If you were to make some trolling rods...

[Wind Knot]

I've recently discovered that I'm pretty good at wrapping rods and I need some practice. I'm new to trolling lipped cranks for Crappie, so I don't have a whole bunch of base knowledge for what rods to use, but I'd like to wrap some up. I've read the trolling 101 thread (just about) entirely, so I have at least a little head knowledge. I know I'd like to wrap six rods- two 14'ers, two 10'ers, and two 6'ers. I'll use the Okuma Magda 15's as reels.

What would y'all like to see in your ideal Crappie trolling rods?

What rod speed?
What weight line?
What blank material?
What handle material?
What length handle?
What kind of guides?
What kind of reel seat?
How many pieces?

Considering these would be purpose-built trolling rods, what weight would you want to pull Bandit 300's? I have spinning rods that I can/will use for spider jigging up front.

Thanks for the replies.

[Gamblinman]

Moderate slow rod, 10 lb line, E-glass, 12" cork handle, fuji seats and guides, 2 pc.

[bfish]

Moderate action,
8-14 lb is all I troll with,
graphite with fiberglass scrim,
Hypalon, although I might consider some of the new graphite covered foam. Eva gets slick when slimed by a catfish and deteriorates after a few years.
at least 16" butt, then standard seat, then 4 or 5" foregrip
microguides (sz 3.5-5)
trigger seat, I like the trigger cause it keeps the rods from rotating in the holder
2 piece for transport

Batson RDR is about as close I have found to what I like to buy, if I were building my own rods.

PS, I go with all 9' and use planer boards on a mast to create spread and can get 3 rods per side. (plus a rod on each side and 2 more on the transom plus whatever I decide to push). Never ran that many but I could. Generally push 2, and 2 to each side, plus 2 off transom (total of 8 rods).

[The Lip RIPPERS]

At least you can get what you want by doing your own builds.
Batson model IST1562F in 13-0' mod-fast blank.
Micro guides.
70% hard grade eva foam grips 12"x3" with reel seat.
Your lookin at a high end rod here.

[Wannabe...]

I'd rather see a cork seat - slimey catfish will mess up anything else and get slick to the touch.

Started to ask why ya'll were recommending micro guides, but guess it's to cut weight. Then again, maybe the micros would give less line whip too. ????

Heck, go all out and put recoils on 'em. Shouldn't add but about another $50 to the cost.

If you're building for yourself, IMO, the BNM Pro-Trollers are about as perfect for a crank as you're gonna get as far as action goes. Like the idea of the trigger reel seat though. If you're gonna build to sell...you're gonna need to have every increment from 8 to 16' available.

I looked into building an ultimate featherweight jig pole once and decided against it because I couldn't bring it in for less than double a high end BNM. Just very few blanks that were useable for a reasonable price.

Wannabe...

[Wind Knot]

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming! I'm not anywhere near going into the rod business- yet. I do like doing it and I'm pretty good at it, but that's about as far as it's come. Maybe if I find that I'd like to sell a few to buddies after I've made a few dozen as gifts and personal rods, I'd go that route, but that's kind of pie in the sky talk.

I'm kind of fortunate- my dad lives about fifteen minutes from Bridgemaster Tackle in Lake Wales, FL- a clearing house for just about anything fishing related under the sun including a warehouse full of rod blanks. I'm fairly certain they'll have some stuff that will work.

So far, the concensus has been:

1- Moderate to Moderate Slow blank
2- 10-14 lb. test (I'll probably use 10 lb.)
3- Trigger grip

I'm thinking I like the idea of cork grips, but I don't know how much 16" of decent cork will run. It's definitely a neat idea. I'm guessing the blanks will be some sort of graphite composite.

Again, thanks for the knowledge and keep it coming!

[Wannabe...]

Bout 2 dollars an inch for FLOR last I looked. You can step down in grade though and fill pits with a slurry. Then again, never heard any crappie fisherman complain about cork grade/quality though.

Wannabe...

[The Lip RIPPERS]

I never could understand why a fishing rod cost vs. deer hunting gear is a factor. Go spend 3500 to kill one deer and good quality rods catch fish ALL year ? Whats the difference?....There's not any. Just how you reason on it I guess.
WindKnot, If you are getting your stuff from Bridgemaster, then your ahead of the game already....good luck on your builds and good fishin!