7 1/2 crappie poles are up!

[Jeannie]

Hi all,
I've got Richard's 7 1/2 poles available for those who've been asking. Three other new inventions have been added to the Crappie Innovations area and 12 new items have been added in the Crappie Shop. A special thanks to those of you who have offered to add to the articles and research area!

Jeannie
CrappieStuff.com

[Jeannie]

Moose,
I received an e-mail from Richard that your pole is shipping tomorrow priority mail. You should get it in 2-3 days.

Thank you!
Jeannie

I sent my order in tonight. I saw two of the Richard Williams 10ft poles a month ago at Larry from Southern Indiana's camp on Patoka Lake. Larry had ordered these and was rigging them up to go fishing. They looked nice but I was wanting the shorter rods. 7.5 ft is about what I am looking for. I also like the idea of a cork handle.

I hope to get it soon and start using it before the crappie run is over.

[chaunc]

Moose, i have a 9' wally marshall rod. When i fish with a slip bobber i notice the stop knot gets stuck in the top eye. Does that happen with the 7 1/2' model?

[CrappiePappy]

you might want to check into this type of "bobber stopper" for those small diameter tip eyes ........ http://www.reactionbaits.com/bobber_float2.aspx
The slip floats are pretty good, too. Just go down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Instructions for use" link .... it will give you a picture of how the "Gizmo" stoppers install.

Line getting looped around the rod tip, is possible with most any rod & line ... I've had it happen, at one time or another, with most of my rods and mono lines of various pound tests - even the braids are subject to doing it. It's really more "operator error" than equipment fault. Same principle that creates "wind knots", creates the line looped over the rod tip .... rod tip moving faster than the loose line, and changing direction or stopping quickly. It's just the mechanics of casting or flipping or pitching, that is the culprit, IMHO. I know it's a pain, and it's frustrating ... but, I'm not sure the equipment is the main problem. The mono coils factor in - but, so does the dead limpness of braids. It's happened to me, on some of my larger Bass outfits (larger tip eyes) ... so, it's bound to happen with the smaller tip eyed rods, too. The "whippyness" of longpole tips could also be a factor - since they "vibrate" or "wiggle" so easily ... and the loose mono coming out of the end of the rod could allow for a loop to form (between the tip and 2nd guide). This could allow the rod tip to "slip under" the loose line loop - and when you lift the rod, catch the line loop and rod tip in just such a position, that it ends up looped around the end of the rod.
It's happend to me on calm days ... but, windy days just seem to exacerbate the problem. I've had it happen with tightline rods, as well as casting rods; and even my 8ft fly rod/spinning reel outfit (with Spiderwire line) ... so the longpoles aren't the only factor in this. That's why I believe it's as much "operator error" or "mechanics of use" ... as it is "equipment makeup", that is creating this problem. I haven't figured out a way to defeat it ... just seems to be one of those "necessary evils" that we anglers have to deal with ...LOL!! ............. luck2ya ........cp

[infishman]

I sent my order in tonight. I saw two of the Richard Williams 10ft poles a month ago at Larry from Southern Indiana's camp on Patoka Lake. Larry had ordered these and was rigging them up to go fishing. They looked nice but I was wanting the shorter rods. 7.5 ft is about what I am looking for. I also like the idea of a cork handle.

I hope to get it soon and start using it before the crappie run is over.

When's the "crappie run" over?

[Eager Beaver]

Crappie Pappy:

I have a box or two of those plastic bobber stop things with the numberous holes in them. Those things will hang up a lot faster than the thread type thrill bobber stops. I need to find a rod manufacture that makes the rods with different tips that are a bit smaller for casting with bobbers stops.

Richards rods are designed for vertical fishing without bobber stops IMHO. They are great rods for that purpose. They work well when spider rigging or just hand holding them and fishing vertical tight line style. They also work well for casting jigs when not using a bobber stop.

The last guide is just not really large enough to have the bobber stops slip though it smoothly without getting caught up a lot.

Now if you set the bobber stop for shallow water then that is not a problem. You can have the bobber stop already though the last guide and cast it that way without any problems caused by the last guide or tip of the rod

I have learned to shake the rod and get the line off the tip end when it wraps around the rod. If I could get some new prescription glasses so that I could see better it would help. LOL. I swear that I can't see these new lines and tell which direction they are wrapped around the rod.

Richards 7.5 ft rod is great as I can reach the tip easily and get any tangles off that rod. But the 12 ft long BnM is the one that I just don't use much anymore because of the problem with the line getting wrapped around the tip. It's just too damn long to reach the tip and unwrap the line. Now the line is spooled right in the first place. I know that is not the main problem. Now after a few casts the line may get some twist in it but I can't do much about that other than let the line out behind the boat and get the twist out of the line ever half hour.

I guess I got so use to using those ultra light 5 ft long rod that it's taking some time to adjust to the very long rods. And I don't really have a lot of patience when I am out in the boat getting hung up and the wind is blowing my boat off the spot. LOL Fishing can be aggrivating some times but I still love it. I would anchor the boat but then I would probably be 10 ft away from the brush pile and not be able to reach it with my verticle presentation and then I would get the anchor stuck on a stump and loose it again. I have lost so many anchors over the years that I fear putting the anchor out anymore. They are not cheap to replace either

Right now the line that I am using Iron Silk and the Berkley Vanish and Vanish Transition along with the Magnathin is working good.

You may be right about the root cause being operator error. I know that I operate bady a lot of the times. LOL But the shorter rods help me fix the problem faster.

My new complaint was about the last guide on the rods being too small in diameter (inside diameter) to let my bobber stops pass though smoothly all the time. That problem can be solved easily by taking the old tip off with some heat or whatever and getting a new one that has a larger diameter. I would be that someone makes those tips. I just have to find them. They still need to be the same size on the tube part of the tip. That is the part that glues onto the very tip end of the graphite rod. That needs to be smaller in diameter as these rods have very skinny tip ends. But that is the design feature of these fast tip rods that helps show you that you have a crappie on the line. LOL

Like I have said. I have always liked these rods. I fish many ways and these rods work for 80% of my fishing needs. The only problem that I really have now is finding a way to fish with these bobber stops and casting them when I am fishing these setups in 10 to 12 ft of water. Getting 10 feet of line thought the eye and then getting the bobber stop to go though the eye without stopping is the thing I need to figure out.

It's not a big problem at all. Most of my fishing these days is being done with the 7.5 ft rod and not the longer rods. Which suits me fine for right now.

Moose have you tried to contact Richard and see if he could make you a couple of rods with the larger tips, or maybe send you the larger tips for the rods you already have. Just a suggestion.