Greatest Crappie Rods of 2023

With regards to crappie rods, there are a ton of choices for anglers in the present day. Primarily as a result of we’ve developed so many strategies of catching these tasty fish over time, maybe greater than some other panfish on the market. In truth, the superior variety of rods is matched solely by the variety of rigs for crappie fishing. For anybody who’s new to concentrating on this species, the plethora of selections can shortly get overwhelming. To not fear, we’re right here to interrupt all of it down for you.

There’s a little one thing for everybody on this listing of rods, from the devoted spider rig angler to the informal fisherman who merely desires a brand new extremely gentle spinning rod. These are the very best crappie fishing rods you should purchase proper now.

How We Picked the Greatest Crappie Rods

When choosing the very best fishing rods for crappie, we particularly thought in regards to the many various techniques which were developed for concentrating on these fish. Whereas it might be good if issues have been simplified, there isn’t actually a one-size-fits-all rod that’s applicable for papermouths. Subsequently, listed here are crucial components that went into our selections:

• Rod Size: Is that this a shorter rod designed for capturing jigs beneath docks? Or is that this an extended rod meant to be used in a spider rig?
• Clean: What supplies have been used within the building of this rod? And the way does that have an effect on sensitivity and casting distance?
• Motion: How a lot flex does the rod have, and what techniques will it work greatest with?
• Worth: How do the elements and building examine with the worth?

Greatest Crappie Rods: Critiques and Suggestions

Greatest General: St. Croix Panfish Collection

Key Options

• Development: Carbon Fiber
• Lengths: 5’ – 9’
• Energy: Quick, Additional Quick, Reasonable Quick
• Motion: Extremely Gentle, Gentle, Medium gentle

Execs

• Nice spine
• Vary of powers for various eventualities
• High quality elements

Cons

Objective-built with panfish in thoughts, the St. Croix panfish sequence gives extra choices than some other crappie rod. There are quick and additional quick choices that are perfect for working jigs, however there are additionally a few average quick choices which might be excellent for smaller crankbaits. This rod has a excessive worth level, however lots of that value is within the elements, together with the carbon fiber building, the stainless-steel guides, and the nylon reel seat. These rods additionally include prime quality cork handles that give them glorious ergonomics.

Person evaluations rave in regards to the spine of those rods, particularly the ultralights. One person particularly reported catching a 15-pound catfish on considered one of them. Clearly, given the hard-fighting nature of a catfish, that’s a powerful testimonial. These rods will simply deal with even the biggest of slabs.

Greatest Jigging Rod: B’n’M Bucks Graphite Jigging Rod

Key Options

• Development: Graphite
• Lengths: 8’ – 16’
• Energy: Gentle, Medium
• Motion: Quick

Execs

• Good worth level
• Massive guides
• Nice spine

Cons

B’n’M poles have an excellent status with severe crappie anglers due to the stable graphite building that provides these rods lots of sensitivity. This specialty jigging rod is manufactured in two-piece fashions as much as 12 toes and three-piece fashions as much as 16 toes for skittish crappies in clear water. These rods have glorious alloy guides and are nice for jigging however work effectively for spider rigging, too. Person evaluations on Cabela’s additionally reward these rods for having glorious spine for swinging bigger slabs onboard the boat. The extra inexpensive worth level doesn’t damage both.

The draw back typically reported by customers in on-line evaluations is sturdiness points with the rod ideas. Nonetheless, the excellent news is that B’n’M sells alternative rod ideas for many who are prepared to do repairs.

Greatest Rod & Reel Combo: Pflueger President Spinning Combo

Key Options

• Development: Graphite
• Lengths: 4’ 8” – 7’
• Energy: Extremely Gentle, Gentle, Medium
• Motion: Quick

Execs

• Clean reel
• High quality reel seat
• Number of dimension choices

Cons

Pflueger’s President reel is paired up with a Fenwick rod to create probably the greatest rod and reel combos for crappie. The reel itself features a 10-bearing system and a sealed drag that person evaluations reward for being extremely easy on the retrieve. The rod is a Fenwick with high-quality stainless-steel guides and a stable top-securing reel seat. Person evaluations state the standard of the elements permit this rod to face as much as the weather fairly effectively. The ergonomics are additionally glorious due to the cork handles. There’s a good little bit of selection right here by way of powers and lengths provided. The longer rods are perfect for dock capturing and the shorter ones are nice for easy slip bobber and minnow setups.

