Crappie rod

[illinivet8]

While walleyes are my preferred species, a good night of crappie fishing in north central MN is hard to beat. I am looking for advice on adding a high quality crappie rod for casting light weight jigs. I currently use an olde Loomis 6’ IMX 620. Looking for something longer and at least as sensitive. Likely the last one I will buy so I want to get it right.
I am considering St Croix models listed below, none of which are on hand in the store I shop at to personally get a feel for. They had an ultralight in hand but it seemed really light and whippy to me.
Legend Elite panfish 6’4” light extra fast.
Legend elite panfish 6’9” light fast
Legend elite panfish 7’0” light extra fast
Legend Elite, 7’0” light fast (this has the solid cork handle instead of split grip)
What grip, length, weight, and action do you prefer?

[REW]

Illini,

When I crappie fish, I typically fish with a rocket bobber to be able to pitch a 1/16th oz jig out about 50 yards to be able to cover a school of fish and then reel quickly back with a nigh speed retrieve reel.

-- Rocket Bobber -- it fishes on its side and when it tips up, set the hook. So ultra sensitive.
https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/roc...83?Ntt=bobbers


I have a couple of favorite rods.
1. A g loomis 7'6" IMX 9600. The still butt and soft tip allow one to really pitch the lure and bobber out a long way, but the soft tip still lets one feel the soft bite of the fish.

2. Another softer rod that I use is a 7'10 inch Shakari rod that I built with a medium light action with a very soft tip on the rod. Again, softer action that the 9600 but still have the ability to cast out a long distance and be able to tell the bite.

3. I built a rod for my wife that is a generic light action rod in a 6'6" action with a moderate action tip that works exceptionally well for a shorter rod.

4. My foster boy uses a 6' ultra light that I built for him many years ago and is still his favorite rod.

But, of all of the rods mentioned, I will still take down the loomis 9600 7'6" rod first because, it give me the ability cast the furthest and to reach more fish without moving the boat.

I also have a few other 7 1/2 foot rods in a medium light action that are quite close to the 9600 and work very well as well.

Your choice.

[illinivet8]

Thanks REW, as I go up in rod length do I need to move from L to ML?

[bfish]

If you have a reasonable priced custom rod builder, a middle of the road fast action fly rod blank(5 wt or 6 wt) makes a great crappie spinning rod. Batson RX6 and RX7 would be good choice (but there are plenty others)

[TomP.]

For Crappie fishing I like wimpy rods it just makes it more fun then just reeling them in I have a StCroix Avid ultra light 5 1/2 footer on a good size Crappie ( 12 inches plus )it will bend almost to the handle just plain fun. I picked up a Scheels 6 footer ultra light and am totally impressed with it for the price $63 got it on sale with 20% off during there sale

[Kevin23]

I have the panfish 6'9 ULF and LOVE it. Its the most sensitive crappie rod I have ever used. One of my favorite things in the world is pitching a 1/16oz crappie jig up under a dock in central MN right as the sun is going down and feeling that *TICK* as a 12" black crappie sucks in the bait.

[Mojo1269]

I have a custom built on the 7' L Extra Fast and its a dynamite rod. It pitches small jigs and bodies better than any rod I have owned. I fancied up with a split Wynn Grip and Torzite guides but Iam 100% confident the stock will not disappoint. It's nice too in that it has enough backbone that when the occasion snot rocket northern, or 3-pound bass hit you can get them in no problem. I was on a finesse Small Mouth bite recently sing 1/16 th oz jigs and 1.5-inch paddle tails and I was using that rod to land 18-20 inch small mouths.

[pan-wall]

My favorite crappie rod is a 7' st croix avid utralight fast action one piece.

My go to panfish rods are my GLoomis Walleye Series Mag-Lite 7' and my JT Customs Panhandler 6'6".

[Warreye]

6# or 8# fireline on a 10' slab daddy rod will cast a 1/16 jig a LONG way and you retain a lot of the sensitivity because of the line. I gave up using my 5 1/2 - 6' ultralights when I tried that for the first time. Cheap cheap and super fun to fight the fish on it. Have also used it casting 1/8 oz single or spec rigged jigs for smaller walleye up to 2.5 lbs, so it can handle throwing a little weight. Very whippy rod, more moderate action, not fast, but that's great for crappie. No need to break the bank. Buy several of those so others in the boat can fish the same setup.

I'm in love with long rods for everything throwing baits now since I started using that setup.