Ultralight vs light for crappie rods!?

[Ashboom]

Getting into crappie and panfish fishing and it's so confusing.. For a first rod..not sure what power would be good for an all around panfish rod?? 

[roadwarrior]

6-6 1/2' MLF covers a lot of water.

[NavyToad]

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

6-6 1/2' MLF covers a lot of water.

I use an old 6’ ML St Croix. Works for all my panfish/crappie needs. Like everything else, light tackle can be taken to extremes. For throwing 1/16 jigs with a 1” or 2” grub or a beetle spin my old ML fills the need. I have a Dobyns Champion xp 732s and I prefer the old 6’ St Croix all day for crappie and blue gill. Light spinning tackle for me means low stress, simple fishing. You can make it as complicated as you want.

[GANGGREEN]

There's just an awful lot of ground in "all around panfish rod".   Not to be captain obvious, but it really depends a lot on what sorts of fishing you'll do.   Fishing mostly for small panfish?  Fishing for giant panfish (I'm really into REALLY big panfish and really couldn't care less about the small or normal sized ones)?   Fishing shallow water?  Deep?  From a boat or on shore?   All live bait?  Artificials or some live and some plastic?   Crankbaits, jigs?  Livescope?  Anchored up, trolling, casting?   Shooting docks, fishing brush?   There's just a LOT of different ways to target panfish and you'll find recommendations for 5 foot rods or 12 footers, super ultralight action or medium action, slow tapers or very fast tapers, etc. etc..

 

Personally I'm a big fan of very fast action, 6.5-7 foot UL rods for really big panfish, often in deep water, always on small plastics and always casting to them typically with 4 pound test mono, but occasionally with 6 or 8 pound braid, without the benefit of forward-facing sonar, but those rods may or may not suit you well depending on how you'd use them.

 

[Flushdraw]

It really depends on what weight lures/baits you want to throw. For baits less than 1/16th oz, I'd go with an ultralight. They're a lot of fun and 1lb fish feel like monsters! I have a cheap Okuma Celilo ($30) rod. It's alright for the price, but I plan to upgrade. I hear great things about the Daiwa Presso and TFO rods.

For throwing baits 1/16th oz or more, I'd go with a light power rod. I own the Cadence Essence 6'6". Fantastic rod for ~$50. I have that paired with a Cadence 1000 Ideal reel...great cheap combo!

I use 6lb J braid grande which is a game changer for casting distance.

 

I own 2 Cadence rods and 3 of their reels. They're worth 2 to 3 times what you pay for them. Best of luck.

[ATA]

Try the rods, Make sure if you tie a 1/8 jig, It will weight on rod and bend it(little bend). Sometimes you need to use1/32 for crappie because of the rate of fall. I had days that I change 1/8 with 1/16 and suddenly I start to catch them in same spot with same color plastic, So I really believe in that. So if you want only one rod, get the one rating for 1/8oz. of course 1/16 will be better.

[volzfan59]

I don't remember where, but years ago I read an interesting piece on ultra light vs. light rod and reels. The jist was that buggy whip ultra lights really aren't ideal. It recommended going to a light action rod and a minimum 2000/ 200/ 20 (depending on the manufacturer) size reel. I made the move and never looked back. I've got three ultra light rods still, they're in the closet.

[GANGGREEN]

1 hour ago, volzfan59 said:

I don't remember where, but years ago I read an interesting piece on ultra light vs. light rod and reels. The jist was that buggy whip ultra lights really aren't ideal. It recommended going to a light action rod and a minimum 2000/ 200/ 20 (depending on the manufacturer) size reel. I made the move and never looked back. I've got three ultra light rods still, they're in the closet.

 

The problem with that theory is that not all ultralight rods are buggy whips. I have quite a few ultralight rods that have a very fast action and a good bit of backbone.  And they're delightful for their intended purpose and for their intended target.

[volzfan59]

3 hours ago, GANGGREEN said:

 

The problem with that theory is that not all ultralight rods are buggy whips. I have quite a few ultralight rods that have a very fast action and a good bit of backbone.  And they're delightful for their intended purpose and for their intended target.

One of my old ultra lights has some decent backbone for an ultra light rod. I still prefer the light action rods but, as in all things, to each his own.

[caribouhunter]

Having recently just got into crappie fishing myself, my preference is for a light action.  The light action seems to give me better feel of the lure and offers margin when the occasional bigger fish hits.

[JS8588]

Get this one. https://jdmtackleheaven.com/products/megabass-orochi-xxx-multi-pieces-model-spinning-f1-66ks-2p-slend-type-f

 

I have it and it's given me fun with blue gill while handling 2lb bass just fine.

[CrashVector]

Don't go the route I did and spend $1500 trying different rods/reels ?

 

Just go get one of the new BPS Crappie Maxx Pro rods for $40 and be glad.

 

I'm not kidding...they outperform some of my $200 crappie rods from st croix.

 

I have a 4'6", a 5'6", and a 6'6" version.  Shoulda just bought these to begin with and I would have saved a LOT of money.

[ATA]

7 hours ago, CrashVector said:

Don't go the route I did and spend $1500 trying different rods/reels ?

 

Just go get one of the new BPS Crappie Maxx Pro rods for $40 and be glad.

 

I'm not kidding...they outperform some of my $200 crappie rods from st croix.

 

I have a 4'6", a 5'6", and a 6'6" version.  Shoulda just bought these to begin with and I would have saved a LOT of money.

Second on that. I did the same thing and I highly recommend the same as him.