The largest draw back is the worth as a result of some anglers may be just a little hesitant to drop $120 to $130 for a lighter crappie rod. However for a high-quality piece of drugs that’s able to go together with minimal rigging wanted, this rod is ready to fish the second it leaves the field.

Greatest Spinning Rod: Berkley C-Collection Crappie Professional Spinning

Key Options

• Development: Carbon Fiber Graphite
• Lengths: 5’ 6” – 10’
• Energy: Gentle
• Motion: Reasonable Quick

Execs

• Inexpensive
• Light-weight
• Delicate

Cons

• Stories of simply damaged rod ideas

The C-Collection was designed primarily with spider rigging and jigging in thoughts. Nonetheless, the 7-foot mannequin could be a stable selection for bobber fishing too. This top-rated spinning rod is a flexible choice for the angler who plans to fish a wide range of types however doesn’t need to break the financial institution shopping for plenty of rods. These rods use a easy carbon fiber graphite building that imparts stable sensitivity into the setup.

The massive problem with this rod is sturdiness of the tip—a number of evaluations point out it breaking simply. But it surely’s nonetheless the very best low cost rod you may get and, if cared for correctly, can final you for a lot of seasons to return.

Greatest for Spider Rigging: Lew’s Wally Marshall Troll Tech

Key Options

• Development: Graphite
• Lengths: 10’, 12’, 14’, 16’
• Energy: Medium heavy
• Motion: Reasonable

Execs

• Worth
• Glorious guides
• Nice reel seat

Cons

• Some reported sturdiness points

Spider rigging requires a prolonged rod with a great spine and that’s the place this rod designed by crappie fishing professional Wally Marshall comes into play. Lew’s builds this rod in 4 totally different lengths together with a large 16-footer for eventualities involving skittish crappie. The ten and 12-foot fashions are two-piece rods whereas the 14 and 16-footers are three items for simpler transport. These rods are medium heavy energy which supplies them a bit extra spine for the trials of trolling across the lake all day. Lew’s gave these rods a graphite reel seat and stainless-steel guides so as to add to the corrosion resistance.

The most important problem with these rods appears to be sturdiness, though reviewers on the Lew’s web site word customer support assist exchange damaged rods shortly. Regardless, for efficiency, these rods are an excellent choice for any spider rig setup, and the worth makes it inexpensive to purchase sufficient to fill all of your rod holders.

Greatest for Dock Taking pictures: Lew’s Wally Marshall Velocity Shooter

Key Options

• Development: Graphite
• Size: 5’ 6’ – 7’
• Energy: Medium gentle
• Motion: Quick

Execs

• Objective-designed for dock capturing
• Glorious spine
• Extraordinarily delicate

Cons

• Some reported delivery points
• Vibrant colours is probably not for all anglers

Dock capturing requires a sturdy rod with loads of flexibility and spine to resist the stress of utilizing the rod’s bend to shoot lures into tight items of canopy. The Velocity Shooter is a one-piece graphite rod that hundreds up properly with stress. The quick motion simply slings jigs beneath the bottom of docks. Lew’s builds this rod in 4 lengths becoming for a wide range of eventualities. Person evaluations reward the rod’s sensitivity on lighter strikes.

Whereas the colourful colours is probably not each angler’s cup of tea, the rod has a robust spine and it may be used for extra than simply crappie (one reviewer famous utilizing it for bass fishing Ned rigs, as an illustration). That versatility is tough to beat.

Greatest Price range: South Bend Crappie Stalker

Key Options

• Development: Graphite composite
• Lengths: 9’, 10’, 12’
• Energy: N/A
• Motion: Additional Quick

Execs

• Nice worth
• Excessive visibility tip
• Good sensitivity

Cons

• Reel seat could possibly be nicer
• Small guides

South Bend has a stable providing beneath $30 with the Crappie Stalker. This straightforward rod is out there in three totally different lengths and has a high-visibility tip that helps with strike detection. Moreover, the additional quick motion helps to impart loads of motion to a jig. It will probably additionally assist with the lightest of strikes whereas fishing a dwell minnow. The budget-friendly rod is light-weight but has sufficient power in case of an unintended catch of one other species.

