I’ve never owned a fishing rod in my 70 plus years. My friends took Wifey and I guided crappie fishing last October on Lake Bob Sandlin. We caught a bunch of fish. I truly had a good time. I’m going back this weekend while Wifey is on a cruise. I like to have my own things. What kind of rod and reel, correct size hooks, weights do I need to get?? I’m going right by academy tomorrow. We fished with minnows last time.


Thank you in advance

I could have stopped buying rifles when I was 13 and had a 700 ADL in .270 WCF. The same goes for crappie gear…..


6’ light rod (I’ve got St Croix, but it’s just a stupid 1# fish in general, so an Ugly Stick on up will work) A Pflueger President size 25 reel and 6 lb line is the 700 ADL of beginner crappie gear.

Throw in some weed guard style jig heads and assortment of Bobby Garland soft plastics and you’re set.

Bobby G Mayfly in a clear/pink and a Bobby G Slow Troll’R in white/flourescent green were the ticket today. But we also use a lot of clears/blues/monkey milks.

Eclipse Crappie



Fished with a guide once, live scope, middle of summer, brush piles on a big lake. He brought 10 dozen minnows, his boat was outfitted with rids from 5.5’ to 9’. ACC crappie Stix is what he uses now I believe. Little brass colored hook with a small split shot 8” above the hook. Hooked the minnows through the back and dropped into the school of fish he had on live scope. Almost cheating.

Good advice ^ can't go wrong with that setup.

Yes, he was set up like that, trolling motor would keep boat in one spot.

If you are looking for something a little more on the cheap, the 4'6" and 5 footers both make excellent little panfish rods. They sell the 4'6" as a combo, but the reel that comes on it is fairly garbage.

https://www.purefishing.com/micro-series-spinning-rod-1363823

The rods are $20 a pop at Wallyworld, and the combo is $25-ish

I also got one of these in the 7 foot length not that long ago, and I've frankly been very impressed for the price point. I know it says trout, but I find it way more usable than the panfish combo they offer.

The rod is noodly enough you can cast a jig down to 1/32oz a country mile, but it's still got enough backbone for good hooksets and hauling up the occasional bass that chomps the bait. It fishes like the old glass noodles, but without all the weight, and with better hookups on bigger fish.

https://www.purefishing.com/wild-series-trout-combo-1347934

St. Croix Panfish Rod. I have three of these and really like them. My favorite is the 7' Light action Fast tip.

https://stcroixrods.com/products/panfish-new-2022-models

Top it with a Pflueger President XT and 4 lb. test.

https://www.pfluegerfishing.com/president-xt-spinning-reel-1595568

For a “first fishing rod” I always recommend an “Ugly Stix” GX2 or Elite. ($40-$60)
They are almost unbreakable.
For Crappie, a light or Medium light action.
Six to seven feet long.

An inexpensive reel will work, but don’t go too cheap.
Shimano, Pfluger and Daiwa all make decent open face spinning reels in the $30-$40 range.
Reel size, find one rated for 6 lb to 8 lb test line. 1000 to 2500 size.

Spool it with a decent 6 lb monofilment line.

Learn to tie a good fishing Knot.

If you're throwing artificials, it's hard to go wrong with the classic old Beetle Spins in 1/16 or 1/32oz. I'm partial to the 1/32, but I fish a lot of shallow stuff, 1/16 works better for deeper water.

I do typically run the 1 or 1.5" Crappie Slider plastics on them, though.

They aren't fancy or expensive, but they work. Caught a few on one during a short pond outing after work this afternoon.

This all helps me a lot. Thank you

$40 off the Pfleuger President XT at Cabelas right now. $60 instead of $100. Must be last years model.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/pflueger-president-xt-spinning-reel

Casting or jigging with long poles?

I use a 10’ side drift trout rod I have left over from when I used to fish beads for trout. It’s a good dual purpose rig, solid enough for casting and long enough to dip with around brush piles.

My current favorite crappie rod is a 6’6” Cashion CRT ultralight action. I have 4 of them. I also have a couple 6’ and a couple 7’. They no longer make them, the new CORE version is heavier but still very sensitive with backbone. I haven’t fished my Loomis IMX rods in the past two years.

For reels, Shimano or Diawa. They don’t have to be the highest end, but don’t buy the cheap clam pack [bleep]. I got 7-8 years out of my Stradics.

I make my own jigs with a single fiber weedguard, 1/16 oz is what we use for central MO lakes.

Mr Crappie Slabalicious baits with the darker colored bodies and chartreuse tail if fishing stained water, monkey milk/shine for clearer water.

Last Saturday, 6 lb large mouth on the above described setup.


Tuesday of this week

Under docks or out from spawning banks?

Open banks, wood is nice but not required. Caught our limit this morning by 9:00 AM, had about 20% females and 58 degree water. By Monday it will be full spawn.

Trash (leaves/limbs) has floated out after they raised the LOZ a foot or two. Made fishing behind the cables very frustrating.

I didn’t get around to buying one, but we caught some Sunday. I had a good time



. Couple catfish too

Any old crappy rod should work for crappie…

I have one of the Shakespeare Micro-Series 7" rods and a Wally Marshall reel loaded with 6 lbs. line that I use for trout and panfish. I have had good luck with Trout Magnet jig heads and bodies and NRV Creek Bugz bodies, but always have a couple of marabou jigs in black, pink, white, yellow, and black with a white head in the kit.

I had one of the 7 footers, but broke it a few years ago and replaced it with a Berkley HD. I use one of the 5'6"L as my go-to rod fishing redhorse and suckers on mild current creeks and rivers, and one of the 4'6" set up as a cheap bobber panfishing rod.

I got a couple of the 4'6" combos for my kid last year; if he breaks them, I'm out under 25 bucks, and if the reel craps out, I'll just throw a better one on it. I have the cheap Abu Black Maxxes on mine, and they work fine.

It really depends on where and how I was fishing. In the spring when they are in the rushes a long fiberglass cane pole and just drop the minnow and pencil bobber in the openings. Casting jigs under pencil bobbers I use a 10 ft noodle rod, no bobber a 6 ft UL spinning. Long time ago we used to troll using oars (no trolling motors then) and we used flyrods with light leaders just short of the rod length with a split shot and minnow.. it was quite effective mid summer in the evenings.