Crappie Gear

I need some reccomendations for some crappie gear. I used to be way into bass fishing and have some really nice gear but now crappies are my thing and my bass gear is way too heavy. My current crappie rigs are cheap ultra light combos I bought at WallyWorld. They work great for shooting docks and such but thats about it. Any reccomendations?

Any opinions on the Crappie Maxx gear from Bass Pro?

I prefer spinning gear if that helps.

No crappie fishermen here???

I really like a noodle style rod for vertical jigging. I've got a couple UL rods, but my favorite was a 6' WhipperRod. Extrafast tip, but enough backbone to horse them out of cover (and bridge pilings). The only thing I didn't like about it was how short it was, which meant I didn't get to the prime area like the guys with longer rods.

This year I'm running an 8' 5W flyrod blank setup with a TN reel seat for a UL spinning reel. The whole thing is crazy light, but still has reach and tons of action on the tip. Can't wait to try it out on the river this year, if it works as well as I hope I may chase down a 10'er.

AFA the CrappieMaxx gear, a friend just picked up a few rods - in the 8' length no less - so we're looking forward to comparing the two setups.

Crappie are addictive, that's for sure!

Depends on how much you want to spend. B&M poles are nice but pricey, have 2 of the jip poles I use for trolling/longlining. Ozark rods are nice from comments I've read but don't own any. Cabelas has Ozarks on sale now. Just about any light action rod will work, I have several Wally World Shakespear Micro Lite rods in 6.5 and 7' lengths that I like just as well as the B&M's for less than half the cost ($17 vs ~$40 on sale). don't need heavy duty reels either, as 4 or 6 lb test hi viz works best in most cases unless you're gonna be jigging the brush piles, then a bit heavier line is recommended. Don;t forget the rod holders as well, and the Terrova TM with IP, GPS with SS/DI, etc.

I have one short BPS crappie max rod for dockshooting, and have several of the small crappie max reels, no complaints on either. Good stuff for a decent price.

What method(s) of fishing you gonna try? Jigging brush piles, longline/trolling, spider rigging, pulling cranks, pushing cranks, different equipment needed for the different styles. Hope ya got deep pockets. :LOL2:

I'm looking to stay under $125 for rod and reel. We had a new Cabelas open here in town a few weeks ago and Ive been waiting for the crowds to die down. I may ride up and check it out this weekend. They have a Cabelas branded rod made by B&M that might fit the bill for around $45 and I hear Pfleuger Presidents are gonna be on sale. Even if they are not that combo would be less than 100 bucks. I'll also check out the ones mentioned here. This will be for casting light jigs and small cranks. I have a couple short rods I use for shooting docks but they arnt much for casting. I may pick up one of those long noodlers down the road for jigging brush. Thanks for the replies.

So I spent a couple hours looking around at our new Cabelas today. What a mad house. Its a very small store and they have everything in thier catalog in there. To do that they made the aisles very narrow. You cant stop to look at anything without getting ran over. Parking is also a nightmare unless you drive a Prius. My quad cab Ram is slightly larger. I wont be spending a lot of time there.

Anyhow, I picked up what I think will be a pretty decent combo. Its a Plueger President 6930 mounted on a Plueger rod. I went with a light power, fast action. The Plueger combos were on sale for $59.99. Heck, the reel alone sells for $54.99. It feels nice. I'm going to spool it up with Berkley Nanofil and see how she does.

I'll definately be picking up one of those noodle rods in the future. Maybe sooner than later. I currently cast jigs at my favorite crappie hole but now that my boat is finished, I can really get in close to the structure and pick it apart with a long rod.

BassBlaster said:

So I spent a couple hours looking around at our new Cabelas today. What a mad house. Its a very small store and they have everything in thier catalog in there. To do that they made the aisles very narrow. You cant stop to look at anything without getting ran over. Parking is also a nightmare unless you drive a Prius. My quad cab Ram is slightly larger. I wont be spending a lot of time there.

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I used to love my nearest Cabela's, but the last time I went I found the same thing. I haven't been back since.

Go here, they will help you!

www.crappie.com

Just get a few rods between 6-8' medium weight and some small spinning reels.