The downsides are the reel seat, which could possibly be higher, and the guides, that are extraordinarily small. There are additionally some reported sturdiness points by customers. However the worth level is true for somebody who desires a number of rods on the boat rigged with totally different lures.

Greatest Bait Finesse System: Jenko BFS Double Down

Key Options

• Development: N/A
• Size: 6’ 6”
• Energy: N/A
• Motion: N/A

Execs

• Precision baitcaster casting
• Extraordinarily light-weight
• Nice for ahead sonar

Cons

Bait finesse methods or BFS for brief, have been popularized for bass in Japan and steadily migrated over to the states the place crappie anglers adopted them. It makes lots of sense as a result of these rods have been designed with tiny baitcasters in thoughts, thus giving anglers a ton of precision of their casting with even the tiniest of jigs and crankbaits. Jenko is mainly the one firm at the moment manufacturing BFS rods with crappies in thoughts. This rod is a wonderful choice for ahead going through sonar and dwell scope eventualities the place precision casting is a should.

Surprisingly, not lots of different corporations have hopped on the BFS for crappie bandwagon but, which is why these rods are so troublesome to search out. They typically promote out shortly, however for crappie anglers who get their arms on one, it opens a world of potentialities of their crappie gear arsenal.

What to Think about When Selecting a Crappie Rod

As a result of there are such a lot of totally different strategies for concentrating on crappie, most fanatics personal a number of rods for concentrating on this species. Relying on the state of affairs and elegance of fishing, you may want an extended rod for trolling, and a shorter one for skipping crappie lures beneath docks. Most crappie rods are graphite, which permits higher sensitivity for lighter bites. This turns into particularly necessary when jigging since most crappies strike on the autumn of the lure.

Size

Crappie rods run a gamut of sizes. There are alternatives from slightly below 6 toes all the best way as much as 18 toes. Whereas that will sound outsized to a more moderen crappie angler, the lengthy lengths have very particular case use eventualities. Trolling or “spider rigging” requires longer rods of 12 toes or longer to get the lure out additional forward of the boat.

Spider rigging does require a major funding in rod holders, a number of crappie rods, and specialised electronics and different boat equipment. Nonetheless, when carried out accurately, there could also be no higher approach to catch your restrict. See our full how-to information to spider-rigging for crappies for extra data on this distinctive tactic.

With regards to these longer trolling rods, most producers supply them in two or three items to make it simpler to move. There are additionally telescoping rods constructed particularly for crappie. Though most of those rods, that are within the 10 to 14-foot vary, are supposed to carry out like a modern-day cane pole or Tenkara setup with a set size of line. These are greatest off docks or from the financial institution.

One other extraordinarily well-liked rod-specific tactic is “dock capturing,” which includes quick motion rods not more than seven toes lengthy at max. This methodology requires the angler to carry the jig with one hand. The angler then flexes the rod so it successfully acts as a bow, capturing the jig ahead. It sounds unusual, and requires lots of observe. However when carried out by a practiced angler, there isn’t any higher approach to tuck a jig again into tight cowl. Carried out correctly, it may well assist anglers attain crappie different anglers can not attain, particularly beneath docks the place the fish are hanging shut.

Motion and Energy

Anglers don’t want an particularly beefy rig to pursue crappie. A two-pounder is an effective fish. Most fashionable crappie rods are of average or quick motion. The versatile ideas assist impart a ton of motion to the lure, particularly jigs, that are probably the most well-liked crappie lures available on the market in the present day.

In most eventualities, a lightweight energy rod will get the job carried out. Most crappie rods are gentle energy. Nonetheless, extra rods are provided in the present day in medium or medium heavy powers. It’s not a foul concept to get one thing with a bit extra spine to it, particularly when trolling. As crappie anglers typically inadvertently hook into unintended targets like bass or catfish. There are many tales on the market of big muskie unexpectedly taking an angler’s tiny crappie jig. If you wish to land a few of these unintended catches, a stronger rod isn’t a foul concept.

FAQs

Closing Ideas on the Greatest Crappie Rods

The St. Croix panfish sequence was a straightforward selection for our greatest total crappie rod due to the flexibility provided by the complete line. The Pflueger combo and the 2 Lew’s crappie-specific rods are our follow-ups for greatest crappie rods on this listing. Though crappie caught be caught so many various strategies, it’s exhausting to go improper with any of those choices.

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