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I am a bass fisherman and have a pretty good knowledge about rod and reel setups... However, I know absolutely nothing about crappie rod and reels. Looking at giving the crappie a try. However, I have no clue about what I need. Any recommendations? Any help appreciated.
Im no crappie expert, but i just picked up a couple cheap 6'6-7 ML-M spinning rods and a couple cheap smaller spinning reels from wal mart. I fish a slip float and minnow or jig so it works for me. If youre gonna drift or vertical jig you might look into the 8-10' rods, but for what little i fish for em my setups work great. I generally catch and clean what we'll eat during the year in the spring when theyre easy to find
[QUOTE=pastorbass;538246]I am a bass fisherman and have a pretty good knowledge about rod and reel setups... However, I know absolutely nothing about crappie rod and reels. Looking at giving the crappie a try. However, I have no clue about what I need. Any recommendations? Any help appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Crappie don't require monster hook sets like bass, so anything from an ultralight to medium action rod will do fine. I use all spinning tackle, generally two setups. One for slip bobber, one for jigging light jigs.
Crappie are super picky. They'll slam a white grub with a black jighead in 1/16 oz size, but not touch the same thing in a 1/8 oz. size. Sometimes they'll hammer the hell out of crawlers, but not minnows. Or vice versa. The trick is first finding them, then getting the size, color, flavor, and action right. (like bass) Sometimes they want the bait moving, sometimes they like it still. Sometimes you'll pull forty nice fish out of one spot, or you might pull one nice fish out of forty spots! Sometimes, you'll watch a guy fish the tree you were going to fish, he pulls out two in an hour, then finally leaves, and then you go in and catch forty!
They are a lot of fun. Invest in a good submersible light, catching them on the night bite is probably my favorite. Oh and remember Speed Stop bobber stops. IMO the best bobber stops you can buy. All bobber stops are a giant pain in the ass, but these are flexible enough to not crack and fall off, and they don't seem to snag as much as the lil footballs.
Good luck!
I use 2 setups. A 6'6' ultralight and a 7' light action. I use currently use pflueger president reels but I got by with the inexpensive Mitchells for yrs. The ultralight rod is for 1/32 to 1/8th oz jigs. The light action is for 1/16 to 1/8 oz. If you use 6lb. test you can really cast these setups. Which setup I use depends on the size of fish I'm catching. If you are fishing a place like Ky. Lake(big fish) the 7' rod should probably be in your hand. On lures buy some 1/32,1/16, and 1/8 oz. jigs with #2 hooks. I prefer the 3/32 oz but they are hard to find. Lure bodies: tubes, curly tails, and minnow type baits like the bass assassin. Colors: you cant go wrong with pearl and chartreuse or combination of the two.
If you'd like an education from one of the best crappie fisherman in the state just call David Jones at (270) 634-2675 and schedule a trip with him. David is a professional crappie guide on Green River Lake. Here's a video of David fishing with Tim Farmer. [URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPsXFyPWHbs[/URL]
I've been fishing crappie for five years. Spent one day with David and learned more about crappie fishing than all the books and videos I've watched.
Take a friend and fish with him one day. Money well spent.
TG
It depends on how you are going to fish for Crappie, trolling needs a stiff rod with a line counter reel, spider rigging you need 11 or 12 foot rods and small spinning reels so you can spread out your baits and vary the depths, shooting docks you need a 6 foot rod with a good reel that feeds out line easily, casting jigs takes an ultra lite rod to cast light weight baits. So you see you can never have too many rods or reels to fish for Crappie. The more the better.(at least that is what I keep telling my wife)
Dave
Thanks everyone for the great info. I really do appreciate it.
I know David - I worked a trade show next to him at a few years back and my uncle and him both work at the board of education in Adair county together. I may try to get a trip booked.
Thanks again for the help in getting me started. Looking forward to something new...