I have a request to build a crappie rod for vertical jigging deeper crappies in 15 to 25 feet of water. The user wants the tip to be quite light and soft so they can visually see a bite. Much like the noodle rods that are popular for icefishing now. He's currently using a Shakespear Crappie Hunter rod which has the soft tip, but it has very little backbone.

He's requested a rod with a tip soft enough that a 1/16 oz jig and plastic will load it slightly and show a visual bite. The kicker is he wants it to have at least decent backbone. Ideally it would be 8 to 9 feet long but i could probably extend a 7 footer out to 8 if needed.

Any suggestions for a blank that would fit the bill? Would any steelhead blanks have a light enough tip while still having good backbone? What about some of the 8 or 9 foot panfish blanks guys use for dipping in reeds and brush piles? Do they have a light enough tip? Strong enough backbone?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Tucker

Tucker:

[www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]

The DS 1141 would be ideal for this application. This is a 9'6" rod.

Good luck

If looking for a long rod, the blank roger suggested looks really good, but why so long for vertical jigging? Unless he is concerned about spooking the fish with the boat, I wouldn't think a 8 - 9' rod would be ideal for this application. A light power fast action 6'6" to 7' blank (you could even go shorter yet) would be easier to handle for longer periods, have better control (e.g., wind issues), and easier to detect bites. I built a 6'8" MHX blank for this very type of fishing and it is nearly perfect for my boat setup (wide and high gunnels). Unfortunately, they don't make it anymore. Their S781 or S782 (i'd lean toward the 782) are probably pretty similar. I know you give the customer what they want, but it seems counterproductive. Do you know why the desire for the long rod?

Tucker,
One really good reason to have a very long rod for vertical jigging is when the person is fishing brush piles.

With a long rod like this one, the fisher person can use the length of rod to get to the open spots in the brush piles and then drop the bait down to the fish that are hanging in the openings.

Also, if you have the need to really cast the jig out there to get to a remote school of crappies and not spook the fish, the added length really helps with casting distance of a light jig and bait or artificial bait.

Good luck

Another thing that you can do, is to look at the built up crappier specific rods at some of the suppliers.

For example:

[www.basspro.com];

Because, these rods are being sold as Crappie specific rods and some of them at a very very inexpensive price - some times it makes sense to consider the purchase of one of these rods to simply obtain the blank.
Then, cut off components and grips and reel seats that you don't want, and glue and or tie on guides and pieces that you do like to have on the rod.

i.e. buying the rod - to get the specific blank.

Good luck

Tucker mentioned it was for deep water 15' - 25' vertical jigging. I agree the long rod is great for probing brush piles, but for deep open water I'd pick the shorter rod every time. Maybe this is deep brush? We don't have that type of cover where I fish...only shallow brush.

I built a rod on MHX crappie blank that should work for you. I see that Anglers Workshop still has the listed.

I do agree with what many of you are saying. This rod may be used for probing some shallow brush and reeds where the length would be nice.

Conversely, much of the use will be hovering vertically over deep sunken humps and brush. I like a shorter rod in the under 7 foot range for this also. I have asked to make sure a shorter rod wouldn't be preferred and the request is for longer.

He does also do some kayak fishing so maybe the length would be handy for some of that usage.

I would go with Roger's Rainshadow choice from Utmost.

Will he be exclusively using it for vertical jigging or will he also be using it for casting small jigs? If used just for jigging you could use a 5-7wgt fly rod from 8’to 10’ in length. Fly rod blanks tend to be light in weight with a relatively soft tip but still have sufficient backbone to set a hook. I have been using 10’ Rainshadow RX7 6wgt for years. Southern crappie fishermen like long jig rods because they are usually moving around and the longer length keeps the line away from the trolling motor. It also allows them to stay a little further away from structure, and flip their jigs into it. If he wants to cast jigs then Roger’s suggestion is a very good one. A light action steelhead/salmon rod will have a faster tip than a fly rod and enables one to throw light jigs a long way. They can also be used as a jig rod serving double duty. Again Southern crappie fishermen like a long rod for throwing small jigs not only because of longer casts but also because they often use a pegged float and jig rig. The long length allows them to peg their float at the length of the rod or longer. As another option, Phenix Rods has the Elixir series of blanks designed for trout and panfish and you can get them in 8’or 9’ lengths. If he want to go high end Phenix Rods has a 8 1/2’ Iron Feather. The MHX crappie/panfish blanks would be another option, they are composite rods and thus are heavier than the other options but the are inexpensive and work very well. However, I think they have been discontinued. Hope this helps.
Norm

Thanks for the suggestions. Being able to see the bite will be a very important part of this build. Will the Rainshadow blank be soft enough in the tip to show that?

How about the 5 to 7 weight fly rod option? I considered fly rods but wasn't sure what weight to go with and if there was a weight that would be soft enough to show the bite yet have a pretty good backbone.

