead stick a lot with “B’n’M Sam Heaton Super Sensitive ” rod instead of a bobber. Super wimpy and super fun to catch fish on. Fish can bend the rod without pulling the minnow out of their mouth.

The JT Customs Panhandler would be a good fit for sure

Crappie Tom recommended a 6 foot St. Croix Triumph rod to me a few years back and it’s my go-to for crappie. I think it’s light action. Great rod.

I really like long rods just because I use floats crappie fishing quite a bit and also I do use hair jigs. Tossing a hair jig with a longer rod I feel is much easier than a short rod.

I use a 7’2″ Apex Elite with a Diawa 750 reel and 4lb hi viz line.

For trolling for crappies I like to use the B’n’M The Difference crappie rod, 8’, light power, fast action, 1/64-1/4 oz lure. They are hard to beat for under $55. I don’t like the action of this rod for casting but it is perfect for trolling. St. Croix makes an Avid, 7’ UL, 1/32-3/16 oz lure weight (AVS70ULF). I like the action of this rod but always felt it was too tip heavy. I built a rod on the Rainshadow Immortal IMMP70UL blank. This blank feels more like a light to me. This is by far the best crappie rod I have ever used. (I might be a little bias because I made it) My brother did have to admit that it felt just as good as his Legend Elite Panfish rod when I caught him using it more than his Elite. Now I am making him one. If you can it is always a good idea to feel the rod out. Some manufactures will call a light a ultra-light, fast a mod-fast… There are no standards for the description of rods. The biggest thing to look for in a casting crappie rod is when you whip out the light lure the rod tip doesn’t keep shaking after your cast. The less it shakes after your cast the farther the lure will go. You also want to make sure the rod tip loads up a little on the cast to help toss your bait out.

I started with a 6′ Light power St. Croix Premiere and that was my first step up from my Ugly Sticks. What I’ve found is that I like it for tight covers for pitching jigs and small cranks and everything else. If catching 9-10 inch crappies I like a Light power rod. If catching crappies that are 12+ inches then I actually would prefer a Medium Light power rod. Typically I don’t need much casting distance and the 6′ rod gets the job done. If distance is needed, I reckon I would get a 7′ rod or longer in L or ML power.

ACC Crappie Stix!
ACC

I just finished up a new crappie rod. This blank is a little faster and has more pop for working small jigs. I am always looking for different options and trying to find what I feel is the best blank for different situations. I really like my Rainshadow and will be keeping it in the lineup. It was just a little slow on the recovery side when working jigs but is the perfect action for working crank baits, inline spinners,… lures that you will be bring in with a straight retrieve and need a little more forgiveness when they hit. There are many aspects to look at when picking a rod. Part of the sickness and fun.