Ideally the rod would have the mentioned soft tip that doesn't farly quickly into a good backbone. It doesn't need to lift a tuna in the boat but bending half way to the handle on a 10 inch crappie isn't desirable either.

I also considered extending thw mhx ul spin rods or the mhx 820 drop shot rod. Wasnt sure if the ul rods would have enough backbone or if the 820 drop shot would have a light enough tip.

I greatly appreciate the help!

Tucker

If seeing the bite is that important, does it mean he will have the rod in a rod.holder rather than having it in his hand? I hold my jig rod in my hand and feel the bite or watch a float disappear, but many do use rod holders and look for tip movement. Down here the Crappie do not nibble, they just take the jig and hook themselves, there is no guessing if you have s bite. If it going to be used just for jigging, a fast action fly rod is a good option. I use a 6 wgt and it has a light tip that will move when a Crappie bites, but has enough backbone to move a big Crappie yet flex enough to protect light lines and have fun fishing. If he want less flex than the L salmon/steelhead rods might be a better choice. Our typical spawning crappie is about 1 to 1.5 pounds and bigger fish up to 3.5 lbs are not uncommon. I catch a number of 3 lb crappie every season and my 6 wgt does very well. If I’m casting a jig I use 6.5’ and 7’ UL spin rods with Minima guides.
Norm

MHX HS 9600, 8 ft. would be a good choice, very light tip, med light butt. Rated for 1/16 oz. rigs.

All my long crappie rods are Rainshadows I have one in all models from 8 to 10 and a half foot in 1 power all the way to 5 powers. I have found that the IST993 is the best application for something in the 8 ft range. I find the 1 and 2 powers to be fun to fish with but in deep water cover do not have enough power to turn good fish quickly away or out of medium to heavy cover, same along med to heavy shallow cover. If you are fishing open water or light cover the 1 and 2 powers will get the job done.


An 842 popping rod extended to 8 foot would get the job done also. I always try to find the right blank so i am not a fan of cutting rods down nor extending rods, nothing wrong with those that do but my experience is there are blanks that do the job with no cutting or extending.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2017 08:34PM by Terry Kirk.

The main use would be deeper vertical jigging but some casting can't be ruled out. The rod would be hand held. The crappies here run from small to maybe 14 inches max for the most part. Bites can range from hard agressive taps to gentle "up" bites where the line just goes slack. The up bite is where the light visual tip would come in handy as you get to see the rod unload.

Don't imagine many blanks will have much of an uptick with 1/16 oz hanging off the tip, as far as casting, line and reel become most important with real light weights.

Spencer,
If the rod is a long rod - say 10 feet or so - then a light reel may be quite counter productive. With a long rod like this one - many folks like to use a rather heavy reel to get a better balance to the rod.

As the original post asked - a blank with a very soft tip. This makes the rod into a "visual" type rod - as opposed to a "feel" type rod. Hence the use of a heavier reel to achieve better balance to the rod.

Also, with a long rod - say 10 feet - the rod is often kept in a rod holder, with 0 feel to the fisherman and thus only a "visual" indication of a fish hitting the lure or bait on the end of the rod.

Good luck

Rodger,
I get it, lived in Florida a while with jon boats bristling with long poles over the side, think they called then "spider rigged" boats. This was back in the mid- 80s. My custom 5S76MLXF St. Croix has a 2 foot or so ultralight tip, that locks up big time. If you fished a Shakari P700 it has a similar bend in the tip, but it's lighter powered by about half in the tip.
I liked the large diameter, short spool length reels for throwing really light stuff, don't see them anymore.

Rodger,
I get it, lived in Florida a while with jon boats bristling with long poles over the side, think they called then "spider rigged" boats. This was back in the mid- 80s. My custom 5S76MLXF St. Croix has a 2 foot or so ultralight tip, that locks up big time. If you fished a Shakari P700 it has a similar bend in the tip, but it's lighter powered by about half in the tip.
I liked the large diameter, short spool length reels for throwing really light stuff, don't see them anymore.

Crappie Jigging Rods can be set up in many different ways which depends on the likes of the fisherman. In most cases casting a jig is just not done, so reels are of very little importance except for holding line. In fact a lot of very successful crappie jig fisherman don’t use a reel at all, they just tie a piece of line to the tip top about the length of the rod and attach a jig to the other end. Some use casting reels other use spinning reels, and still others will use fly reels. In most cases the reels used are very inexpensive. Some fisherman will hold the rod in their hand, sometimes one in each hand. Others set up spider rigs with 6 to 8 rods in front of them. I personally hold one rod equipped with a fly reel located at the end of the handle, which balances the rod very well, and I strip my fish in rather than reeling. Different strokes for different folks. For a some wow effect, there was a crappie tournament on Enid reservoir, MS where the winning weight for 10 fish was over 27 lbs.
Norm